History of the Red Army

Author: Guo Dehong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-10-01
Features:
II. The Establishment of the Party's Independent Leadership of Armed Struggle at the Second Plenum of the Central Committee
After the failure of the Great Revolution, at a critical moment that determined the future of the Party and the revolution, the Central Committee established the Provisional Political Bureau Standing Committee in Hankou on July 12, 1927, to exercise the powers of the Central Political Bureau. The members included Zhang Guotao, Li Weihan, Li Lisan, Zhou Enlai, and Zhang Tairei. Subsequently, the Provisional Political Bureau Standing Committee held consecutive meetings and made three decisions to save the revolution: holding the Nanchang Uprising, preparing for the convening of the Central Emergency Conference, and launching the Autumn Harvest Uprising in Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, and Guangdong provinces. To summarize the lessons learned from the failure of the Great Revolution, correct the rightist errors of Chen Duxiu, and determine the Party's struggle guidelines and tasks for the new period, under the leadership of Qu Qiubai and based on the instructions of the Comintern, the Central Standing Committee held a meeting and decided to convene the Central Emergency Conference. The emergency conference was originally scheduled for July 28, but due to the extremely complex and dangerous situation, it could not be held on that day and had to be postponed. On August 3, the Central Standing Committee held an expanded meeting, attended by Qu Qiubai, Li Weihan, Zhang Tairei, Su Zhaozheng, Cai Hesen, Deng Zhongxia, and Ren Bishi, among others. Zhang Tairei and Li Weihan reported the results of their talks with the Comintern representatives. The expanded meeting discussed the current situation and countermeasures, as well as the convening of the emergency conference, and decided to launch the peasant land revolution and armed uprising, accepting the Comintern's instructions. In his speech, Qu Qiubai pointed out that the Comintern's decision was a new turning point for the Chinese revolution, and we should accept it and formulate new strategies accordingly; decisions had already been made regarding the peasant movement. Peasants in Hunan should seize power and, combined with armed forces, would surely succeed. The meeting also discussed the reorganization of the central leadership bodies and determined the agenda for the emergency conference.
On August 7, 1927, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held the Central Emergency Conference, known as the Baqi Conference, in Hankou, Hubei. Since fewer than half of the Central Committee members attended, it could not be called a "Central Plenum" nor a "Central Political Bureau Meeting," so it was referred to as a "Central Emergency Conference." Deng Xiuxian (Xiaoping), the head of the Central Committee Secretariat, was responsible for organizing and arranging the conference. He arrived at the venue three days before the meeting and stayed until all the representatives had left after the conference concluded. Due to the tense situation and inconvenient transportation, only 22 people attended the meeting, including Central Committee members and members Li Weihan, Qu Qiubai, Zhang Tairei, Deng Zhongxia, Ren Bishi, Su Zhaozheng, Luo Yinong, Cai Hesen, Mao Zedong, as well as representatives from the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, the Military Commission, and the provincial committees of Hunan and Hubei. Comintern representatives Romonasty and two other Russian comrades also attended the meeting. Due to the white terror and dangerous situation, the meeting lasted only one day. Li Weihan served as the meeting chair, representing the Standing Committee and reporting on the preparations and discussions leading up to the conference. He announced the three agenda items: 1. A report by the Comintern representative. 2. A report by the Standing Committee representative, delivered by Qu Qiubai. 3. Reorganization of the Central Political Bureau.
After the meeting began, the Comintern representative Romonasty delivered a report and conclusion on The Past Errors of the Party and the New Line. Romonasty emphasized that convening the Central Emergency Conference was both very important and urgent. He made a lengthy speech on the main content of the draft To the Party Members.