| Native Name Lang: | zh-Hant |
| Conventional Long Name: | Shaan-Gan-Ning Border Region |
| Common Name: | Shaan-Gan-Ning Border Region |
| Subdivision: | Rump state |
| Nation: | the Chinese Soviet Republic |
| Era: | Chinese Civil War |
| Year Start: | 1937 |
| Date Start: | 6 September |
| Year End: | 1950 |
| Date End: | 19 January |
| Image Map Caption: | Map of Shaan-Gan-Ning Border Region. |
| Capital: | Yan'an (1937–47, 1948-49) Xi'an (1949–50) |
| Stat Year1: | 1937 |
| Stat Area1: | 134500 |
| Stat Pop1: | 1,500,000 |
| Title Leader: | Chairman |
| Leader1: | Lin Boqu |
| Deputy1: | Zhang Guotao |
| Year Leader1: | 1937–1948 |
| Year Deputy1: | 1937–1938 |
| Year Deputy2: | 1938–1945 |
| Title Deputy: | Deputy Chairman |
| Today: | China |
The Yan'an Soviet was a soviet governed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during the 1930s and 1940s.[1] In October 1936 it became the final destination of the Long March, and served as the CCP's main base until after the Second Sino-Japanese War. After the CCP and Kuomintang (KMT) formed the Second United Front in 1937, the Yan'an Soviet was officially reconstituted as the Shaan–Gan–Ning Border Region .[2]
The Shaan-Gan-Ning base area, of which Yan'an was a part, was founded in 1934.[3]
It was one of the two border region governments with the capital at Yan'an, and included parts of the provinces of Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, and Suiyuan. The other region was the Jin-Cha-Ji Border Area, which included parts of Shanxi, Chahar, and Hebei.
Although not on the front lines of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Shaan-Gan-Ning Border Region was the most politically important and influential revolutionary base area due to its function as the de facto capital of the Chinese Communist Revolution.[4]
Immediately after setting up the Soviet, the CPC began their "land revolution", confiscating property en-masse from the landlords and gentry of the region.[2] Its vigour in doing so resulted from two factors, its ideological commitment to peasant revolution and economic necessity. The base area's economic situation was precarious., such that in 1936 the entire Soviet's revenue stood at just 1,904,649 yuan, of which some 652,858 yuan came from confiscation of property.[2] The program of land redistribution, the party's hostility towards merchants and its ban on opium depressed the local economy severely, and by 1936 the Communists were reduced to raiding nearby Shansi (then ruled by Nationalist-backed warlord Yen Hsi-shan) in order to acquire grain and other supplies.[2] The tightening of the Nationalist blockade in the same year made it difficult to secure resources from outside the region.. At no point during the period 1934-1941 was the Yenan Soviet financially solvent, being dependent first on the confiscation of property from "enemy classes" and then on Nationalist aid[2], the latter of which comprised around 70% of the Soviet's revenue from 1937 to 1940 [2]
The blockade decreased during the Second United Front, but the Nationalists intensified it after military hostilities began again in 1941. Japanese assaults in the region and poor harvests worsened the effects of blockade and the region had a severe economic crisis in 1941 and 1942. By 1944, the region had suffered cumulative inflation of 564,700% since 1937, compared with 75,550% in Nationalist areas.[5] CCP leaders raised the issue of abandoning the area, which Mao Zedong refused to do. Mao implemented a mass line strategy, and imposed heavy taxes on the population in order to pay military expenses, which resulted in what is known as the "Yenan Way", establishing the Border Region's independence from Nationalist subsidy.[5] However, the economy of the Border Region was also substantially supported by the production and export of opium into Japanese and Nationalist areas,[5], with academic Chen Yung-fa arguing that the economy of the Border Region was so dependent on opium that, had the CPC not engaged in opium trading, the so-called "Yenan Way" would have been impossible.
In January 1937, American journalist Agnes Smedley visited Yan'an.[6] In April, Helen Foster Snow traveled to Yan'an for research, interviewing Mao and other leaders.
The Eighth Route Army established its first film production group in the Yan'an Soviet during September 1938.[7]
Yuan Muzhi arrived in Yan'an in fall 1938. With Wu Yinxian, Yuan made a feature-length documentary, Yan'an and the Eighth Route Army, which depicted the Eighth Route Army's combat against the Japanese. They also filmed Norman Bethune performing surgeries close to the front lines.
In 1943, the CCP released their first campaign film, Nanniwan, which sought to develop relationships between the CCP army and local people in the Yan'an area by showcasing the army's production campaign to alleviate material shortages.
In 1944, the CCP welcomed a large group of foreign (primarily American) journalists to Yan'an. In an effort to contrast the party with the Nationalists, the CCP generally did not censor these foreign reports. In December 1945, the party's Central Committee instructed the party to facilitate the work of American journalists out of the hope that it would have a progressive influence on American policies toward China.
After the US entry into World War II, the CCP sought military support from the US. Mao welcomed the American Military Observation Group in Yan'an and in 1944 invited the US to establish a consulate there.