Campaign to Support the Army and Give Preferential Treatment to the Families of Soldiers and to Support the Government and Cherish the People in Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region

A social campaign carried out in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region. During the Anti-Japanese War, under the direct leadership of the Party Central Committee, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region organized and launched a social movement, also known as the “Double-Support Movement”, to further promote military-civilian unity and military-political unity and to mobilize the whole nation's military-civilian solidarity for the cause of Chinese revolution, construction and reform. The “Double-Support Movement” first emerged in Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region centered in Yan'an, and was quickly spread to entire anti-Japanese base areas across the country. After the CPC Central Committee headquarter was moved to Yan'an, it attached particular importance to closer military-political and civil-military relations. In the three-thirds policy of political power system policy formulated by the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region government, started the preferential treatment for the families of anti-Japanese soldiers. However, for a while, due to the neglect of the education of the troops in the border region, coupled with the difficult conditions and financial and economic difficulties, there occurred a misconduct in supporting the government and loving the people, and a misconduct of nurturing respect for local Party committees and local government, and a misconduct of violating mass discipline and a misconduct of infringing the interests of the masses among the ranks of some troops. Also among the ranks of some government cadres and the masses, a mistaken conduct of neglecting to support the army had arisen, and even safeguarding the interests of people and supporting the army were treated as opposed to each other. And in the work of preferent treatment of the resistance, there occurred a biased view of “heavy belongings are lighter than the resistance”. The occurrence of these mistaken views have negatively affected the civil-military and military-political unity. In order to solve these problems, on August 5, 1940, the General Political Department of the Eighth Route Army issued a special "Training Order on Strict Discipline to Improve Relations between the Military, Government and the People". In order to further betterment of military-civilian and military-political relations and strengthen military-civilian and military-political unity, under the advocacy of the CPC Central Committee and Mao Zedong, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region started a campaign to support the people and the military since the end of 1942. In October 1942, the Northwest Bureau of the Central Committee of the CPC decided that during the Spring Festival in 1943, the troops of the remaining corps and the local government of the Border Region should simultaneously carry out the campaign of “the month of supporting the army and the government”. On January 15, 1943, “The Decision of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region Government on Supporting the Army”, issued by the border region government, pointed out that supporting the army is the responsibility and task of the government at all levels and all people. The Regional government also reviewed the shortcomings of the government in supporting the army. To this end, it was decided that January 25 to February 25, 1943, for the entire border region to support the military campaign month and the provisions of the annual Spring Festival before and after the grand condolences to the garrison. On the same day, Lin Boqu, the Chairman of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region government, pointed out that a pro-army movement was a major event for the people in the Border Region, but also an important step in consolidating the Border Region. At the same time, the Political Department of the Eighth Route Army Remaining Corps issued the "Decision on Supporting the Government and Loving the People" and the "Instruction on the Month of Supporting the Government and Loving the People Campaign" on January 25, 1943. The "Double-Support Movement" in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region has achieved remarkable results and it was a great initiative of the CPC during the New-Democratic Revolution period, which created a great appeal and cohesive power for the consolidation of the unity between the military and the government, as well as the military and the people. Not only did it set an example for the entire people of anti-Japanese base areas to carry out support for the military, but it also created favorable conditions for the eventual victory of the Anti-Japanese War ese Aggression and the establishment of the New China.