1923

February 1,1923

The General Beijing-Hankou Railway Trade Union held a meeting in Zhengzhou to mark its inauguration. The Zhili warlord Wu Peifu ordered a ban on the trade union and sent out reactionary troops and policemen to occupy the seat of the General Trade Union. On February 4, over 20,000 workers of the Beijing-Hankou Railway went on strike, paralysing the 1,200-kilometre-long railway. On February 7, Wu Peifu, aided by imperialists, assembled more than 20,000 troops and policemen to suppress the striking workers in cold blood at Jiang'an, Zhengzhou, Changxindian and other railway stations. This became known as the “February 7 Massacre,” which shocked the country and the whole world Fifty workers were killed, more than 300 were wounded and over 40 were thrown into jail. Many workers' families were looted. Lin Xiangqian, a Communist Party member and president of the Jiang'an Branch of the Beijing-Hankou Railway Trade Union, and Shi Yang, also a Communis Party member and legal consultant of the General Beijing-Hankou Railway Trade Union, were executed. They displayed an indomitable spirit before the enemy and heroically laid down their lives. The great strike lasted until February 9, when the General Beijing-Hankou Rail- way Trade Union and the Workers' Union of Hubei Province asked the strikers to return to work in order to preserve the revolutionary strength.

June 12-20,1923

The CPC held its Third National Congress in Guangzhou. Attending the congress were 30-odd delegates who represented 420 Party members. According to the agenda, the congress was mainly to discuss the question whether the entire membership should join the KMT. It accepted the “Resolution on the Relationship Between the Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang” adopted by the Communist International on January 12 of the year and decided that all the CPC members join the KMT in the capacity of individuals for the benefit of establishing the united front of various democratic classes. 

After the conclusion of the congress, Party organizations in various places carried out ideological work among the Party members to remove their doubts about joining the KMT. In the meantime, the Communist encouraged Dr. Sun Yat-sen and Liao Zhongkai to reorganize the KMT.