THE PARTICIPATION OF SOVIET SPECIALISTS IN THE ORGANIZATION OF POLITICAL WORK IN THE Kuomintang ARMED FORCES IN 1924-1925
The article is devoted to the soviet political workers’ activity in Kuomintang military in 1924-1925. Basing on the archival materials as well as published documents and memoirs of participants of the events, the author analyzes soviet advisors’ contribution to the formation of bodies of political education and propaganda in National-Revolutionary army during the period of its preparation to the North campaign. Fighting for power in China Cantonese government confront the necessity of having the maximum wide approval of their course among both army and population. Realizing that political work was a necessary part of the military reorganization, the leaders of Kuomintang applied for help to Moscow in 1923. According to the bilateral treaty of military and political cooperation between the USSR and Sun Yat sen’s government, the soviet part organized political and ideological work in National-Revolutionary army (NRA). However, the tasks put before the soviet instructors were unprecedented. It was necessary to reach the ideological consolidation of the army as soon as possible. Other tasks were to form patriotism, to raise discipline and to improve political education of the officer corps. The final aim was to reorganize NRA from the mercenary militarist group into the bases for revolution movement in the south of China and the conductor of Sun Yat sen’s ideas. In the article presented the author concentrates her attention on the first set of actions prepared and realized by soviet specialists in the Kuomintang army as well as on the analysis of the objective problems they came across during their work in the Heavenly Empire.