The Rise of the Chinese Communist Party

Abstract We examine the rise of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in wartime China. Using a spatial regression discontinuity design and several measures as proxies for the rise of the Party during the Sino-Japanese War (middle- to upper-rank party cadres, grassroots party organization, and guerrilla bases), we find that it grew significantly more in counties occupied by the Japanese Army. However, despite its popularity before the war, the same markers were not statistically significant at that time. We identify two primary channels behind the political ascendancy of the CCP. First, the communists took advantage of the militarily weaker “puppet troops” in charge of administering the loosely held occupied areas. Second, support for the CCP was fueled by a strong anti-Japanese sentiment spurred by war suffering, using civilian casualties and rape cases as proxies for the harm inflicted. Finally, the CCP’s wartime influence persisted after the war: former Japanese Occupied Areas exhibited a significantly higher density of party membership between 1950 and 1980.