Friday, July 1, 1921. Reds in China.

                       

The Communist Party of China, which ultimately would have the blood of millions on its hands, was founded on this day in 1921, or at least claims to have been.  The actual date is somewhat murky, which is natural given the circumstances, but it was right about about this time, perhaps within a few days.

Symbol of the Chinese Communist Party, appropriately in blood red.

An alien introduction in the first place, the Chinese Communist Party grew out of the May 4th Movement which expressed student discontent with the Versailles Treaty, which had failed to recognize Chinese claims to German colonial holdings on Chinese territory, finding in favor of Japan instead. While Japan was a full belligerent in the war, the failure to assign these territories to China was clearly a violation of Wilson's Fourteen Points and a shocking denial of legitimate Chinese claims in favor of illegitimate Japanese ones.  While the protests were legitimate, they came at a time during which radical Marxism was gaining ground in Europe and those movements spilled over into China.  At nearly the same time, many of the same ideas would begin to get a toehold in Japan, along with concepts of extreme nationalism, such as would take hold in Germany and Italy.  For that matter, the Bolsheviks, even thought they lacked a firm grasp on Russia at the time, was active in promoting Communism in China and had an early foundational role in the CCP by 1919.

Student protest in May 4th Movement.

The same was somewhat true of the Chinese Nationalist Party, the KMT, and early on the CCP ended up being a wing of the KMT. Sun Yat Sen, one of the KMT's founders, was at least somewhat sympathetic to Communism and the KMT early on adopted certain Leninist principals.  Indeed, some proto communist elements have never left the KMT, which remains a significant political party in Taiwan.

The party struggled with the KMT until after World War Two, at which time it defeated the KMT in the Chinese Civil War on the mainland.  The story is a long and complicated one, as is the story of the KMT itself, which we'll perhaps detail elsewhere, as that story has its roots in the era we are focused on. Suffice it to say, the CCP continues to rule China to this day, but on a model that draws some influence from the Leninist NEP.  It can't continue to govern China forever, and while it remains strongly in place, it's long-term prospects are probably shorter than generally suspected.  It has become, in recent years, the most serious military threat to the United States and the first peer level military opponent of the US since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

On the same day the left wing government of Mexico imposed increased tariffs on the export of petroleum products which brought oil production and exploration to a halt.