Book Reviews : Trygve Lötveit, Chinese Communism 1931-1934: Experiences in Civil Government. Copenhagen: Scandinavian Institute of Asian Studies, 1973, pp. 290, 30 Sw. Crs
Abstract
Book ReviewsTrygve Lötveit, Chinese Communism 1931-1934: Experiences in Civil Government. Copenhagen: Scandinavian Institute of Asian Studies, 1973, pp. 290, 30 Sw. Crs SAGE Publications, Inc.1974DOI: 10.1177/002190967400900323 Eugene Lubot Wheaton College Norton, U.S.A. This book contributes to our understanding of the Chinese Communist Party during its Kiangsi Period. During this time severe political and ideological conflicts eventually led to Mao Tse-tung's removal from power. Victory for the Moscow-trained twenty-eight Bolsheviks resulted in the displacement of Mao's moderate policies by a more leftist line. It also meant the abandonment of Mao's guerrilla tactics against Kuomintang troops. The decision to adopt the more conventional strategy of fighting from fixed positions proved to be ill- conceived, and its failure forced the Communists to embark on the historic Long March. Only then, in the midst of the Long March, did Mao's position as leader become relatively secure. Trygve L6tveit, research fellow at the Scandinavian Institute of Asian Studies in Copenhagen, sets two goals for his study. One is to describe the complex organizational network which developed in the Kiangsi soviet. The second is to trace the effects of the shift to the left in such areas as the administration of justice, land reform,