How to treat the Revolution of 1911? The report of the 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out: "In the past century, the people of China have experienced three great historical changes on their way forward, and three great figures have emerged: Sun Yat-sen, Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping." The first historic revolution was 19 1 1 year. The second time was the establishment of People's Republic of China (PRC) and the establishment of the socialist system; The third time was the reform and opening up, and we fought for socialist modernization. This is a high evaluation of the Revolution of 1911, which solved the historical orientation of the Revolution of 1911.
For a long time in the past, people did not know enough about the Revolution of 1911. They often talk more about its negative and failed aspects, but seldom talk about its historical significance and its role in promoting the history of China.
Why is this happening? There are both cognitive reasons and times reasons for this. Lin, who participated in the Revolution of 1911, wrote in Yan 'an Liberation Daily of 194 1: "For many young people who have not been ruled by the emperor, the political significance of the Revolution of 1911 is often underestimated. This is not surprising, because they can't see how difficult it is to overthrow the authoritarian regime that has been passed down for thousands of years. " This was the case when Lin Baiqu said these words 70 years ago. If the young people were still alive, they would be over ninety years old. It is not difficult to understand that today's young people do not know enough about the Revolution of 1911.
Reasons of the times: Although the Revolution of 1911 was a great success, it did not fundamentally overthrow the rule of imperialism and feudal forces, the semi-colonial and semi-feudal social nature of China did not change, and the tragic situation of the people of China did not change. Therefore, Sun Yat-sen often said that "the revolution has not yet succeeded, and comrades still have to work hard". In the stage of democratic revolution, advanced people, including party member, often emphasized that the Revolution of 1911 did not fundamentally solve the problem, so as to encourage people to continue to strive for victory. So it is understandable to talk more about the shortcomings of the Revolution of 1911. Now, 100 has passed, and the people of China have stood up and won a great victory. Looking back, we can naturally make a more calm, comprehensive and objective evaluation of the historical achievements of the Revolution of 1911.
Regard the Revolution of 1911 as the first historic change in China in the 20th century, and its main historical achievements are at least reflected in the following three aspects.
The Revolution of 1911 opened a modern national democratic revolution in a complete sense.
This is the expression of the Revolution of 1911 in the report of the 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. The Chinese nation has suffered too much since modern times.
1894- 1895 China was defeated in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 and was forced to sign treaty of shimonoseki. Since then, the national crisis has intensified unprecedentedly. Wu Zeng, who witnessed this incident and served as the president of China Renmin University after the founding of the People's Republic of China, wrote in his memoirs: "This is really an unprecedented national subjugation treaty! It shook the whole of China. In the past, China was only defeated by the western powers, but now it is defeated by the small eastern countries, and it failed so miserably and the treaty was so harsh. What a pity! ...... I still remember that when the news of the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War reached my hometown, my second brother and I wept bitterly ... We were deeply saddened at that time, and it was beyond words. " It can be seen that the Sino-Japanese War had a great shock and influence.
But things are far from over. /kloc-in the winter of 0/897, Germany sent troops to forcibly lease JIAOZHOU bay (now Qingdao). Since then, many countries have forcibly leased territory in China and divided their spheres of influence. 1900, Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China, and all imperialist countries in the world joined forces to wage war against a country, which was the first time in history. Since then, Eight-Nation Alliance has occupied Beijing, the capital of China, for one year, and implemented zoning control. Residents should fly the national flag of the occupying power separately. This shame cannot but deeply hurt the hearts of the people of China.
90 years later, Deng Xiaoping also said, "I am from China and know the history of foreign aggression against China. When I heard that the G-7 summit decided to sanction China, I immediately thought of the history of Eight-Nation Alliance's invasion of China in 1900. Among the seven countries, except Canada, the other six countries plus Russia and Austria were the eight countries that organized the Coalition forces that year. Understanding some of China's history is the spiritual driving force for China's development. "
From 1904 to 1905, China and Russia waged a Russo-Japanese war in the northeast of Japan, which brought great disasters to the people of China. China and North Korea have always been as close as lips and teeth. 19 10, China was formally annexed by the Japanese, which gave the Korean people a great stimulus. The Chinese nation is on the verge of extinction.
For a long time, the Qing government claimed to be a "big country in China", and many China people were blindly arrogant and complacent. Even after the Opium War, China began to become a semi-colony, but the general public's understanding is still insufficient, and the sense of crisis is still not strong.
1894, Sun Yat-sen established the Zhong Xing Society, and put forward the slogan of "rejuvenating China" for the first time. The following year, Yan Fu, a reformist, wrote "On Saving the Country", and he was the first to shout out the slogan of "Saving the Country". Chen Tianhua said in Jing Shi Zhong: "If you want a revolution, you can make a revolution at this time, and there will be no life in the future", which reflected the anxiety and urgency of China people at that time.
How to change this crisis? Where is the way out for China? Many attempts, such as the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, the Boxer Rebellion, and the Reform and Reform, all ended in failure. At this time, the bourgeois revolutionaries represented by Sun Yat-sen stepped onto the historical stage. Not only did he put forward the slogan of "rejuvenating China" from the beginning, but he also set up the League and put forward the three principles of "nationality, civil rights and people's livelihood". In other words, to achieve national independence, democratic politics and people's happiness, we must achieve it through revolutionary means. This was the most progressive idea at that time, reflecting the requirements of the times and the wishes of the people. Therefore, Comrade Mao Zedong also said, "Officially speaking, China's anti-imperialist and anti-feudal bourgeois democratic revolution began with Dr. Sun Yat-sen …" The Revolution of 1911 did not accomplish this task, but its historical achievements are indelible. It is in this sense that we have always regarded ourselves as the successors of the revolutionary cause initiated by Dr. Sun Yat-sen. ..
