The Thought of Carrying the Revolution Through to the End

Thoughts put forward by Mao Zedong in his New Year's Address for Xinhua News Agency on December 30, 1948. On January 1, 1949, the article was published in People's Daily under the title "Carry the Revolution through to the End”.

At the end of 1948, when the Liaoshen Campaign was over, and the Huaihai Campaign and the Pingjin Campaign were in sight of victory, the KMT government forces were collapsing all along the north of the Yangtze River, and it was in a difficult situation incapable of establishing an orderly and systematic defense in the South and remote provinces of the Yangtze River.

Before that, on November 9, 1948, Chiang Kai-shek sent a letter to Truman, asking the United States to rapidly increase military aid and asked U.S. military advisers to take part in commanding operations, which was rejected by the United States. Later on January 8, 1949, Chiang Kai-shek's government sent a note to the United States, Britain, France and the Soviet Union requesting "mediation" to end the civil war, which was also mildly rejected.

The American government changed its policy of simply supporting Chiang Kai-shek in fighting civil war. In addition to continuing to organize forces against the People's Liberation Army in the southern and remote provinces of the Yangtze River, the United States government tried to organize opposition within the revolutionary camp, "trying to stop the revolution."

Li Zongren, the leader of the Gui Clique of the KMT, was prepared to take the opportunity to replace Chiang Kai-shek and proposed peace talks with the CPC in an attempt to "rule across the river". In this context, Bai Chongxi and others advocated Chiang Kai-shek's "resolute departure" to facilitate peace talks.

Under domestic and external pressure, Chiang Kai-shek issued a “Declaration of Peace” in his “New Year's Day Statement” of 1949, however, he demanded that the CPC recognize the pseudo-“constitution” and preserve the pseudo-“legal system”, and preserve the reactionary army, so forth, he accused the CPC for wilfully obstructing all agreements and proposals and CPC made it impossible to carry them out by the measures which were originally intended. Finally, it even started an all-out armed rebellion which threatened the very existence of the state, so he would "fight to the end" against it. In fact these demands were not sincere conditions to achieve for peace, but for the continuation of war.

Would the revolution be carried through to the end or would it be abandoned halfway? This was the fundamental question that had to be resolved at this crucial moment in the struggle between the two destinies of China.

Mao Zedong pointed out that the revolution should be carried through to the end. “If the revolution is to be carried through to the end, we must use the revolutionary method to wipe out all the reactionary forces resolutely, thoroughly, wholly and completely; we must unswervingly persist in overthrowing imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat-capitalism; and we must overthrow the reactionary rule of the KMT on a country-wide scale and set up a republic that is a people's democratic dictatorship under the leadership of the proletariat and with the worker-peasant alliance as its main pillar.” Thus, Chinese people will be fully emancipated, the country will be transformed into a genuinely independent state and oppression and exploitation upon people will be eliminated, thus Chinese nation will thus achieve unity, democracy and peace, “create the prerequisites for transforming China from an agricultural into an industrial country and make it possible for her to develop from a society with exploitation of man by man into a socialist society”. “If the revolution is abandoned half-way, it will mean bowing to the will of the foreign aggressors and Chinese reactionaries and giving the KMT a chance to heal its wounds, so that one day it may pounce suddenly to strangle the revolution and again plunge the whole country into darkness.”

Which of these two roads to choose was the question that every democratic party, every people’s organization in China should consider. In order to illustrate the necessity of carrying out the revolution through to the end, Mao Zedong warned people to keep in mind the ancient story of "peasants and snakes", pointed out that all so-called "liberals" – those snake-like scoundrels who advise people the “peace” offered by the United States, were by no means friends of workers, peasants and soldiers. “The Chinese people and the CPC "will smash the enemy's political intrigues, just as they have shattered his military attacks, and to carry the great People's War of Liberation through to the end.”

In the subsequent peace negotiations, the KMT led Nanjing Government refused to sign the “Domestic Peace Agreement”, and the People's Liberation Army launched the battle of “Crossing the Yangtze River” on April 21, 1949 and occupied Nanjing on April 23, declared the end of the reactionary rule of the KMT.