Tybet a komunistyczne Chiny (1949–1951)
Tibet and Communist China (1949–1951)

Summary/Abstract: The victory of the Chinese communists and the proclamation of the PRC on 1st October 1949 automatically confronted a new Chinese leaders with the issue of ‘liberation’ of Tibet. The coordinated propaganda campaign has started, in which the leading role played the Xinhua News Agency and the authority of the CCP party – the People’s Daily (‘Renmin Ribao’). The importance of the issue followed from the fact that Mao Zedong personally directed the entire action, and personally revised most of the texts concerning Tibet. In fact, the official formula of ‘peaceful liberation’ promoted by Beijing, meant the incorporation of Tibet with the consent of local authorities. Hence, the concept of a ‘gradual approach’ developed by Mao, anticipating the absorption of Tibet mainly by peaceful means, gradation of transformation, avoiding radical reforms and action by gentle persuasion. It may be recalled that at that time the use of military force was treated by Mao as finality. As soon has turned out, along with political, diplomatic and propaganda preparations intensive preparations for the military operation were undertaken in Beijing. The article presents the successive stages of the Chinese conquest of Tibet, which eventually ended with a Chinese military invasion, coincidentally in the same period, while on the Korean Peninsula Korean War broke out.

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