Zhang Guotao

Categories: CPC leaders | Chinese people stubs

Zhāng Guótāo (Traditional Chinese: 張國燾, Simplified Chinese: 张国焘, Wade-Giles: Chang Kuo-t'ao) (1897 - December 3, 1979) was a founding member and leader of the Chinese Communist Party in the late 1920s and 1930s.

Born in Pingxiang County, Jiangxi Province, Zhang was involved in revolutionary activities as a youth. Zhang studied Marxist thought under Li Dazhao while attending Peking University in 1916. With his active role in theMay Fourth Movement in 1919, Zhang became the most prominent student leader and later joined the early organization of CPC in Oct 1920. At the same time Mao Zedong was a librarian working in Peking University unkown to public. It was uncertain whether Zhang and Mao acquainted with each other at that time. But it was for sure that Zhang was a more prominet figure compared with Mao at that time. Zhang attended the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 1921 and elected as member of Central Bureau of CPC in charge of organization work of cadres. After the congress Zhang held the position of Director of Secretariat of China Labor Union and Chief Editor of Labor Weekly, from which he became an expert in labor union and mobilization, leadings several major strikes in railway and textile workers, which gave him great prominence and made him pioneer of labor work in China withLiu Shaoqi,Li Lisan.

In 1924 Zhang attended the First National Congress of the Kuomintang under the policy of alliance with Kuomintang and was elected as Substitute Commissioner of Central Executive Committee, although Zhang protested the alliance with Kuomintang in the Third National Congress of CPC and got a minor punishment one year before. In 1925 in the Fourth National Congress of the CPC, Zhang was elected as Commissioner of Central Committee of CPC and Director of Labor & Peasant Work Department. In 1926 Zhang was the General Secretary of Hubei Division of CPC, and in 1927 was Commissioner of Interim Central Committee of CPC after the failure of CPC uprising. Zhang with Li Lisan and Qu Qiubai were the acting leader of CPC at that time when Mao only led a small troop with riot in Jiangxi and Hunan. In 1928 Zhang was elected as a member of the politburo of the CPC in the Sixth National Congress held in Soviet Union, and then as delegate of CPC in Comintern. But with his disagreement with Soviet Union and Comintern policies on Chinese revolution in the 1920's , Zhang was actually taken in custody and punished to correct his mistakes by way of studying in university, which should thanks for his great fame and popularity in communists world,othewise he would have been executed or exiled like other dissidents at that time.

In 1931 Zhang expressed his repentance and was sent back to China by Comintern to clean up the mess left by the power struggle between 28 Bolsheviks and Li Lisan,other old CPC members.Zhang used his fame and popularity to correct the extremism and appeased the old CPC members.But the damage done by the power struggle was so great that it was too difficult for CPC to survive in the cities governed by Kuomintang.So Zhang and other acting CPC leaders decided to move their groups to bases in the countrysides.Zhang was assigned to lead the daily operation of Eryuwan Revolution Base as General Secretary and chairman of military committee of that base, and then Vice Chairman of Interim Central Government of Chinese Soviet Republic when Mao was the chairman. Maybe the life in Soviet Union gave him too much impact,Zhang carried out cruel cleanings to persecute dissidents which result in his andefeat and evacuation in 1932.

In 1932 Zhang led the 4th Red Army entering Sichuan and set up another base,later turned it into a prosperous autonomy by way of land reform and ally with aboriginals. In 1935 when Zhang and his troops reunited with Mao and his troops after Long March in Sichuan . With his well-equipped troops and luxurious supply, Zhang acted like a master to host Mao. It might be his superior record and resulting arrogance to Mao sowing the seeds of conflict between them. Zhang and Mao disagreed with each other over major issues very soon. The outcome was red army splitted again. unjust With Zhang's elite troops were annihilated by Warlord Ma Brothers cavalries during Zhang's troop's efforts to cross the Yellow River and conquer Ma's territory, Zhang lost his capital to challenge Mao and had to accept the fact of failure.

When Zhang reached Yanan, which meant his fallen from power and became a trophy of Mao.Zhang kept a symbolic position of chairman of Yanan Frontier Area and was humiliated from time to time by Mao and his confederates.Zhang was too proud to ally with Wang Ming, who recently came back from Moscow and acted as Comintern representative, with Zhang's popularity in Comintern he might have another chance of return back to power if he had allied with Wang.However once Wang boasted his order of arrest of senior CPC leaders Yu Xiusong, Huang Chao ,Li Te and two others ,who were all opponents of Wang and now worked for warlord Sheng Shicai in Xingjiang under the direction of CPC .All five were tortured and executed in Sheng 's prison with label as Trotskyist.Zhang was greatly irritated for he knew them quite well or maybe Zhang worried about his own fate when he was regarded a dissident at that time. After that incident, Zhang despised Wang and would never support Wang .

Without any supporter,thus in 1937 in the Extended Meeting of Politburo of the Communist Party of China Zhang was purged, which resulted in his 1938 defection to the Kuomintang.But without any power resource and support, Zhang never held important position then and only did research on CPC forDai Li. After the defeat of the Kuomintang,in 1949 he went to exile first to Hong Kong, then to Canada and died in a beadhouse in a cold winter of 1979.

Zhang had written several memoirs on CPC, which provide valuable information on CPC especillay in early stage.In his books he wrote: Politics is dirty and bloody. Is this Zhang's repentance for his involvement in politics or just a complain about the unjust treatment to him for so many years? This answer has gone away with Zhang after his death.ja:張国涛 zh:张国焘