Three Armed Uprisings Launched by Shanghai Workers

In coordination with the advance of the Northern Expedition of the National Revolutionary Army to Shanghai, the CPC Central Committee and the Shanghai District Committee led three armed uprisings by Shanghai workers between autumn 1926 and spring 1927.

The first armed uprising was launched on October 24, 1926. In October, after occupying Wuchang, the Northern Expedition immediately transferred its main force to the battlefield in Jiangxi. When warlord Sun Chuanfang lost the battle in Jiangxi, the governor of Zhejiang Province, Xia Chao, and the representative of the Nationalist Government in Shanghai, Niu Yongjian, agreed to break away from Sun Chuanfang, join the Nationalist Government, and march to Shanghai.

The Shanghai District Committee of the CPC decided to cooperate with Niu Yongjian, the representative of the Nationalist Government in Shanghai, to organize a joint riot. In the early morning of October 24, the armed uprising was signaled by the fire of cannons from warships on the Huangpu River, but due to the leaked information from Niu Yongjian's troops and the precautions taken by the Songhu Police Department, the fire of cannons for the uprising was delayed and the uprising defeated because the majority of the workers were not mobilized. More than 100 people were arrested and the leaders of the uprising, Tao Jingxuan, and Xi Zuoyao, died bravely.

The second armed uprising was launched on February 21, 1927. On the 17th, with the pioneer troops arriving in Jiaxing, the Northern Expedition occupied Hangzhou. On the 19th, the Shanghai General Labor Union issued a strike order, and by the 22nd, the number of strikers reached more than 360,000.

Li Baozhang, a warlord, the Commander of Shanghai garrison, collaborated with the Shanghai Municipal Council run by imperialist forces. They brutally suppressed the striking workers, and the martyrs of the first day were Cai Jianxun and Shi Arong and their corpses were “demonstrated to the public”, then arrested 54 people and killed 31 others.

The Communist Party of China led the workers, students, and citizens of Shanghai to fight back. On the evening of the 21st, there were local battles with the military and police. By 6 p.m. on the 22nd, the strike called by the General Labor Union had grown into a second armed uprising, with the “Jianwei” and “Jiankang” ships shelling the Gaochangmiao Arsenal and street battles in Zhabei and Nanshi.

As the uprising plan was leaked, the workers' guards in each district lost their unified command, and the Northern Expedition stopped advancing in the suburbs of Shanghai, the leader of the right-wing KMT Niu Yongjian's plain-clothed squad did not move against the warlords, causing the workers to be isolated and the uprising failed again.

A total of 600 to 700 workers, students, and citizens were killed and arrested during this uprising. The third armed uprising was launched on March 21, 1927. After drawing lessons from the failure of the two previous armed uprisings, the CPC Central Committee and the Shanghai District Committee continued to make substantial preparations to launch the third armed uprising of Shanghai workers.

First, as the supreme command organ of the uprising, the Special Committee (SC), was established; with its members consisting of Chen Duxiu, Luo Yinong, Zhao Shiyan, Wang Shouhua, Yin Kuan, Peng Shuzhi, Zhou Enlai, and Xiao Zizhang. Under this Special Committee, there were a Military Committee and a Publicity Committee. Zhou Enlai and Zhao Shiyan were in charge of the Military Committee, while Yin Kuan and Zheng Chaolin were in charge of the Publicity Committee.

Second, the plan of action was drawn up, and the whole operation of the uprising was in the hands of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Shanghai District Committee, with Zhou Enlai, secretary of the Central Military Committee, as the general commander of the uprising. At 12, noon on March 21, the Shanghai General Labor Union issued a general strike order. 800,000 workers in the city went on a general strike and it immediately turned to an armed uprising. Chinese workers in the foreign settlement also gathered at the border area to join the uprising.

Immediately afterward, the workers' guards launched a fierce attack on the reactionary military and police strongholds from seven districts, including Nanshi, Hongkou, Pudong, Wusong, Huxi, Hudong, and Zhabei. The masses also took the initiative to help the guards build barricades, transport ammunition, and send food. After 30 hours of bloody engagement, the workers' armed forces conquered all the enemy strongholds and occupied Shanghai at around 6 p.m. on the 22nd, achieving victory in the third workers' armed uprising.

On the 22nd, a meeting of representatives of Shanghai citizens was held. This meeting announced the establishment of the Provisional Government of Shanghai City. It elected Niu Yongjian and 19 others as members of the Provisional Government, including 9 members of the Communist Party, a workers’ representative, and 9 representatives from the left wing and the right bourgeoisie wing of the KMT.

The victory of the third armed uprising of the workers returned Shanghai to the hands of the people, which had long been ruled by imperialism and the northern warlords. It dealt a heavy blow to the reactionary rule of imperialism and the warlords which demonstrated the strong fighting spirit and great organizing power of the Chinese working class. But soon after, Chiang Kai-shek launched the April 12 counter-revolutionary coup, usurping the fruits of the revolution that the Shanghai workers had won with their lives and blood.