Social and Political Change in Revolutionary China

This in-depth study examines the influence of the Chinese Communist Party’s effective organizing in Shanxi Province during the War of Resistance.

Shanxi Province was on the frontlines of the 1937–1945 War of Resistance against Japan—the war that launched the Chinese Communist Party. During that time, the Taihang Base Area of Southwest Shanxi was one of the Party’s most important strongholds. David Goodman provides the first county-level analysis of social and political change in the Taihang Base Area during those crucial years.

Goodman explores revolution as process, arguing that the Party was successful because of its management of revolutionary incrementalism. He examines the roles of various groups, highlighting the activities of urban intellectuals, teachers, and peasant small-holders as agents of change.

Based on newly available sources, including recently republished materials from the Taihang Base Area, restricted documentation from the Taiyuan Archive, and interviews with veterans of the Taihang Base Area this meticulously researched work deepens our understanding of the social and political origins of the Chinese revolution.