The Seven Congresses of Unity and Victory (Part II)

The main content and the most important achievement of the Seventh Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China is the adoption in principle of the "Resolution on Several Historical Issues" (hereinafter referred to as the "Resolution"), which embodies the collective wisdom of the whole Party and shines with the brilliance of Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought.

(i)

Mao Zedong attached great importance to and was extremely cautious about drafting the "Resolution." He personally grasped it, with Ren Bishi as the convener, and the Central Committee also set up a special resolution preparation committee with the participation of Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, Zhang Wentian, and Peng Zhen.

This "Resolution" is based on Mao Zedong's "Draft of Historical Issues" written in 1941, which began to be drafted in May 1944, lasted one year, and was later directly presided over by Mao Zedong and revised many times, with no less than 7 important revisions, and the title of the draft was determined after Mao Zedong personally revised it.

During the plenary session, many senior party cadres participated in the revision and discussion. Three drafts were submitted to the plenum, each time carefully revised by Mao Zedong.

The "Resolution" points out that the future task of the whole Party is to "unite the comrades of the whole Party on the basis of the unity of Marxist-Leninist ideas, like a harmonious family, like a solid piece of steel, to struggle for the complete victory of the Anti-Japanese Resistance and the complete liberation of the Chinese people."

After the "Resolution" was adopted, it not only successfully resolved the party's historical problems, but also achieved the goal of "clarifying the mind and uniting comrades."

On April 21, the first day after the adoption of the Resolution, the Seventh National Congress Preparatory Meeting was held; on the third day, April 23, the Seventh National Congress of the Party was inaugurated.

(ii)

The "Resolution" highly appraises Mao Zedong's outstanding contribution to the use of Marxist-Leninist theory to solve the problems of the Chinese revolution and points out the great significance of establishing comrade Mao Zedong's leading position in the whole Party.

He pointed out: "What is particularly gratifying for us is that our Party, represented by Comrade Mao Zedong, creatively applied the revolutionary theories of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin to the conditions of China, and has developed greatly in the past ten years. In the final period of the agrarian revolutionary war, our Party finally established comrade Mao Zedong as the leader of the Central Committee and the whole Party. This was the greatest achievement of the Communist Party of China during this period and the greatest guarantee for the liberation of the Chinese people. ”

The "Resolution" proves with a large number of historical facts that Mao Zedong put forward and practiced a set of correct lines, principles and policies at every historical stage of the new-democratic revolution. At every critical juncture of the revolution, the interference of erroneous ideas was resisted and the revolution was saved.

These historical facts tell people that Mao Zedong deserves to be recognized as the leader of the whole party. The "Resolution" said with confidence: "The plenum is pleased to point out that after all its own successes and setbacks, our Party has finally reached its current level of consolidation and unity for the first time under the leadership of Comrade Mao Zedong, ideologically, politically, organizationally and militarily. This is a party that is on the verge of victory, a party that no force can defeat. ”

(iii)

The "Resolution" mainly talks about the 'Left' mistakes in the history of our Party, sums up the history of the Party and its lessons learned since the founding of the Party, especially the Fourth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Party (held in January 1931 and wang Ming came to power) to the Zunyi Conference (held in January 1935 to establish Comrade Mao Zedong's leading position in the Party and the Red Army), and draws conclusions on a number of major historical issues.

A comprehensive exposition was made of the historical background and content of the "Left" mistakes represented by Wang Ming, as well as its political, military, organizational, and ideological manifestations, the process of development, the harm caused, the social roots that arose, and the principle of correction. Part III of the Resolution contains five such paragraphs.

The first paragraph reads: "In January 1931, the Party convened the Fourth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee under the circumstances of oppression by these "Left" dogmatic sectarian elements headed by Comrade Chen Shaoyu (Wang Ming - quoted by the author) from all sides, and also under the situation that some of the comrades of the Central Committee who had made empiricist mistakes at that time compromised and supported them. ”

It is pointed out that "the convening of this conference did not have any positive constructive effect, and the result was the acceptance of the new "Left" line, which enabled it to win victory in the central leading organs, and the beginning of the third domination of the Party by the "Left" line in the period of the agrarian revolutionary war. ”

The second paragraph: "From the establishment of the Provisional Central Committee headed by Comrade Qin Bangxian (Bogu) in September 1931 to the Zunyi Conference in January 1935, it was a period of continuous development of the third "Left" line. ”