The Revolution of 1911 overthrew the autocratic monarchy that ruled China for thousands of years.
The monarch seems to represent providence and stand at the top of the feudal hierarchy. Wang Xifeng in A Dream of Red Mansions has a famous saying: "I would like to cut clothes and dare to dismount the emperor." It can be seen that at that time, anyone who wanted to "win the emperor" had to have the courage to "kill all", and most people didn't even dare to think about it. The Revolution of 1911 cut off the "head" of feudal society, and the whole old order was completely out of order. Since then, the Nanjing government, from the northern warlords to Chiang Kai-shek, has appeared one after another, but the old social forces have been unable to establish a unified and relatively stable political order. This situation is obviously different from that before the Revolution of 1911.
Some people commented that the Revolution of 1911 led to the separatist regime of warlords in China, and the society became more chaotic. It seems that the revolution can only destroy the old, but it can't afford to build a new one, causing social chaos in vain and hindering the realization of China's modernization. This is actually a short-sighted view. In fact, after the Qing government was overthrown by the Revolution of 1911, the old forces could only maintain their rule by naked and brutal military forces. Obviously, this method can't last long. Moreover, the warlord melee divided the old ruling forces, which was also conducive to the development of the people's revolution in the future.
The Revolution of 1911 brought about the upsurge of democratic consciousness and the great liberation of ideas.
Democratic consciousness refers to people's understanding of their position in the country. After the Revolution of 1911, the Provisional Government of the Republic of China promulgated the Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China, in which Sun Yat-sen specifically proposed to write "The sovereignty of the Republic of China belongs to the whole people", which is his most important point.
Although the Republic of China has not brought people the reality of being masters of the country, it has not been realized and there is a considerable gap between it and not being put forward at all. Great changes have taken place in people's psychology, and they realize that they are the masters of the country. Therefore, after the founding of the Republic of China, various political groups were established, newspapers and magazines were unprecedentedly active, and mass activities increased. It can be said that without the Revolution of 1911, there would be no May Fourth Movement, because without the social atmosphere and people's psychological state created by the Revolution of 1911, it would be difficult for the May Fourth Movement to occur.
Another point is to emancipate the mind. The Revolution of 1911 overthrew the emperor who was regarded as supreme in the past, and even the emperor could overthrow it. So, what stale and outdated things can't be doubted and overturned? Chen Duxiu wrote an article on the destruction of idols in New Youth, saying: "In fact, the monarch is also an idol, and it has no magical and outstanding function. Commanding the whole country, known as the head of state, depends on the superstition and respect of all people. Once the country dies, ... it is even more pitiful than ordinary people. " The suspicion and criticism of many old things during the May 4th Movement had much to do with the ideological emancipation brought about by the Revolution of 1911.
We should have a correct evaluation of the historical achievements such as democracy and harmony put forward by the revolutionary pioneers represented by Sun Yat-sen. In modern history, Hong Xiuquan, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, became king and was actually emperor. The Reform Movement of 1898 was realized by a good emperor. The Boxer Rebellion is still under the banner of helping to wipe out the foreign countries. From a global perspective, only the United States and France are big countries with * * * regimes, and the others are not * * * regimes. Of course, we should also see that the bourgeois revolutionaries represented by Sun Yat-sen also have weaknesses and deficiencies. First of all, there is no clear anti-imperialist and anti-feudal revolutionary program, and there is not enough understanding of imperialism and feudalism. Simply thinking that overthrowing the Qing government would succeed, as a result, the Qing Dynasty lost its direction and motivation, did not fundamentally solve the anti-imperialist and anti-feudal problems, and did not change the semi-colonial and semi-feudal social nature of China. Second, the masses, especially the workers and peasants who make up the majority of China's population, have not been widely mobilized. The main force of the Revolution of 1911 was patriotic youth with modern education. They have done a lot of work in communist party and the new army, carried out strong revolutionary propaganda and gained considerable sympathy. This is the reason why most provinces reacted quickly after Wuchang Uprising. To a certain extent, it has mobilized the masses, so it can achieve certain success. However, it failed to rely on and mobilize the working people, who account for the vast majority of China's population, especially in rural areas. Without the participation and support of the overwhelming majority of farmers in China, they felt that they were alone and easily compromised in the face of powerful imperialist and feudal forces, which was an important source of their failure. Third, the League of Nations is a rather loose organization with complex members. After the initial victory of the revolution, the internal division could not form a strong core to promote the revolution. To sum up, no powerful political party can put forward a scientific and clear revolutionary program, rely on and mobilize the overwhelming majority of the people, and be composed of advanced elements with consistent ideals and strict discipline. Therefore, despite the great achievements of the Revolution of 1911, the fundamental problem has not been solved. This also forced many patriots who devoted themselves to or were influenced by this revolution to seriously reflect on many fundamental problems of the country and society and find new ways out.
After taking the first step, there will be the second and third steps. The victory and failure of the Revolution of 1911, from both positive and negative aspects, prepared important conditions for the rise of the May 4th Movement, the spread of Marxism in China, and the establishment of the * * * production party in China.