A Study On Local Agencies Of The Eighth Route Army(1937-1946)

In the early days of the all-out Anti-Japanese War,with the realization of thesecond cooperation between the KMT and the Communist Party,after the main force of the Red Army of the Chinese Workers and Peasants in northern Shaanxi wasreorganized into the Eighth Route Army,with the consent of the Kuomintang’s highest authority and relevant local authorities,from August 1937 to June 1941,in the name of the Eighth Route Army,the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Central Military Commission have successively established 18 agencies in several cities and important areas in the Kuomintang-ruled areas.The longest existence of these local agencies is 10years,and the shortest is only a few months and dozens of days.Its main tasks were to liaise and negotiate with the Kuomintang authorities on behalf of the Eighth Route Army,consolidate and develop the anti-Japanese national united front,publicize the Communist Party’s anti-Japanese propositions,promote the anti-Japanese salvation movement,and raise,receive,and transfer materials,escort passing personnel,and protect the CPC Central Bureau’s work and complete the tasks assigned.The local agencies of the Eighth Route Army were established in batches year by year in accordance with the situation of the War of Resistance against Japan,in various forms.Firstly,they were established at the seat of the Kuomintang’s central government and were responsible for liaison and negotiations with the Kuomintang’s highest military and political authority,such as the agencies of the Eighth Route Army in Nanjing,Wuhan,and Chongqing.Under the leadership of the representatives of the CPC Central Committee,the Eighth Route Army and the Central Sub-bureaus,these agencies were responsible for part of the functions of the CPC delegation or the agencies of the CPC Central Bureau,and for guidance and liaison with other agencies.Secondly,theywere located in the provincial capital or theater command or critical node area of the Kuomintang ruling area.They were mainly responsible for liaison and negotiation with the local government of the Kuomintang and the theater commander’s department,playing the role of contacting information,transporting materials,and escorting passing personnel,such as the agencies of the Eighth Route Army in Shaanxi,Shanxi,Gansu,Xinjiang,Luoyang,Guangzhou and Guilin,agencies in the 2^nd theater commander’s department,agencies in the 1^st theater liaison office,Hunan communications office,Hengyang traffic station,Guiyang traffic station,and thenorthern Henan.The third were the agencies located in Hong Kong and the concession of the enemy-occupied area of Shanghai.Their main work was to promote the CCP’s anti-Japanese propositions overseas,and to receive and transfer materials donated from overseas,and escort passing personnel.The relationship between the local agencies of the Eighth Route Army and the central and local CCP organizations and related party and government agencies of the Kuomintang was relatively complicated.The affiliation and organizational relationship between local agencies and the Central Committee of the CPC,the organizational and working relationship between local agencies and local party organizations,and the affiliation and working relationship between local agencies and the Eighth Route Army headquarters were both overlapping and different.The relationship between local agencies and the National Government,the work interaction between local agencies and the relevant departments of the National Government of the Kuomintang Control Area,and the work relationship and work interaction between local agencies and the theater where the organization was located were also different due to different specific environments.The relationship between local agencies and the central government,the Eighth Route Army headquarters,and local governments has strengthened organizational leadership and smoothed the channels for the implementation of organizational intentions.The relationship between local agencies and the National Government,the theater of operations,etc.was conducive to the development of work and promoted the strategic concept and layout of the CPC Central Committee.The work of the local agencies of the Eighth Route Army was closely connected with the evolution of the relationship between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.In the strategic defense stage of the War of Resistance Against Japan,the main tasks were to assist the representatives of the CPC Central Committee to negotiate with the Kuomintang and liaise with the military and political departments of the Kuomintang;to promote the Communist Party’s anti-Japanese propositions,to promote the anti-Japanese salvation movement in the Kuomintang-ruled area;to receive military supplies and purchase scarce supplies from the relevant departments of the National Government;torecruit progressive youths,actively train anti-Japanese backbones;to cover and assist local party organizations of the CPC.In October 1938,after the national war of resistance turned into a strategic stalemate,the Kuomintang diehards represented by Chiang Kai-shek followed a passive anti-Japanese and active anti-communist line,and the relationship between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party gradually became tense.The main tasks of the local agencies of the Eighth Route Army were to strengthen the consolidation and development of the anti-Japanese national united front;to expose the Kuomintang diehards’conspiracy to undermine unity;to work on the united front of the Kuomintang’s local power factions and the army in depth;to raise funds and materials in various ways,andreceive secretly passing personnel;to publicize the Communist Party’s views on the establishment of a coalition government.After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War,the Chinese people were faced with two futures and two choices of destiny.The CPC represented the interests of the people and wants to build China into an independent,democratic,and prosperous new China,while the KMT authorities represented by the Chiang Kai-shek Group adhered to the policy of dictatorship and civil war,attempting to destroy the Communist Party and its leading revolutionary forces by force,and to restore the rule of the big landlords and big bourgeoisie.The main task of the local agencieswas to ensure that the CCP delegation conducted peace talks in Chongqing,negotiated matters agreed between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party;strengthened the work of the Kuomintang army,and promoted the struggle against civil war.The 18 local agencies were divided into three types.The first was located in the Kuomintang central government,the second in the provincial capital or theater of the Kuomintang ruling area or the critical node area,and the third in Hong Kong and enemy-occupied Shanghai concession.The thesis selects typical cases from the three types for comparative research:Chongqing agency of the Eighth Route Army,Xi’an agency of the Eighth Route Army,and Hong Kong agency of the Eighth Route Army.Chongqing agency of the Eighth Route Army was set up in the center of the Guomindang District.On the one hand,it was responsible for covering the work of the Southern Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.On the other hand,it also assisted the representatives of the CPC Central Committee in negotiating with the National Government authorities and contacting matters related to the Communist Party and the Kuomintang,including the Kuomintang and Communist Parties and the Eighth Route Army.Xi’an agency of the Eighth Route Army evolved from the Red Army Liaison Office.It was the first agency to be established,geographically close to Yan’an.From the very beginning of its establishment,the agency was a bridgehead connecting Yan’an,different from other agencies in terms of staffing and work content.The Hong Kong agency of the Eighth Route Army was the channel and window for the CCP to contact overseas.It was Hong Kong through which people around the world supported China,and overseas Chinese supported the war.The local agencies of the Eighth Route Army played an important role during the Anti-Japanese War and the early days of the Liberation War.The local agencies of the Eighth Route Army have lasted for nearly 10 years from the establishment to the abolition.The establishment time of the local agencies were different,their organization scale varied,their duration of existence varied,and their tasks,targets,and environments were different,but they all under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee,the Central Military Commission,the relevant central bureaus and the Eighth Route Army Headquarters,worked hard,and wit and bravely completed various arduous and complex tasks of unity to resist Japan and save the country.They have resolutely implemented the policies and instructions of the CPC Central Committee,safeguarded the overall situation of the Kuomintang and Communist Party’s anti-Japanese cooperation,enriched the party’s policies and strategies in the Kuomintang-ruled area,provided the party with experience in strengthening its own construction in the Kuomintang-ruled area,and significantly contributed to the victory of the Anti-Japanese War.It is precisely because of its critical role that the local agencies of the Eighth Route Army are honored as the"combat headquarters"and"the revolutionary little Yan’an."...