The Tasks for 1945
#PUBLICATION NOTE
This edition of The Tasks for 1945 has been prepared and revised for digital publication by the Institute of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism under the Central Committee of the Communist Party in Switzerland on the basis of the following editions:
- Quotations in the Quotations From Chairman Mao Zedong, First English Edition, Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, 1965.
- Tasks for 1945, in Mao's Road to Power, First English Edition, Vol. 8, Routledge, New York and London, 2015.
#INTRODUCTION NOTE
This is a speech delivered by Comrade Mao Zedong at a plenary session of the Assembly of Representatives of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region in Yan'an, Shaanxi, China on the 15th of December, 1944. It was first published in the Jiefang Ribao (16th of December, 1944).
#Workers and oppressed people of the world, unite!
#THE TASKS FOR 1945
#SPEECH DELIVERED IN THE ASSEMBLY OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE SHAANXI-GANSU-NINGXIA BORDER REGION
#Mao Zedong
#15th of December, 1944
#★
#INTRODUCTION
What are our tasks for 1945 now that 1944 is coming to an end? To what work should way pay special attention next year? There have been tremendous victories in the entire Anti-Fascist War, and the overthrow of Hitler may be realized next year. Our only task is to cooperate with the Allies to overthrow the Japanese invaders. Now, the United States has already fought its way to Leyte and might land in China. At the same time, the Japanese invaders have broken through a continental transportation line from Tokyo to Singapore, and their occupied territory in China has expanded. Will the enemy stop their offensive? I do not think they will stop, and it is possible that they will launch attacks on our south-western and north-western regions. During this period, the Japanese invaders will certainly play tricks, attempting to use the Chinese capitulationists to lure the Chinese government into surrender. China's internal situation is still not unified, negotiations between the Nationalist Party and the Communist Party have brought no results, and the Chinese people's anti-Japanese forces are being split at the hands of the Chinese reactionaries. Combat on the front-line battlefields suffers one defeat after another, the Nationalist authorities still stubbornly insist on their one-party dictatorship and defeatist policies, with which all the Chinese people are dissatisfied, and they refuse all suggestions beneficial to resistance, unity, and progress. Only the vast Liberated Areas of China founded after great hardships have carried out Dr. Sun Yixian's revolutionary «Three People's Principles» or New Democracy, united people from all walks of life, established heroic armies, and shattered all the enemy's attacks. In addition, they have been able to launch offensives and have regained large areas of lost territory. Under such circumstances, what should we do?
We must make the people of the entire nation understand that we must use the strength of the people to convene a democratic National Assembly to organize a coalition government, in which the Nationalist Party, the Communist Party, and all other anti-Japanese political parties and figures participate. Only in this way can we unite all anti-Japanese forces in China to resist the attacks of the Japanese invaders and drive the Japanese invaders out of China in cooperation with the Allies. We have raised this issue through Comrade Lin Boqu at the People's Political Council, and we later raised it again in writing to the Nationalist authorities. Comrade Zhou Enlai recently made a special trip to Chongqing to discuss this matter, but still without any results. At present, it is very clear that negotiations alone will not be successful, and we hope that all people throughout the country will unite to appeal to the Nationalist authorities to change their current policies in order to build a democratic coalition government quickly. This is the general task of the people of the entire nation. The Chinese people, whether in the Great Rear Area, the enemy-occupied areas, or the Liberated Areas, should all strive for this goal. Only if China has a unified central government that truly carries out democratic policies and is able to mobilize and unite all anti-Japanese forces in China can the victory of China's War of Resistance Against Japan and the liberation of the Chinese people come quickly. Everyone should come up with many ways to achieve this objective.
In the Great Rear Area, we must assist the democratic patriotic movement that is being suppressed by the reactionary authorities, we must mobilize all forces to resist the enemy attacks, and we must be on guard against the conspiracy by the capitulationists who want to betray the nation and surrender to the enemy. There should be many young people and people from other walks of life who wage guerrilla warfare in the enemy-occupied areas, and the broad masses should be prepared to resist the enemy wherever they may appear. At the same time, the Liberated Areas should energetically assist the Great Rear Area with their own brave combat operations and should mobilize guerrilla warfare in new areas. Working hard to establish a democratic coalition government is the responsibility of all people and all patriotic political parties in the Great Rear Area. In the Great Rear Area, there are already many political parties, businesspeople, professors, students, and even many Nationalist Party members who approve of the proposal for a coalition government and believe that now it is the only correct way to resist Japan and save the nation. There is still not enough strength, however, and we should call on the broad masses to stand up and strive for this.
