A passage added when revising "The Democratic Movement in the Army"

[1]

(September 4, 1947)

This kind of democracy in the troops is carried out under conditions of strict order; it does not abolish or weaken the discipline necessarily required in the army—on the contrary, it consolidates and strengthens discipline. It merely makes such discipline founded on the basis of the interests of the people and the common interests and consciousness of the masses of officers and soldiers in the units, thus becoming a discipline voluntarily observed by all personnel in the units.

[1] This is a passage added by Mao Zedong when revising the draft of the Xinhua News Agency editorial "The Democratic Movement in the Army" dated September 4, 1947.

Originally published in *Yuan*

Editorial

Army


The Democratic Movement in the Army

One of the basic characteristics of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and one of the important conditions for its victorious development is a certain degree of democracy within the units.

This kind

In 1928, Comrade Mao Zedong gave the following instruction:

China needs democracy not only for the masses of workers and peasants; the army needs an even more practical democracy. The implementation of a more practical democracy in the army will be

The implementation of a more practical democracy in the army will be

an important policy for destroying the feudal mercenary armies of China. Because the life of soldiers in the feudal mercenary armies was simply more than a human being could endure. In the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army personally led by Comrade Mao Zedong at that time, it was truly practiced that officers did not strike soldiers, officers and soldiers dressed and ate the same, treatment was equal, soldiers had freedom to hold meetings and speak, cumbersome etiquette was abolished, economic affairs were completely open, food was managed by the soldiers, soldiers' representative committees audited the accounts, the daily food allowance was only three fen, yet life was not bad, and they could even share out surplus food funds to supplement military supplies. After these measures were implemented, the soldiers were particularly satisfied, especially when...

Manuscript of the Xinhua News Agency editorial "The Democratic Movement in the Army" revised by Mao Zedong.