Why is it that studying in France was a glorious time to change the trajectory of Deng Xiaoping's life? You read that right, it's really glorious years,
If you don't believe me, through the following article, I believe you will find the answer.
On September 11, 1920, a young man who had just turned 16 stood on the deck of the André Lepon, dressed in a black suit, wearing a wide hat and black leather shoes, looking at the endless sea, with the idea of "industrial salvation" dreaming of studying in France to study advanced industrial technology, carrying the study fees that his father had sold for grain, and embarked on the journey to Study in France.
Photograph of Deng Xiaoping in France in March 1921
What he didn't know was that the next study abroad trip to France would change his life.
At that time, he was not yet called Deng Xiaoping, and his scientific name was Deng Xixian (which means that he hoped that he could be a learned sage like a saint in the future), but later changed his name to Deng Xiaoping in order to avoid the arrest of the Kuomintang after the failure of the first Kuomintang-Communist cooperation.
From 11 September to 9 October, it took 39 days and nights of bumpy sea roads to reach Marseille, a port city in the south of France.
Route map for Shanghai students to sail to France
This even caused a lot of sensation in the local area, and in a copy of the Newspaper Le Marseilles of October 20, 1920, it was mentioned that "more than a hundred Chinese, aged between 15 and 25 years old, wearing Western suits, wearing wide-brimmed hats and pointed leather shoes, appeared polite and gentle, standing quietly on the deck of the André Lepon.
But Deng Xiaoping and other students studying abroad stayed in Marseille for only one day. So I went to the small town of Bayeux in the north of France, Bayeux (about), because only there is a place in France to receive international students who do not speak French.
In this way, Deng Xiaoping and 24 students studying in France crossed the whole of France from south to north, all the way bumpy, and finally enrolled in the then Bayeux (Yay) Secondary School on October 21, 1920, deng Xiaoping was placed in the department of business and commerce with other students studying in France, learning French while tutoring related courses.
But in fact, Deng Xiaoping studied at the French Bayeur (Yayle) Secondary School for only 5 months, that is, from October 21, 1920 to March 1921, when he was forced to drop out of school.
Because from October 21, 1920 to January 1921, Deng Xiaoping and other students studying in France basically relied on the maintenance fee issued by the Huafa Education Association to support the living expenses in school, but after January, the maintenance fee was stopped, and Deng Xiaoping finally had to give up studying at Bayeux (Yele) Middle School after two months of thrift and thrift, and began to make a living for himself.
But Deng Xiaoping stayed for about 5 years and 2 months from studying in France in October 1920 to leaving Paris in January 1926 for moscow, the red mecca of the Soviet Union.
So what did Deng Xiaoping go through over the next four years or so? How did he come into contact with communist ideas? How did he and Zhou Enlai become like-minded revolutionary comrades-in-arms?
In fact, it can be divided into three stages to understand Deng Xiaoping's more than 4 years of studying in France.
(1) Experience the stages of life of the working people at the bottom
In April 1921, in order to save tuition, but also for livelihood, Deng Xiaoping ran to Crusot's Schneider Steel Factory (the largest military factory in France at that time) as a rolling miller, the main task was to use steel clips to form the oven, hot steel bars dragged along the rectangular steel template, working in the workshop above 40 degrees Celsius every day, sweat kept flowing down, more than 50 hours of work a week, skin burns are also common things, high-intensity work, plus a simple working environment, For Deng Xiaoping, who was short and not yet 18 years old, the degree of hardship could be imagined.
But the high-intensity work was exchanged for a meager wage of 6 francs a day, eating became a problem, not to mention saving tuition, less than a month later, Deng Xiaoping resigned, during this time, Deng Xiaoping truly experienced the suffering of the working people at the bottom being brutally exploited by the capitalists, and truly had a preliminary understanding of the working people at the bottom.
After resigning at the end of April 1921, Deng Xiaoping went to Paris to make another living, Deng Xiaoping worked as a temporary worker and handyman such as a dock porter, cleaner and restaurant waiter, and also worked in a factory near Paris.
Deng Xiaoping (right) and Deng Shaoxian in France in March 1921
(2) The embryonic stage of Marxist thought
In February 1922, Deng Xiaoping left Paris and went to the rubber factory of montalgy Hutchinson's factory in France a hundred miles away to earn tuition money and living expenses, and Deng Xiaoping's main job was to make rubber shoes and bicycle inner and outer tubes.