In the enemy-occupied areas, vast numbers of people are suffering from the enemy's cruel oppression and longing for liberation. We must help them to organize and prepare for armed uprisings when the time is ripe, cooperate with the army's offensives, drive out the Japanese invaders by combining the forces on the inside with the forces from the outside, and liberate our siblings. This task must now be raised to the same level of importance as work in the Liberated Areas. It is extremely urgent work, and we must carry it out, no matter how difficult it may be. In this work, the Communist Party of France and the French people are glorious models, and we should learn from the French experience. We should explain the necessity of a democratic coalition government to the people in enemy-occupied areas and make them understand that, once there is such a government, it will not be long before the people in the enemy-occupied areas will be liberated. We must call on them to stand up and strive for this goal.
The Liberated Areas have already become the core of resistance to Japan and national salvation. By the end of November 1944, there were 650'000 soldiers from the Eighth Route and New Fourth Armies and other anti-Japanese people's armies here, as well as 2'000'000 militia members and 90'000'000 liberated people. In the single year of 1944, we had great achievements in the military, political, economic, and cultural spheres, but what work is worthy of special note for 1945?
I believe that China's Liberated Areas should pay attention to each of the following tasks in 1945.
#1. EXPAND THE LIBERATED AREAS
There are many areas close to or a little bit farther from each of the Liberated Areas that are occupied by the enemy and the puppets and are not strongly defended. Our troops should attack these places, wipe out the enemy and the puppets, expand the Liberated Areas, and shrink the enemy-occupied areas. Under present conditions, we must take over all the weakly fortified areas that we can and convert them all into Liberated Areas, thereby forcing the enemy to live between extremely cramped cities and important transportation lines, tightly surrounded by us. When total conditions are ripe, we will drive the enemy out completely. This kind of offensive is absolutely necessary as well as possible. Our troops have already carried out many such offensives, with particularly great achievements this year, and we should continue to do this next year. In all of the places newly occupied by the enemy and the places where Liberated Areas have yet to be established, such as Henan, we must call on the people to organize armed forces to oppose the invaders and build new Liberated Areas. Several years of experience have proved that it is very effective to organize «armed working teams», which, after training, are good at carrying out military and political tasks. They can penetrate the rear areas behind enemy lines to attack the enemy and the puppets and to organize the people to cooperate with the fighting on the front lines of the battle in the Liberated Areas. This should be done in every location.
#2. COUNTER THE ENEMY'S «MOPPING-UP» CAMPAIGNS
The enemy offensive (their «mopping-up» campaign) will not stop. We should always be alert and prepared at any time to counter the «mopping-up» campaign to shatter the enemy offensive. It is wrong not to be on guard like this. Do not think that we are strong now and the enemy is weak, and that the comparative position between the enemy's strength and ours has now changed. We must be aware that the enemy is still strong, and they will never forget to launch attacks against us. We are still weaker than the enemy, and we must still work very hard. In addition, we must carry out correct military and other policies; only in this way can we change the situation. Only when we are at an advantage will the enemy's attacks become impossible.
#3. REFORM, TRAIN, AND STRENGTHEN THE FIGHTING CAPACITY OF THE SELF-DEFENCE CORPS AND THE MILITIA
We must reform and train the present self-defence corps and the militia, and strengthen their fighting capacity. There are not enough members of the self-defence corps and the militia, and, with the exception of certain special places, where it is impossible to do so, every location should make the strongest possible effort to expand their numbers. Of the 90'000'000 people in the Liberated Areas, apart from the elderly, the children, and the ill, all people, regardless of gender, should be incorporated into the self-defence corps. Without breaking away from production, they should shoulder the task of defending their hometowns and assisting the army. From among the self-defence corps, we should choose the sharper and more capable elements and incorporate them into the militia or the leadership of the self-defence corps. Under the principle of «combining fighting with production», they will fight in cooperation with the army or fight independently. Of the 90'000'000 people in the Liberated Areas, at least 5%, or 4'500'000 people, should be militia members; in other words, twice as many as the present number. Some areas have not yet paid full attention to this task. In such places, there are too few militia members, they lack reform and training, and they are not of high quality. This situation must be changed in 1945. Both the self-defence corps and the militia must not be away during the farming season, must minimize lost worktime, and must not obstruct production. Here, the method of labour-exchange is necessary. The fighting militia organization and the production labour-exchange organization can cooperate with each other regularly. The leading bodies of the self-defence corps and the militia must be democratically elected. Only in this way can the self-defence corps and the militia be enlarged and their fighting capacity increased. An important combat method of the militia is the use of land mines, and the land-mine movement should be popularized in all villages. Widespread manufacture of all types of land mines as well as technological training in explosives have become extremely necessary.
