The Principle of Independence and Initiative within the United Front

The Anti-Japanese National United Front was based on the cooperation between the KMT and the CPC, but since the KMT and the CPC represented different class interests and participated in the Anti-Japanese War for different purposes, they carried out different policy lines in the War, consequently there were inevitable contradictions and struggles within the United Front.

At the Luochuan Conference in August 1937, the CPC Central Committee clearly put forward the question: “Is the proletariat leading the bourgeoisie or the bourgeoisie leading the proletariat in the United Front? Is it the KMT that attracts the CPC or the CPC that attracts the KMT?” This was the main problem.

The CPC emphasized: “We must adhere to the principle of autonomy and independence in the United Front, which is both unified and independent; to this end, the CPC must maintain its ideological, political and organizational independence, mobilize the masses independently, and strengthen the people's power; it must adhere to its absolute leadership over the People's Army, break through the restrictions and shackles of the KMT, and strive to develop the people's armed forces and the anti-Japanese base areas; and it must adopt the policy of both unity and struggle, and strive for unity in the cooperation with the KMT.”

The purpose of doing so was to maintain the achieved positions already obtained by the revolutionary forces led by the CPC, especially to develop these positions and mobilize millions of people into the Anti-Japanese National United Front, and an important purpose was to enable the CPC better strive for the leadership in the Anti-Japanese War thus make the CPC the backbone of the struggle to unite the whole nation in the Anti-Japanese War. This was the central link which would lead the Anti-Japanese War to victory.