The third paragraph: "In January 1934, the Fifth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee (the Fifth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee), convened by the Provisional Central Committee, was the culmination of the third "Left" line. ”

Fourth paragraph: "The greatest evil consequence of the third "Left" line in the revolutionary base areas is the defeat of the fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" war in the area where the Central Committee is located and the withdrawal of the main force of the Red Army from the central area. The "Left" line made the mistake of escapism again during the military operations of withdrawing from Jiangxi and the Long March, and the Red Army continued to suffer losses. ”

Fifth paragraph: "In January 1935, at the enlarged Politburo meeting of the Central Committee led by Comrade Mao Zedong in Zunyi City, Guizhou Province, it was possible to successfully put an end to the rule of the "Left" line in the Party Central Committee and save the Party at the most critical juncture. ”

The above five paragraphs are basically consistent with the expression in the "Resolution on the Major Achievements and Historical Experiences of the Party's Century-Long Struggle." That is to say, due to the erroneous leadership of Wang Ming's "Left" dogmatism within the Party, the fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign in the Central Revolutionary Base Areas failed, and the Red Army had to carry out a strategic shift and move to northern Shaanxi through the arduous Long March. ...... In January 1935, the Politburo of the Central Committee held a Zunyi meeting on the way to the Long March, which in fact established Comrade Mao Zedong's leading position in the Party Central Committee and the Red Army, began to establish the leading position of the correct Marxist line with Comrade Mao Zedong as the main representative in the Party Central Committee, began to form the first generation of the Party's central leading collective with Comrade Mao Zedong as the core, opened a new stage for the Party to independently solve the practical problems of the Chinese revolution, and saved the Party, the Red Army, and the Chinese revolution at the most critical juncture. And after this, the Party was able to defeat Zhang Guotao's separatism, successfully complete the Long March, and open up a new situation in the Chinese revolution. This was a life-and-death turning point in the party's history. ”

(iv)

The Resolution focuses on the analysis of the social causes of error. It is pointed out that the errors of the "Left" and the Right, especially the third "Left" errors, are not the product of chance, but of certain socio-historical conditions.

Stressing the importance of overcoming petty-bourgeois thinking within the Party, he proposed that the ideological methods of the petty bourgeoisie are basically manifested in the subjectivity and one-sidedness of observing problems, taking one's subjective wishes, feelings and empty talk as reality, treating one-sidedness as comprehensive, partial as the whole, and trees as forests.

The political tendencies of the petty bourgeoisie generally tend to take the form of swaying left and right. When the bourgeoisie and the proletariat split, it is more likely that "Left" mistakes will occur;

And when the bourgeoisie and the proletariat unite, it is more likely that right-leaning errors will occur.

The tendency of the petty bourgeoisie in organizing life tends to manifest itself in individualism and sectarianism divorced from the masses.

(5)

The "Resolution" emphasizes adhering to the principle of "punishing the former and punishing the latter, curing the sick and saving people". To overcome erroneous ideas, we must neither engage in hasty nor reckless work, but must go deep into Marxist-Leninist education and carry out criticism and self-criticism.

In the past, in the struggle against mistakes, the essence of the mistakes and their root causes were not thoroughly understood ideologically, nor did they properly point out the methods of correction, and too much importance was attached to personal responsibility, thinking that if a simple blow was given to those who made mistakes, the problem would be solved. As a result, similar mistakes were repeated later.

The Resolution emphasizes an analytical approach to those comrades who have made mistakes, "as long as he has understood and begun to correct his mistakes, he should be welcomed without prejudice and united in his work for the Party." Even if he has not yet properly understood and corrected his mistakes, but no longer insists on his mistakes, he should be helped to understand and correct his mistakes with the attitude of earnest comrades. ”

The "Resolution" also emphatically points out: "All analysis, criticism and controversy of our Party on historical issues within the Party should proceed from unity and achieve unity, and if this principle is violated, it is incorrect." ”

During the Seventh Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee, Wang Ming fell ill and did not attend the meeting, and he wrote a letter to the plenary session expressing his support for the "Resolution" adopted unanimously by the plenary session.

The convening of the Seventh Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee and the adoption of the "Resolution" have unified the understanding of the whole party, strengthened the unity of the whole party on the basis of Mao Zedong Thought, created sufficient ideological conditions for the successful convening of the Seventh National Congress, and promoted the rapid progress and great victory of the people's revolutionary cause.

The Resolution has played an immeasurable role in the history of the Chinese revolution, and its basic expositions and conclusions are still applicable today. (To be continued)