ON THE QUESTION OF SUPPRESSING INTERNAL COUNTERREVOLUTION

Directive No 21 of the Central Executive Committee of the Provisional
Central Government

15 March 1933

[Text] At a time when the imperialist KMT warlords have carried out four encirclement campaigns against the soviet areas throughout the country and are now carrying out a large-scale attack against the Central Soviet area, and when the struggle between revolution and counterrevolution has arrived at the point of a life-and-death struggle, the enemy is not only applying military force but is also organizing counterrevolutionary activities in the soviet areas in a planned way, using the landlords, rich peasants and merchants in the soviet areas to organize all sorts of counterrevolutionary groups (the AB corps, the Social Democratic Party, the Trotskyite Party and feudal superstitious groups like the I-hsin Hui [0001 1800 2585] and Nan-tzu Hui [2809 1311 2585]), deceiving a minority of backward masses, seeking opportunities to "stir up trouble," and at the same time sending scouts to penetrate the soviet areas to ferret out military intelligence. On the basis of recently discovered facts, such as the people who shouted counterrevolutionary slogans at the mass meeting in K'ing-chou and the smuggling and exposure of a KMT county party branch organ in I-ning-chou, the discovery of similar reactionary posters in the three localities of Jui-chin, K'ing-chou and Ho't'ien, the secreting away of four rifles in the household of the Sha-p'ien propaganda department chief in the organization by the enemy of anti-revolutionary activities in Nan-kuang [0589 1639] county which hindered all mass work and wartime mobilization work, the plans of traitorous merchants in the Hsing-kuo area to carry on activities to gut the soviet currency, the planned money conversion by traitorous merchants in Jui-chin and K'ing-chou, the manipulation of commodity prices everywhere by traitorous merchants, along with large-scale transfer of cash, and even the discovery of counter-revolutionary subversive actions in certain of the local armed organizations, all of these recently discovered facts prove clearly that the enemy is organizing counterrevolution in the soviet areas, and politically and economically and in all ways he is carrying out pernicious plans to destroy the Soviet and the revolution.

But our soviet governments in all areas are completely lacking in vigilance and still are paying insufficient attention to this grave counterrevolutionary activity, and are even permitting it. The central government is now gravely calling it to the attention of governments and their organs for suppressing counterrevolutionaries at all levels that this apathetic attitude of paying no attention to and permitting counterrevolutionary activities is totally impermissible. All governments and their organs for purging counterrevolutionaries must immediately rectify these errors and must immediately take steps to deal with counterrevolution in accordance with the actual situation in their localities. In the districts and townships and in particular in all the cities, whenever lurking counterrevolutionary elements or their activities are encountered, resolute and rapid measures must be taken to repress them severely, and when the situation is pressing they must proclaim a temporary state of martial law and the soviet governments and all revolutionary organs must institute an armed and mass-style defense. In order to sternly put down counterrevolution, important counterrevolutionary elements must rapidly and unhesitatingly be apprehended and punished and the nature of their crimes must be broadly propagandized among the local masses. Governments in all localities and at all levels and especially the urban and district and township governments, must propagate the fact of the coordination of counterrevolution activities within the soviet areas with the White armies outside, and mobilize all the revolutionary masses to carry out the most stringent oversight and surveillance over merchants, rich peasants and landlord elements, and to search in all quarters for clues of counterrevolutionary organization and activity. The soviet government organs for suppressing counterrevolution must set up close relationships with the labor unions, agricultural laborers' associations, poor peasant associations and other revolutionary groups, because only if the broad masses under the leadership of the government set to work enthusiastically can counterrevolutionary organizations and activities be thoroughly extirpated. The judicial departments in all counties in the border areas must quickly deal with all criminals already apprehended; and all elements whose crimes have been clearly proven, starting with the alien class elements among them, must immediately be put to death. The death sentences need not be carried out according to Article 5 of the Judicial Department's Temporary Regulations on Organization and Judicial Activities, which required permission from the higher levels; the death sentences may be carried out first and the cases reported to superiors afterward. As to the central districts, accumulated cases must also be swiftly dispatched and must not be allowed to pile up again, nor must there be any delay of the speedy suppression of counterrevolutionaries. In the central areas, in times of particular district death sentences may also be carried out and the superior authorities informed afterwards. This is a measure which it is necessary for us to take while the enemy are carrying out large-scale attacks, and it cannot be regularly adopted in ordinary times.

Landlords and rich peasants in areas under attack by the enemy and border areas must be dealt with separately. When they have actually engaged in

counterrevolutionary activities, they must immediately be apprehended and severely punished, and not given leeway for the slightest bit of activity. As to the other landlord and rich peasant elements, about whom nothing counterrevolutionary has been discovered, the governments in the locals must stir up the masses to keep strict surveillance on their activities. They should not all be apprehended, except if they exercise an unwholesome influence or if it poses making with them later will prove difficult. The central government confidently believes that, in this attack of internal and external counterrevolution on the revolution, we possess the conditions to entirely smash them and win an all-round victory. We have the broad masses of the people and the powerful Red Army, we have strong and consolidated government organs and we must use these powerful government organs (central and local) to lead the millions of worker-peasant masses and the Red Army to strike mortal blows against our internal and external enemies. We have the previous experiences of the past purges of counterrevolutionaries and we can now use these experiences to subject counterrevolutionary elements within the soviet areas to stern repression and thorough extirpation. Governments at all levels upon receiving this directive must immediately and in the light of the concrete situation in their localities decide upon the methods of implementing it, and must report on methods of implementation through channels. It is so ordered.

Chairman Mao Tse-tung
Vice-Chairmen Hsiang Ying, Chang Kuo-tao

15 March 1933
"Red China," No 62, 18 March 1933