During this period, Deng Xiaoping met quite a few students studying in France who were also work-studyers, including Wang Ruofei, Wang Fuchun, and other advanced intellectuals; Wang Ruofei often walked and talked with Deng Xiaoping to introduce him to Marxist thought; Deng Xiaoping also slowly developed a sense of curiosity about Marxist thought, and began to read some magazines that propagated Marxist ideas, such as "New Youth" and "Guide," and slowly in Deng Xiaoping's mind the idea of using Marxist thought to save the country.
After that, he began to gradually move closer to the organization of the Youth League of the Communist Party of China in Europe (in 1922, Zhou Enlai, Li Weihan and other 18 like-minded revolutionary youths in China were established in Paris, with the purpose of better uniting work-study students in France and spreading Marxist ideas), gradually participated in some league organization activities, and learned more and more about Marx.
In March 1923, Deng Xiaoping left the Hutchinson factory and began to pursue his new goal of national salvation, communism.
(3) The stage of Marxist ideological practice.
If the period at the Montalki Hutchinson factory was the stage of Deng Xiaoping's Marxist enlightenment, then in Paris it was the stage of deng xiaoping's Marxist thought practice.
Because after Deng Xiaoping arrived in Paris, he gradually integrated into the revolutionary circle of Zhou Enlai, Li Lisan and other early leaders of the Communist Party of China, and in June 1923, Deng Xiaoping officially joined the Youth League of the Communist Party of China in Europe and began his professional revolutionary career, and a year later he officially joined the Communist Party of China and became a revolutionary fighter.
At that time, Deng Xiaoping was mainly responsible for the work of engraving mimeographs of magazines, the work was serious and responsible, and his body was always full of mimeograph flavor, and he was affectionately called "Dr. Mimeograph" by his comrades-in-arms.
After Zhou Enlai was transferred back to China in 1924, Deng Xiaoping began to take charge of more responsibilities for the party group (the Youth League of the Communist Party of China in Europe), Deng Xiaoping was very active, and all kinds of activities and rallies were active speeches and participation in organizations, and gradually became one of the core members of the Communist Youth League organization of the Communist Party of China in Europe.
Group photo of the Fifth Congress of the Communist Youth League in Europe (Deng Xiaoping in the back row, third from right)
In 1925, Deng Xiaoping went to Lyon as a commissioner, responsible for the work of the Lyon party group and the organization of Chinese workers' activities, in this year, Deng Xiaoping and other members of the party group organized and led the work-study students, and Chinese people from all walks of life supported the "May Thirtieth" movement in the country (the British patrol shot and slaughtered the marching masses in the British Concession in Shanghai, killing and injuring dozens of people, causing the May Thirtieth Massacre that shocked the whole country, causing public indignation among the people of the whole country, and demonstrations, strikes, strikes and strikes were held in various places. The wave of struggle, this demonstration in France shocked the whole of France, the French Paris Police Began to notice this young man, even under the interference and surveillance of the French police, Deng Xiaoping and other members of the Chinese Communist Youth League in Europe were still insisting on working underground.
On January 7, 1926, Deng Xiaoping, Fu Zhong, and 20 other people, under the instructions of the party, quietly left Paris, France, and went to Moscow, The Soviet Union, to continue studying Marxism, and shortly before Deng Xiaoping left, the Paris Police Department in France had issued an arrest warrant for Deng Xiaoping.
In this way, Deng Xiaoping ended his study abroad life in France for 5 years and 2 months.
Now, let's go back to the question at the beginning, why is it that studying in France was a glorious time that changed the trajectory of Deng Xiaoping's life?
Deng Xiaoping crossed the ocean at the age of 16 and went to France with the dream of "saving the country through industry," but after arriving in France, the ideal was very full, the reality was very bone, and he had no choice but to quit school several times because of tuition fees, ruthless exploitation, the suffering of the working people at the bottom, and high-intensity work made Deng Xiaoping deeply appreciate the oppression of the people by capitalist countries.
The Montalki Hutchinson factory was a turning point that changed his life's destiny. Here he learned about Marxist thought, the influence of the circle of friends, coupled with his own exploration of the road to national salvation, Deng Xiaoping became more and more interested in Marxist thought, gradually became a loyal follower, gradually gave up the illusion of "industrial salvation of the country", and threw himself wholeheartedly into the cause of communism, and he also believed more and more that only Marxism could save China.
When a thought becomes a belief, the power it brings is immeasurable.