The early organization of the Chinese Communist Party was in France

After the First World War, with the establishment of the Soviet Russian regime, Marxism received wider attention in Europe. The Communist Party in Germany has a membership of 300,000, and the Communist Party in France has separated from the Socialist Party and has grown rapidly. At this time, China launched a work-study movement in France. At the beginning of 1917, Cai Yuanpei, Wu Yuzhang and others established the Beijing Huafa Education Association and the Work-Study Society for Studying in France. From 1919 to 1920, about 2,000 students went to France in 20 batches. It was in the work-study movement in France that one of the early organizations of the Communist Party of China in France was born.

The establishment of the early organization in France

After the May Fourth Movement, early organizations of the Communist Party of China appeared in Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Changsha, Guangzhou, Jinan and other places, and preparations for the establishment of the Party in China were about to emerge. In 1920, Zhang Shenfu, a lecturer at Peking University who was a member of the early organization of the Communist Party in Beijing, went to Lyon to teach at the Sino-French University in France. Before leaving, Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu respectively discussed with Zhang Shenfu about the establishment of party organizations overseas, hoping that he would continue to recruit party members and establish party organizations after he arrived in Europe. After arriving in France, Zhang Shenfu immediately began the development of the party. At the beginning of 1921, he first introduced Liu Qingyang to join the Communist Party of China, and then introduced Zhou Enlai, a work-study student in France, to join the party.

At the same time that Zhang Shenfu began to establish the party in France, Zhao Shiyan and Li Lisan, who went to France for work-study programs, also established the Labor Society, and later established the Secretariat of the Chinese Workers Association among Chinese workers and work-study students, and founded the journal "Huagong Weekly" to propagate Marxism through the publication. At the beginning of 1921, Zhao Shiyan received a letter from Chen Duxiu, in which he told him to go to Zhang Shenfu. In this way, Zhang Shenfu, Zhou Enlai, Liu Qingyang, Zhao Shiyan, Chen Gongpei and others established the early organization of the Communist Party in France in Paris. In July of the same year, the early organization of the Communist Party in France, together with eight early Communist Party organizations in Beijing and Shanghai, jointly initiated the establishment of the Communist Party of China.

After that, in the winter of 1922, according to the instructions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the general branch of the Communist Party of China in Europe was established in Germany, with Zhang Shenfu as secretary and Zhao Shiyan as secretary of the France group. Paris, Lyon, Kruzou, Mondal and other cities in France where Chinese work-study students gather in France all have members of the early organization of the Communist Party of China in France. In this way, the early organization of the Chinese Communist Party in France spread like a spark in Europe.

Activities organized in the early days of the trip to France

One of the most important activities of the Communist Party of China in France was the establishment of the Chinese Communist Youth League in Europe. In April 1922, Zhao Shiyan sent two letters to China, saying that "the European side has decided to set up a 'youth league'". In June of the same year, 18 people, including Zhao Shiyan, Li Fuchun, and Zhou Enlai, respectively representing Chinese progressive students in France, Germany, and Belgium, gathered in the Bourde de Bren, a suburb of Paris, France, and after three days of discussions, officially announced the founding of the Chinese Young Communist Party in Europe.

Soon after the founding of the Chinese Young Communist Party in Europe, he learned that the Communist Party of China and the Chinese Socialist Youth League had been established in China, so he held a meeting in October and decided to join the Chinese Socialist Youth League. In January 1923, with the formal approval of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese Young Communist Party in Europe officially joined the Chinese Socialist Youth League.

Around the Spring Festival of 1923, the Chinese Young Communist Party in Europe held an extraordinary congress in the suburbs of Paris, and under the chairmanship of Zhao Shiyan, after four days of discussion, the constitution drafted by Zhou Enlai was adopted, and it was renamed "The Chinese Communist Youth League in Europe (the department of the Chinese Socialist Youth League in Europe)", requiring that the members of the League must "have faith in communism". At the meeting, Zhou Enlai and other five people were elected to form a new executive committee.

