‘Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed’ –Mao Zedong. The People's Liberation Army formed in 1946, from communist forces that had fought against the Japanese and it evolved into a professional army during the 1950s. The PLA was very important to Mao as they massively helped in establish power over China, and in this essay I will explain how exactly Mao controlled China through the use of the PLA, as well as other factors that were important in establishing power.
Mao Zedong was the founding father of the People’s Republic of China and he governed as chairman of the Communist Party of China when it began in 1949. However just because Mao was the leader, it did not mean he had full control over the whole of China. There were other powerful warlords that had control over certain regions and provinces in China that Mao claimed he was in control of, no government since 1911 had succeeded in breaking down the power of local warlords. If Mao wanted to achieve in establishing full control and national unity he would have to take control over various provinces, which he did. Mao used the PLA to invade Tibet, Xianjaing and Guandong. The PLA were an extremely powerful and huge military force, in 1949 they there were 5 million men under its command and it accounted for over 41% of the state budget, this money was especially going towards building a new air force and navy. The PLA were well trained, disciplined and Mao was able to move PLA effectively across China considering the vas size of the army. These are just some of the reasons why the PLA were so strong and why they were Mao’s most important weapon.
Mao managed to spread his ideology across China through the use of the PLA. Every person who signed up for PLA was told about Mao’s ideology which was one of Mao’s political methods to gain control of China.