Revolutionary Struggle in Manchuria

Revolutionary Struggle in Manchuria, Chinese Communism, and Soviet Interest, 1922–1945, by Chong-Sik Lee, offers a deeply researched account of how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sought to mobilize mass support in one of the most volatile and contested regions of modern Chinese history. Lee interrogates the central question of why the CCP succeeded in some periods and regions but faltered in others, situating Manchuria as a critical site where the interplay of nationalism, socio-economic reform, and international politics decisively shaped Communist strategy. He argues that in Manchuria, far more than in China proper, the anti-Japanese struggle became the overriding theme that enabled the CCP to attract peasant support and build guerrilla forces. In contrast, early attempts to organize the urban proletariat or push radical socio-economic reforms not only failed to generate mass support but left long-lasting adverse effects on the Party’s credibility.

At the same time, Lee demonstrates that CCP strategy in Manchuria cannot be understood apart from Soviet interests and the directives of the Comintern. Local cadres consistently pressed for prioritizing anti-Japanese resistance, but the Party center, constrained by Moscow’s diplomatic calculations, often delayed or countermanded such efforts. Drawing on Party documents, Comintern directives, and Japanese sources, Lee shows how the shifting Soviet-Japanese relationship repeatedly reshaped CCP priorities—first restricting, then later encouraging, united front strategies in Manchuria. The book also probes the paradox that while nationalist mobilization brought the CCP to its peak influence in the region, by 1941 its guerrilla movement had been eradicated, raising larger questions about the limits of resistance under imperial occupation. For scholars of modern Chinese history, communism, and international relations, Lee’s study provides an essential corrective to interpretations that downplay the decisive role of Soviet policy, while offering a nuanced account of how nationalism, ideology, and geopolitics converged in one of the most turbulent theaters of the Chinese Revolution.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1983.