Shanghai People's Commune - Establishment

Establishment

On 5 January 1967, a dozen groups allied with the Worker's Headquarters grouping published a "Message to all the People of Shanghai" in the city's main newspaper, calling for unity in the workers' movement. The next day over one million people gathered in the city's main square to see a televised mass meeting, in which the city's officials were denounced and removed from their positions. This marked the fall of the old established apparatus. The now leaderless old apparatus was taken over by Zhang Chunqiao who came again to Shanghai with his colleague Yao Wenyuan to restore order. The pair proceeded to strike a deal with Wang Hongwen to guarantee the support of the Worker's Headquarters and, with the support of the People's Liberation Army, order had been restored to Shanghai by the end of January.

However, the unity that had existed early in January was not to last. While the Scarlet Guards (another worker grouping who were rivals of the Worker's Headquarters) proceeded to pledge their support to the new leadership, the more radical groups involved in the January revolution moved into a position of opposition, fearing that the new apparatus was of little difference to the old bureaucracy. By the end of January and the beginning of February, these groups had taken up arms again, and the factional fighting that had dominated the previous year was resumed.

In order to secure the support of all the major groups, Zhang promised the introduction of a model based on the Paris Commune, a measure that quickly gained popular approval (all the groups mutually despised dictatorships). On 5 February 1967, the Shanghai Commune was formally proclaimed with Zhang Chunqiao as the head of the new organisation, but the movement was to be short lived and marred with difficulty.