#4. REFORM AND TRAIN THE REGULAR ARMY AND THE GUERRILLA FORCES
In 1945, all troops should undergo reform and training once in rotation. They should reform and train in accordance with the new methods, and a mass movement for training troops should be carried out.
#5. REPLENISH AND ENLARGE THE ARMY
In the old areas, we should replenish the lost numbers of the original armies. In the newly developed areas, we should enlarge the military where economic conditions allow. Whether replenishing or enlarging the army, we must keep in mind that it must be done without increasing the financial burden on the people. If we violate this point, we are sure to fail.
#6. UNITE THE WHOLE ARMY
Unity within the army is extremely important. Our Eighth Route and New Fourth Armies have won glorious victories by always relying on unity between officers and soldiers. The influence of the pernicious warlord habits of the Chinese warlord armies still exists in our army, however, and these pernicious habits are very serious in some units. In 1945, we should work extensively to eliminate all the ugly phenomena that exist in relations between officers and soldiers. Such vile habits and erroneous policies and beating and insulting soldiers, not caring about their provisions, health, and other difficulties, punishing them without considering their mistakes and shortcomings and not using the method of patient persuasion and education, and humiliating or executing deserters, should all absolutely be eliminated. Many units are still neglecting this work, because they do not understand that it is the extremely important political basis of the army's fighting capacity. Equal importance should be attached to the military and political aspects of the one-year consolidation and training programme which has just begun, and the two aspects should be integrated. At the start, stress should be placed on the political aspect, on improving relations between officers and soldiers, enhancing internal unity, and awakening a high level of enthusiasm among the masses of officers and soldiers. Only thus will the military consolidation and training proceed smoothly and attain better results. To carry out this work, a movement to support the officers and cherish the soldiers should be launched in every army unit, calling on the officers to cherish the soldiers and the soldiers to support the officers. They should speak up about each other's shortcomings and mistakes and quickly correct them. In this way, they will be able to achieve a very good internal unity.
#7. «SUPPORT THE GOVERNMENT AND CHERISH THE PEOPLE» AND «SUPPORT THE ARMY AND GIVE PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT TO THE FAMILIES OF SOLDIERS FIGHTING THE JAPANESE»
We must strengthen the work to «support the government and cherish the people» and to «support the army and give preferential treatment to the families of soldiers fighting the Japanese», in order to further improve the relations between the army and the people. Relations between the people in our Liberated Areas and our Eighth Route and New Fourth Armies have always been good, which is why we can defeat the enemy and strengthen and develop the Liberated Areas. The pernicious habit of the army of the old type, however, may similarly infect us. Harmful phenomena in relations between the army and the people, such as the army's unreasonable attitude, impairing the interests of the people, poor discipline, and disrespect for the government, also occur frequently. In addition, phenomena such as localities not helping the army enough and doing a poor job in giving preferential treatment to the families of soldiers fighting the Japanese also exist. In 1943, we pointed out the importance of this work, yet many places still have not paid attention to it. In January 1945, all Liberated Areas should launch a broad movement to «support the government and cherish the people» and to «support the army and give preferential treatment to the families of soldiers fighting the Japanese». Great successes must be achieved. Those who have already had achievements must continue with their work and examine the results of these two tasks. If all our troops are united, from the officers to the soldiers, and politically strengthened like iron, with military skills and tactical training, along with the support of the people, the Chinese people's cause of resistance to Japan and national salvation will be staunchly guaranteed.
