The political system established by the Chinese Communist Party in 1949 had its origins, in many respects, in the Chinese Soviet Republic of 1931-1934, based in southern Kiangsi province about 400 miles southwest of Shanghai. The Kiangsi period was important because it gave the Chinese Communists their first opportunity to govern an extensive area and a large population, and in so doing to develop methods of mass mobilization as well as new techniques...