This guide identifies resources relevant to the VCE History - Revolutions units
Our Library has a number of ebooks considering issues around the communist revolution in China. We also subscribe to a wide range of scholarly journals. Both ebooks and online journals that can be accessed using your State Library Victoria membership..
Search ebooks using keywords. You can also search for similar books by clicking on the subject heading under the Details tab for any book.
Some suggested subject headings and keyword phrases:
Use the dropdown options to search different types of publications Books etc. will include print as well as ebooks. Articles will find full text articles.
Note that the Library's subscription now includes content from Modules I, II and III.
Many of the Databases above will include digitised primary sources.
Another great source of primary sources relating to Communist China is the National Archives of Australia, who have digitised many of official records of the Australian Government. These are interesting documents, but quite extensive. The content varies, ranging from brief memos to lengthy reports.
Search the NAA records using the search term Communist China, and then use the "Refine Search" option to check the "Digitial copies only" box at the bottom of the form. This will narrow your search to digitised records that you can view online.
Here are examples of some articles that can be found on specific issues of the communist revolution in China, the causes and the aftermath.
These articles can be contradictory as different historians interpret the evidence of events in different ways. The articles will also have footnotes and bibliographies that can lead to further articles.
These are just a few examples of articles you can find using our databases and Article search through our Library catalogue.
The subject of history is the study of past events. A historian is someone who researches these events and interprets them. Different historians may judge the causes and effects of historical events differently and may place greater emphasis on certain documents or evidence to form their conclusions.
Historians may also approach and interpret evidence through their own personal perspectives, influenced by their background and political, ideological or social beliefs. For example historians may view historical events through a left wing or conservative lens. Historians may be identified as ‘revisionist’ if they reinterpret events in a way that contradict traditional historical conclusions.
Choose from the tabs above for suggestions of texts written from a specific perspective. We don't, though, want to classify historians too narrowly and so the categories should be interpreted broadly.
This site has been developed to support VCE students and includes excellent overviews of each of the VCE Revolutions topics. The site also has pages on historical perspectives, highlighting some of the leading historians.
Historiography
Maoist historians tend to present a positive view of the revolution and Maoist China. Often these histories were written soon after events and have a political and ideological motive.
These books consider different perspectives on Chinese history, and the interpretation of historical events to fit political or ideological motives.
Western liberalism is characterised by belief in the freedom of the individual and civil liberty in a modern democracy. As historians they may interpret events from a belief that all societies are or should aspire to this model.
The historians listed come from the Western liberal tradition. Despite their critical approach, there is a recognition of the massive changes and challenges in China, that within a century have taken this massive, enormously populous country from a semi-feudal society to an emerging superpower.
Over the last 40 years, since the death of Mao, there has been a reassessment of the revolution, and some of the more venerated and mythic interpretations of aspects of the revolution have been challenged.
Neo Maoists are modern historians with a sympathetic view of Chinese revolution and the development and administration of Maoist China.