#8. CONSOLIDATE THE ANTI-JAPANESE NATIONAL UNITED FRONT
The Anti-Japanese National United Front is the fundamental policy of the Chinese people's resistance to Japan and national salvation. In the Liberated Areas, the united front is mainly manifested in the «three-in-one» combination in government work, in which every class and political party cooperates. Every location has some people who have done good work in this regard and some people who have not, and every locality should sum up its experiences. The Communists must discuss more, talk more, and meet more with other political parties and figures to clear up rifts, eliminate misunderstandings, and correct harmful phenomena in their relations, so that they can collaborate to carry out government work and various social causes. All the people who participate in the work of the congress of people's deputies (the Assembly of Representatives), government work, and social work should be respected and given posts and power due them, without regard to which political party they belong to or whether they belong to any at all.
#9. REDUCE RENT
All areas have made achievements in rent reduction. Some places, however, have had somewhat fewer achievements, superficially reducing but actually not reducing rent, and retaining the idea of «granting favours». On the other hand, there are also the phenomena of excessive reductions or failure to collect the rent at all after the reductions. Both these two erroneous tendencies should be corrected. After rent reduction, the lease should be renewed when it expires, so that the peasants will have land to work, unless it is in the interest of both the landlord and the peasant that the landlord takes back the land and works it themself. Rents should be examined in the old areas where rent reduction is not thorough. In the new Liberated Areas, where the rent has not yet been reduced, a movement should be launched to reduce rents. It is wrong not to reduce rent, and to reduce rent too much is not right either. The government should help landlords who are having a hard time making a living because they have been devastated by the enemy or for some other reason to resolve their difficulties by giving them the opportunity to work in agriculture, industry, commerce, or other businesses. We must regard this as part of government work and use it to unite with them to fight against our common enemy. We are now in the countryside, and resolving the land question correctly is a key link in supporting the protracted war. I hope that everyone will pay full attention to this.
#10. INCREASE PRODUCTION
This year had by far the highest number of localities that launched production movements, and many have had outstanding achievements. This is extremely gratifying. However, there are also some places that have still not launched these movements, some that have achieved little, and others where the military has made achievements, but the people have not. In 1945, we must universally and without exception launch a widespread production movement. All troops must engage in production and become self-sufficient in addition to combat and training, and offices and schools must also do the same. Only under special circumstances will reductions or exemptions of production be permitted. Under the principle of freedom to choose, we must mobilize the people to organize production mutual-aid teams, such as labour-exchange teams, mutual-aid organizations, and labour-exchange classes. Our local cadres must use tremendous energy to help the people to organize these mutual-aid teams in order to restore and develop production on a large scale. Not only should the people have ample food and clothing, they should also gradually get a surplus. The slogan of «one year's worth of spare grain for three years' cultivation» can be realized in the Liberated Areas behind enemy lines, except in those places that were badly devastated by the enemy. We must strive to be self-sufficient with regard to industrial products in our Liberated Areas, and we must work hard to reach the goal of becoming completely or mostly self-sufficient within several years. It is possible to achieve this goal through the efforts of public, private, and cooperative management. Thrift complements production, and waste must be reduced as much as possible. «Develop the economy and ensure supplies» is our unswerving financial policy. It would be a mistaken policy not to develop our fundamental economy and instead try to solve financial problems superficially. If we have conscientiously developed both the public and the private economy, we can sustain the war, however protracted, without exhausting our energy. This is an extremely important point that must be fully and clearly understood by all working people and all soldiers in order to organize them to engage in a large-scale production movement. In the public sector of the economy, the individual distribution system of equal distribution based on quality of labour can and should be carried out in many departments. We must be careful not to violate the two principles of «consideration for both the army and the people» and «consideration for both the public and the private sectors».
#11. PAY ATTENTION TO CULTURE AND EDUCATION
In order to defeat the Japanese invaders, we must pay attention to cultural and educational work, in addition to paying attention to military, political, and economic work. The vast majority of intellectuals in our Liberated Areas are good people. Their shortcomings and even their mistakes can be corrected through work. They are a valuable asset to the people's cause and should be highly regarded. Many of them are engaged in military, political, and economic work, and many others are doing cultural, educational, artistic, and health work. All of these cadres should be highly regarded. The direction pointed out this year at the Conference on Cultural and Educational Work of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region can be applied in every location. Dictators foster ignorance among the people, but we foster knowledge among the people. We must enable all people gradually to escape the states of ignorance and poor sanitation. Every local government and Party organization should place newspapers, schools, art, and health — these four aspects of cultural and educational work — on its own daily agenda.
