History
The party military committee dates back to October 1925, and while operating under various degrees of authority and responsibility, was consistently named the Central Military Affairs Commission (中共中央军事委员会, Zhōnggòngzhōngyāng Gémìngjūnshì Wěiyuánhuì). Among Western commentators, “Affairs” is frequently dropped from the title. As a commission, it ranks higher in the party hierarchy than departments such as the Organization or United Front Departments. In 1937 it was created the Revolutionary Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee (中共中央革命军事委员会, Zhōnggòngzhōngyāng Gémìngjūnshì Wěiyuánhuì) after the Chinese Soviet Republic's armed forces were integrated into the Kuomintang's army for the anti-Japanese war, and it later evolved into the Central Military Commission after the Party's 7th Congress in 1945. In this period, the Committee was always chaired by Mao Zedong.
In the September 1949 reorganization, military leadership was transferred to a government body, the People's Revolutionary Military Commission of the Central People's Government (中央人民政府人民革命军事委员会, Zhōngyāng Rénmínzhèngfǔ Rénmín Gémìngjūnshì Wěiyuánhuì). The final coexistence of two military committees was set in 1954, as the CPC Central Military Commission was re-established, while State military authority rested into a National Defense Commission (国防委员会, Guófáng Wěiyuánhuì) chaired by the President of the People's Republic of China.
As Mao Zedong was also the Chairman of the Communist Party of China and led military affairs as a whole, the CMC's day-to-day work was carried out by its first-ranking vice-chairman, a post which was occupied by Lin Biao until his death in 1971, then by Ye Jianying. As a consequence of the Cultural Revolution, the Party CMC became the sole military overseeing body, and the National Defence Council was abolished in 1975.
Deng Xiaoping's efforts to institutionally separate the Party and the State led to the establishment of today’s State CMC, which was created in 1982 by the Constitution of the People's Republic of China in order to formalize the role of the military within the government structure. Both the National Defense Commission and State CMC have been described as 'consultative' bodies. Contrarily to the National Defense Commission, however, the Party and State CMCs are almost identical in leadership, composition and powers.
The Commission included the post of secretary-general until 1992. This post was held by Yang Shangkun (1945–1954), Huang Kecheng (1954–1959), Luo Ruiqing (1959–1966), Ye Jianying (1966–1977), Luo Ruiqing (1977–1979), Geng Biao (1979–1981), Yang Shangkun (1981–1989), Yang Baibing (1989–1992).
Read more about this topic: Central Military Commission (China)
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