119 lines
6.4 KiB
Markdown
119 lines
6.4 KiB
Markdown
*Not to be confused with January revolutions and uprisings in
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[Egypt](Egyptian_Revolution_\(2011\) "wikilink") (2011),
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[Germany](Sparticist's_Uprising "wikilink") (1918), Ukraine or Poland
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(1863)*
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The **January Storm** (or **January Revolution**) was an attempt to turn
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Shanghai into a [libertarian socialistish
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community](Libertarian_Socialism "wikilink") during the [Cultural
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Revolution](Cultural_Revolution_\(China\) "wikilink") in
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[China](China "wikilink") in
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[1967](Timeline_of_Libertarian_Socialism_in_Eastern_Asia "wikilink").
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## Background
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As the Cultural Revolution gained momentum in 1966, it became evident
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that Chairman Mao Zedong and his Maoist followers in Beijing had
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underestimated the ability of local party organizations to resist the
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attacks from Red Guards. By the end of 1966 many regional party
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groupings had survived by paying lip service to Maoist teachings while
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countering the attacks of local Maoists.<sup>\[2\]</sup>
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To break the stalemate which had begun to form, Maoist leaders called
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for the "seizure of power by proletarian revolutionaries", a concept
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originally mentioned in the Sixteen Articles (a statement of the aims of
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the Cultural Revolution approved at the 11th Plenum of the Communist
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Party of China in August 1966). Shanghai was chosen as the first place
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where this "seizure" would be attempted.
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Shanghai's experience of the Cultural Revolution had begun in the summer
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of 1966 with the formation of Red Guard groups proclaiming their loyalty
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to Chairman Mao. The movement quickly became heavily factionalized (as
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was the norm), but also rapidly developed very radical tendencies, with
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attacks on the authority of the city's mayor and physical attacks on
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government buildings.<sup>\[3\]</sup> By the autumn of the same year,
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the spirit of rebellion had spread from the city's schools to the
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factories, and there soon followed the creation of many different
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worker-based groups. In November, several of these groups proceeded to
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form an alliance (the 'Headquarters of the Revolutionary Revolt of
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Shanghai Workers') led by Wang Hongwen.
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By this point, the Cultural Revolution in Shanghai was proceeding at a
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rapid pace. On 8 November, the Worker's Headquarters presented a list of
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demands to the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee demanding the
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replacement of the old "bureaucracy" with new organs that had widespread
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support. These demands were refused, but two days later a large number
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of workers seized a train to Beijing, with the intention of presenting
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their demands personally to Mao. The train was intercepted at Anting
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(several miles from Shanghai). Nearly half of the workers remained on
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board, refusing to return to Shanghai, turning the situation into a
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three-day siege.
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The response from the Maoist leaders in Beijing was one of caution.
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Their first response was to send a telegram stating the seriousness of
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disobeying Party instructions, but before the order could be implemented
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a second message from the leadership was personally conveyed by Zhang
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Chunqiao (a leading member of the Cultural Revolution Group) to Anting,
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and he proceeded to grant the Worker's Headquarters legal status and
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cede to them all of their demands.<sup>\[4\]</sup> The event signaled
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the exhaustion of the established apparatus' last political capital.
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It was in this situation that the attempt to seize power would be
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conducted in early January 1967.
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## Establishment
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On 5 January 1967, a dozen groups allied with the Worker's Headquarters
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grouping published a "Message to all the People of Shanghai" in the
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city's main newspaper, calling for unity in the workers' movement. The
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next day over one million people gathered in the city's main square to
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see a televised mass meeting, in which the city's officials were
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denounced and removed from their positions. This marked the fall of the
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old established apparatus. The now leaderless old apparatus was taken
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over by Zhang Chunqiao who came again to Shanghai with his colleague Yao
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Wenyuan to restore order. The pair proceeded to strike a deal with Wang
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Hongwen to guarantee the support of the Worker's
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Headquarters<sup>\[5\]</sup> and, with the support of the People's
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Liberation Army, order had been restored to Shanghai by the end of
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January.
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However, the unity that had existed early in January was not to last.
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While the Scarlet Guards (another worker grouping who were rivals of the
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Worker's Headquarters) proceeded to pledge their support to the new
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leadership, the more radical groups involved in the January revolution
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moved into a position of opposition, fearing that the new apparatus was
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of little difference to the old bureaucracy. By the end of January and
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the beginning of February, these groups had taken up arms again, and the
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factional fighting that had dominated the previous year was resumed.
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To secure the support of all the major groups, Zhang promised the
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introduction of a model based on the Paris Commune, a measure that
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quickly gained popular approval (all the groups mutually despised
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dictatorships). On 5 February 1967, the Shanghai Commune was formally
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proclaimed with Zhang Chunqiao as the head of the new organisation, but
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the movement was to be short-lived and marred with difficulty.
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## Fall
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Although the Shanghai Commune was based on Paris Commune model with a
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"self government of producers", the Shanghai equivalent varied in
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several meaningful ways. Zhang Chunqiao and Yao Wenyuan derived their
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authority from Peking and Mao Zedong rather than the proletariat of
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Shanghai, leading to the questioning of the legitimacy of their
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leadership. Finally, Zhang's political opponents in Shanghai were soon
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excluded from the leadership of the Commune, driving several groups to
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establish a rival 'New Shanghai People's Commune' almost immediately
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after the first one's formation.
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Meanwhile, in Peking, the concept of 'revolutionary committees' (triple
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alliances between the PLA, cadres, and workers) had attracted Mao as the
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best organ of local government to replace the old apparatus with. As a
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result, in an audience with Zhang Chunqiao and Yao Wenyuan in
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mid-February, Mao suggested the transformation of the Shanghai Commune
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into a revolutionary committee.<sup>\[6\]</sup> On 24 February, in a
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televised speech to the people of Shanghai, Zhang announced the now
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non-existence of the Shanghai Commune, and in the subsequent weeks the
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'Revolutionary Committee of the Municipality of Shanghai' was
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established in the city.
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All in all, the Shanghai Commune had lasted less than a month. |