#12. SELECT COMBAT HEROES, LABOUR HEROES, AND MODEL WORKERS
Use mass democratic elections to select outstanding individuals from the army, the countryside, the factories, and the government offices as combat heroes, labour heroes, and model workers. We should reward and educate them, and we should use them to inspire and unite the masses. For several years now, this system has already proved to be very effective in raising the fighting capacity of the army, promoting the growth of the agricultural and industrial productive forces, and raising the working capacity of government offices and other organizations. This movement should be widely popularized everywhere.
#13. EDUCATE A LARGE NUMBER OF CAPABLE CADRES
In order to defeat the Japanese invaders, we need a large number of capable cadres. Our current number of cadres has greatly increased from before, but it is still not nearly enough. The capabilities of cadres have also increased, but are still quite insufficient. In particular, the literacy, political understanding, and professional skill levels of the lower- and middle-ranking cadres, whether military or local, are generally not high, and some are even very low. This is because they are busy with work and seldom have the opportunity to receive education. In 1945, cadre education in each locality should focus on training military (company- to squad-level) and local (district- and township-level) lower- and middle-ranking cadres. The incumbents should be trained using the rotation method, and those who do not hold office should be trained using the school method. They should be improved according to a plan.
#14. COMBAT BUREAUCRACY
An extremely great fault in our style of work is that some of the cadres are accustomed to acting arbitrarily and are not good at inspiring criticism and discussion among the people or at employing a democratic style of work. Of course, we are comparing styles of work within our Liberated Areas and not comparing styles of work within our Liberated Areas with styles of work within in the Nationalist areas. Our Liberated Areas are democratic places, and the Nationalist areas are feudal places. The two kinds of areas differ in principle. Many people in our armed forces, however, have not learned how to employ a democratic style of work, and the bureaucratic style of work passed down from the old society still persists. Other people are not supposed to offer different opinions, and if they do, some people get unhappy. These people like hearing flattery, but not criticism. People do not dare to speak out, because they are afraid of being rebuffed and attacked and suffering retaliation. This is a very bad style of work, and it is hindering the progress of our cause as well as the progress of our cadres. I propose that we carry out education on this point and widely promote a democratic style of work both inside and outside the Party. Anyone should be allowed to speak out, whoever they may be, so long as they are not a hostile element and do not make malicious attacks, and it does not matter if they say something wrong. Directors at all levels have the duty to listen to others. Two principles must be observed: First, say all you know and say it without reserve. Second, don't blame the speaker, but take their words as a warning. Unless the principle of «Don't blame the speaker» is observed genuinely and not falsely, the result will not be «Say all you know and say it without reserve». Since the Rectification Movement, our style of work has made great progress. This has been praised by all good and honest people, and this is very glorious. Yet we still have very serious shortcomings, and many of us lack a democratic style of work. We must correct this shortcoming. All our cadres, whatever their rank, are servants of the people, and whatever we do is to serve the people. How then can we be reluctant to discard any of our bad traits? Once we have corrected this shortcoming, we will be able to unite a broader group of people and our cause will enjoy greater and faster development.
#15. PROMOTE THE FORMATION OF A COALITION GOVERNMENT
In addition to these tasks, an extremely important task confronting the people in the Liberated Areas is to think of all kinds of ways to promote the formation of a coalition government. Continuing negotiations with the Nationalist Party and other political parties is one way, and having all the people stand up and make their demands known is another way. There may be still other ways. In short, we must make every effort to establish, as quickly as possible, a democratic coalition government that is in keeping with the demands of the National War of Resistance.
#CONCLUSION
Certainly, much work has been done and should still be done in our Liberated Areas, but what I believe is now worth pointing out are the 15 tasks discussed above. Other tasks have been omitted. The situation and working measures of each Liberated Area are different in many respects, and every locality should assign work based on its own characteristics, so as to complete each task properly.
The year 1945 should be the year in which the Chinese people's War of Resistance Against Japan will develop further. The people of the entire nation hope that our Liberated Areas will be able to save China, and we also have the same determination and courage. I hope that all the soldiers and people in our Liberated Areas will work together. Whether Communists or not, we must all unite in the struggle to strengthen anti-Japanese work in the Liberated Areas, to organize the people in the enemy-occupied areas, to assist the people in the Great Rear Area, and to establish a democratic coalition government!