ABSTRACT
The Chinese Communist movement in the 1930s had its roots in the development of the concept of the soviets. The breakdown of the Kuomintang-Communist alliance in 1927 created uncertainty, frustration, and organizational crisis within the Communist movement in China. The party organization was on the verge of total collapse, and its leaders were looking for a conceptual framework within which to redirect the revolution, to reorganize the party structure, and to bridge the gap between the party and the masses. The soviet seemed to be the best answer. The soviet movement of the 1930s, indeed, served as the conceptual and institutional foundation for the Chinese Communist leadership to achieve revolutionary victory in 1949.
