wars totalled 790 million silver dollars . Under the rule of the warlord governments , exorbitant taxes were levied on the people , while the peasants suffered savage exploitation in rents and usury .
As a result of the imperialist aggression and the wars among the warlords , the development of China ’ s social productive forces was seriously hampered and disrupted . Industry and commerce were ruined and the people impoverished . This impelled the entire population of the country to carry on revolutionary struggles against the imperialists and the warlord governments . First National Congress of the Kuomintang . Revival of the Working-Class Movement and the Peasant Movement . Fourth National Congress of the Communist Party of China . Movement for the Convocation of the National Assembly :
Having correctly evaluated Dr . Sun Yat-sen ’ s democratic stand against imperialism and feudalism , and the possibility of transforming the Kuomintang into an alliance of the workers and other democratic forces ; the Third National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party adopted the policy of a united front .
For some time before this congress the Party had been actively working for the establishment of a united front and the promotion of the Kuomintang- Communist co-operation . It had exerted positive influence on Sun Yat-sen through many of its members , particularly Li Ta-chao and Lin Po-chu , who did a great deal of useful work under the direction of the Party .
Supported by the Communist Party , Dr . Sun Yat-sen formed a revolutionary government in Kwangtung in March 1923 . In October , he issued a manifesto on the reorganization of the Kuomintang , put forward a draft party programme and defined his Three Cardinal December-2024
Policies of alliance with Soviet Russia , co-operation with the Communist Party and assistance to the workers and peasants .
In January 1924 the Kuomintang held its First National Congress in Canton . Li Ta-chao , Mao Tse-tung and other Communists attended the congress and played an important leading role . The congress passed the resolution to admit members of the Communist Party and of the Socialist Youth League ( in their individual capacity ) into the Kuomintang , adopted the new party programme and constitution as well as various concrete measures to reorganize the Kuomintang . It also adopted the “ Manifesto of the First National Congress of the Kuomintang of China ,” a document of great historic significance , in which Dr . Sun Yat-sen gives a new interpretation to the Three Principles of the People , namely , the New Three Principles of the People based on the abovementioned Three Cardinal Policies .
Thus the Kuomintang became a united front organization under the leadership of the Communist Party , an organization of the alliance of the four classes — the working class , the peasantry , the petty bourgeoisie and the national bourgeoisie .
The New Three Principles of the People showed some fundamental difference from the old . The Old Three Principles of the People reflected the historical features of the old democratic revolution , which , led by the bourgeoisie , aimed at establishing a bourgeois dictatorship and a capitalist society . In the period of the new-democratic revolution , they had become outdated , and the New Three Principles of the People came into being . The new Principle of Nationalism was opposed to imperialism and advocated the “ self-emancipation of the Chinese nation ” and “ full equality for all the nationalities within China .” The new Principle of Democracy advocated that democratic rights should be shared by the common people , by all individuals and bodies who opposed imperialism and feudalism , and not be monopolized by a handful of capitalists . The new Principle of Livelihood advocated the “ equalization of landownership ,” “ land to the tillers ,” “ control of capital ,” and improvement of the living conditions of the workers , and opposed the control of national welfare and the livelihood of the people by a handful of capitalists and landlords .
Since the New Three Principles of the People were based on the Three Cardinal Policies , and advocated opposition to imperialism and feudalism , and the establishment of a democratic coalition government of all the revolutionary classes , they were basically in agreement with the programme of the Chinese Communist Party during the period of the bourgeois-democratic revolution . These principles thus became the political basis of the Kuomintang-Communist co-operation .
Hence , the Kuomintang ’ s First National Congress , in which the Communists participated and played a leading role , became the starting point of a new rise in the Chinese revolution .
Two other momentous events that accelerated the tempo of the revolution fell within this period : the conclusion of a treaty of friendship between the Soviet Union and China and the building up of the revolutionary army .
The Sino-Soviet treaty of friendship , signed on May 31 , 1924 , was the first treaty based on genuine equality and friendship in the diplomatic history of China .
The Peking government had twice refused the proposal made by the Soviet Union in her statements
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