THE CHINESE COMMUNIST REVOLUTIONARY STRATEGY AND THE LAND PROBLEM, 1921- 1927

The report presents the first part of a 3-volume analysis of the doctrine and practice of land reform as a tactical measure, with emphasis on its relation to goals of the Chinese Communist Party, political and economic restraints in specific localities, and its effectiveness in enlisting peasant support. From 1921 to 1927, largely as a result of the collapse of the Comintern CCP-KMT coalition policy, the CCP shifted attention from the urban proletariat to the peasant as its principal ally, from revolution from above to revolution from below. And by 1928 radical agrarian reform, at least in Maos view, became the crucial factor on which a successful revolution would depend. His strategy confiscate public and private land, redistribute it to the poor and landless peasant, and the peasant would fight a protracted war to protect it.