After the establishment of the early organization of the Communist Party of China in France, it ran the theoretical journal "Youth" at the headquarters of the office at 17 rue de Godfroy in Paris, which was later renamed "Red Light". Deng Xiaoping was the youngest member of the editorial board and was responsible for the engraving, printing and binding of the periodicals. He worked in the factory every day, and often rushed directly to the editorial office before he had time to change his tooling, and often worked with Zhou Enlai. Deng Xiaoping's carved wax paper was clear and beautiful, and everyone called him "Dr. Mimeograph". In the face of the attacks and provocations of the "nationalist faction", Deng Xiaoping successively wrote a series of combat essays such as "Please Look at the Counterrevolutionary Youth Party's Wanton Fabrication" and published them in "Red Light" under the name of "Xixian." His articles are short, sharp, and pungent, like a sharp throwing gun, and they are very lethal. Many years later, Deng Xiaoping still can't forget these years. In 1974, he led the Chinese delegation to New York to attend the sixth special session of the United Nations General Assembly, and when he stayed in France, he specially bought croissants and gave them to Zhou Enlai and other old comrades-in-arms who had stayed in France.

In addition to spreading Marxism, the early organizations of the Communist Party of China in France also participated in practical struggles. In June 1921, in response to the Beiyang government's act of selling the Chinese stamp duty and the construction rights of the Yunnan-Chongqing Railway to France, Zhao Shiyan, Zhou Enlai, and others, together with the Chinese Student Association in France, Chinese workers' organizations, and overseas Chinese organizations, formed a refusal committee and issued a "Declaration of Refusal," calling on the Chinese and French people to unite against this dirty deal.

In 1922, when the Chinese Communist Youth League in Europe was founded, cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party began, and the early organizations of the Communist Party of China in France actively participated in it. In March 1923, the Chinese Communist Youth League in Europe held its annual meeting in Paris and agreed to join the Kuomintang or join hands with the Kuomintang. After that, all the members of the Chinese Communist Youth League in Europe joined the Kuomintang in their personal names. In 1924, with the development of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, the Great Revolution flourished. In the early days of the Communist Party of China's stay in France, the Communist Party of China first sent Zhao Shiyan, Wang Ruofei, Chen Yannian, Chen Qiaonian, Xiong Xiong, and others to study at the Eastern Workers' Communist University in Moscow, and later successively selected Nie Rongzhen, Li Fuchun, Deng Xiaoping, and Zhou Enlai to return to China. By the beginning of 1926, the early members of the Communist Party of China in France went to the Soviet Union to study or return to China, and the organizational activities gradually ended.

The historical role of the early organization in France

The early organization of the Communist Party of China in France lasted only four years from its inception to its end. However, this early organization of the Communist Party, which was mainly composed of European work-study students and Chinese workers, made outstanding contributions to the founding of the Communist Party of China and occupies an important position in the history of the party.

The early organization of the Communist Party of China in France wrote a strong stroke for the spread of Marxism. After the establishment of the early organization in France, it persisted in studying and propagating Marxism, criticizing anti-Marxism, and cultivating a group of ideological and resolute Communist Party cadres. As Zhou Enlai said: "In the past, I used to say, 'When I talk about ism, my heart beats', that is the psychology of our side when we began to compare everything after we arrived in Europe, but now I have to have resolute confidence." When he joined the party, he made it clear: "The doctrine I believe must remain unchanged, and I am very determined to propagate for him." ”

In the early days of the Communist Party of China's stay in France, it cultivated and delivered a large number of backbone forces for the Chinese revolution. After the establishment of the early organization in France, a large number of work-study students in France were united, such as Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, Chen Yi, Nie Rongzhen, Li Fuchun, Wang Ruofei, Li Lisan and others. Many of these work-study students in France were active members of the May Fourth Movement, and some of them had been influenced by Marxism in China, such as Cai Hesen, who "read and translated" Marxist books after arriving in France. No matter how tired Zhao Shiyan was after work, he hurried to the roof of the rented building to read as many Marxist books as possible in the afterglow of the sunset, and called himself a "thief at dusk". They quickly grew into important leaders of the Communist Party of China in the later revolutionary practice and made outstanding contributions to the Chinese revolution.

In the early days of the Communist Party of China's (CPC) organization in France, it was a new force of the CPC overseas. After the establishment of the early organization in France, it quickly established regimental organizations in France and other countries, and relied on this to unite and guide a large number of work-study students in France and help them establish communist beliefs. After the beginning of the Great Revolution, it actively promoted the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party and adhered to the revolutionary united front. When one after another members of the early organizations of the Communist Party of China in France returned to China and integrated into the torrent of the Great Revolution, they injected infinite strength into the development of the Chinese revolution.