GOVIND S KELKAR
The Chinese Experience of Political Campaigns and Mass Mobilisation
THE connection between political campaigns, and mass mobilization is especially close in China. People participate in the political process of their country, motivated by knowledge about many matters which in the isolation of traditional society did not concern them. It was during the Anti-Japanese war years of 1937-1945 (also known as the Yenan Period) that a system of mass mobilization through political campaigns began in earnest. The Chinese Communists launched a series of organized and planned campaigns with a view to mobilize the entire people in support of the Party leadership and its policies. Significantly, the organizational concepts and techniques of mass mobilization developed in these war years by the Communists at Yenan later formed the basis of their revolutionary programme in the Chinese People's Republic. By examining the process and techniques of mass mobilization during the Yenan period, which served to link the Chinese Communist Party to the common people, one can elucidate the reasons for its success, and that is the purpose of this study. In the following pages, an attempt has been made to examine the Chinese Communist strategy of mass mobilization with special reference to the organization and functions of various political campaigns. The Shensi-Kansu-Ninghsia Border Region has been concentrated top6n because the Border Region with Yenan as the capital and the directive centre of the political system, is the most important area