ECCO Studies: Overview of an Emerging Field

ECCO STUDIES: OVERVIEW OF AN EMERGING FIELD Marilyn Levine The study of revolution and modernization in the twentieth century is a challenging and yet elusive task for the scholar. The inner councils of political parties, the dynamics of leadership, the differing perspectives on the relative roles of ideology, the pragmatism of followers and competing political groups, factors of international politics, and nationalistic aspirations are all areas which citen leave room for much speculation and little in the way of reliable fact. One relatively unknown area of revolutionary politics, with widespread significance for mainstream Chinese politics, was the development of a Chinese Communist Youth Corps and a Party Branch in Europe, which were both founded in 1922, collectively called ECCO.* Compendia, memoirs, numerous journal~ and newspapers, supplemented by a stunning amount of archival resources, underscore both the importance and refreshing nature of ECCO studies. This article will introduce the reader to the scope and significance associated with ECCO studies: secondly, previous and ongoing research efforts will be examined; and lastly the rich array of resources will be discussed. A Brief Introduction to the ECCO A glimpse at the ECCO membership roster immediately highlights the significance of the group and its members, from the most long enduring CCP members such as Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, Zhu De, Li Fuchun, Cai Chang, Nie Rongzhen, Xiao San, Li Weihan, Wang Ruofei, to some of the most notable early CCP martyrs such as Zhao Shiyan, Liu Bojian, Chan Yannian, Chen Oiaonian, Mu Oing, and Zhang Bojian. Prominent Communists such as Cai Hesen, Xiang Jiangyu, Li Lisan, and Chen Yi were key activists in the political formation, although Cai, Li and Chen were expelled from France before the official formation of the ECCO. Some of the most consequential CCP dissenters were also ECCO members, such as Zheng Chaolin, Yin Kuan and Wang Zekai *ECCO collectively denotes the European Branches of the Chinese Communist Organizations, which included the European Branch of the Chinese Communist Youth Corps (ECYC) and the European Branch of the Chinese Communist Party (ECCP). Members were largely concentrated in France, but also lived in Germany and Belgium. 4 (Trotskyites), and such as Ren Zhuoxuan, Ruoming. those who quit the party to join the Guomindang or third party political parties such as Zhang While biographical studies are certainly a fertile area of investigation, the wider scope of political maturation in a foreign environment engenders crucial questions about ideology and the course of the Chinese revolution. Away from their homeland the Chinese youth who went to France in the early twenties were exposed to new people, cultures, technologies, ideas and experiences. The jolt of a new knowledge, as well as the differences between expectations and realities have been well expressed in letters, articles, diaries, and later memoirs. Whether it was Chen Yi, writing in 1922 on his bitter factory experiences, or a letter in the same year by Zhou Enlai testifying to the impact of Europe on his conversion to Marxism, or articles from France, written by Zeng Oi claiming that France was the place to absorb the rudiments of learning to build a new civilization, almost everyone would agree with the assessment of Wang Guangqi, •My first impression after arriving in Europe is that my former conceptions are in error.•[!) Thus we must ask some critical questions on the nature of political adaptation abroad: How deeply were the Chinese who went to Europe influenced by the new experiences and ideas they encountered? Did their Western experiences in factories, colleges, Parisian cafes, journeys throughout the European countrysides, encounters with Westerners, and observations of the reality of Western culture influence the outiooks and directions of leaders such as Deng Xiaoping, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Li Fuchun, and Chen Yi? One of the most fascinating aspects of ECCO studies is the rich and complex political milieu which existed in the Chinese community in France. This environment had a diverse amalgam of participants. In the early twenties there were several thousand Chinese laborers who had worked in the Chinese Labor Corps for the allies, and who opted to remain as contract laborers in France. There were also over 1,600 Chinese youth who traveled to France from 1919-1921...