The Establishment Of New China 's Military Leadership System And The Study Of The Soviet Union

The military leadership system in the People’s Republic of China(PRC) was created in the 1950 s. It was developed through practice and exploration on the basis of inheriting the military leadership system formed during the period of revolutionary war and drawing on the experience of the Soviet Union. Today, when China is at a critical transitional juncture of the process of deepening the reform, including the reform of the national defense and military system, in an all-round way, it is of great significance to carry out comprehensive and systematic research on the historical process of the creation of the military leadership system in China, so as to trace the sources of the system and learn from the past experience.In the Introduction, the thesis gives a summary review of the research subject, including the significance of the subject, the current situation of the research on the subject, and approaches to and the methodology of the research. The main part of the thesis consists five chapters: Chapter One analyzes the special historical background of the creation of the military leadership system of the PRC, including the formation and development of the military leadership system of the Communist Party of China(CPC) during the period of revolutionary war, the evolution of the military leadership system in China since the modern times, and the historical position of the Soviet military leadership system. Chapter Two gives a brief introduction to the basic process of the creation of the military leadership system in New China and of China’s learning from the military system of the Soviet Union. This process began with the establishment of the PRC and ended in the end of 1959 and can be divided into three stages: the initial stage, the stage of learning from the Soviet Union in an all-round way, and the stage of adjustment and finalization. Chapter Three gives a general description of the Chinese military leadership system during the period of initial stage of finalization, and tries to reveal the basic structure and main characteristics of the system and the special historical environment in which it took form. Chapters Four to Six are monographic studies on some major issues relating to the military leadership system in New China, including the system of the Commander in Chief and the CPC Central Military Commission, the Ministry of National Defense with Chinese characteristics, and the Party committee system versus the one-man leadership system controversy. Among them, the system of the Commander in Chief and the CPC Central Military Commission is the core of the military leadership system in China and the related institutional arrangements are the key to understanding the system, whereas the questions of what kind of system of the Ministry of National Defense should be established and whether or not to establish a one-man leadership system had been the two most controversial issues during the period of learning from the Soviet Union. In the above monographic studies, which are the most innovative parts of this thesis, the author tries to put forward some new reflections and ideas on the relevant issues. In the Conclusions, the author elaborates on the historical position and the role of the creation of the military leadership system in China and summarizes the experiences gained and lessons learnt from it.This thesis systematically examines the basic process of the creation of the military leadership system in New China and of China’s learning from the military leadership system of the Soviet Union, describes the basic organizational structure and main characteristics of this system, and carries out in-depth analyses on some major issues relating to the system, including the system of the Commander in Chief and the CPC Central Military Commission, the Ministry of National Defense with Chinese characteristics, and the Party committee system versus the one-man leadership system controversy, and draws some new conclusions on these issues. The author holds that the following epochal questions had run through the whole process of creating the military leadership system in New China and China’s leaning from the military leadership system of the Soviet Union: How to properly deal with the institutional relationships between the ruling party, the state and the armies? How to properly deal with the various contradictions inherent in the military leadership system, such as those between operational command and construction management and between centralization and decentralization? How can a military leadership system formed during the revolutionary war adapt to a long-term peaceful environment? And how to actively draw on the useful foreign experiences while at the same time carrying forward the fine Chinese military traditions? The historical significance of this process can be summarized as the followings: total destruction of the old system and construction of a brand new system, overall transformation, and overall foundation-laying.