Study On "the Third Way" Of China Democratic League In1940s

The history since modern history of China is both a revolutionary history and ahistory of democratic development. China Democratic League treaded on the stage ofhistory under the background of domestic strife and foreign aggression and continuedunremitting pursuit of democracy by Chinese people in modern times. In the whole1940s, China Democratic League as well as the Kuomintang and the CommunistParty of China jointly stood in the middle of China’s political stage, showed theirvalues and left precious historical heritage for later generations. In previous historicalresearches, China Democratic League and "the third way" advocated by it were mostnarrated in revolutionary history, while the researches in the frame of China’s modernhistory of democracy are deficient. What catch the eyes most in "the third way" ofChina Democratic League are its independence and peculiarity. China DemocraticLeague disagreed with the political line of the Kuomintang and the Communist Partyof China. According to international situations and China’s national conditions, itthought China must establish its own democratic form and combine politicaldemocracy of Europe and America with economic democracy of the Soviet Union tocreate a new democratic way. This is "the third way" asserted by China DemocraticLeague.This paper tries to start with setting historical background and organizationalevolution of China Democratic League, go deep into historical context and investigatethe cause and effect of "the third way", paying attention to both theoretical analysis of"the third way" and political practice of "the third way" of China Democratic League.Organizational evolution of China Democratic League had complex backgroundand experienced three great changes. In1940s, China Democratic Leaguetransformed to the combo composed of party members and non-party members fromthe combo based on party members and finally became the combo based on non-partymembers. Organizational evolution of China Democratic League directly influencedits way. "The third way" reflected a social ideological trend and inherited democratic appealof Chinese people since modern times. It was ideological consensus of the wholeChina Democratic League, especially representing political thought of the leadershipof China Democratic League. It was an independent political line. It was closelyrelated to ideological trend of international democratic socialism with wide influencesin the20thcentury. In real politics,"the third way" of China Democratic League hadno real implementation space, but China Democratic League actively launched andparticipated in a series of political activities, mediated disputes between theKuomintang and the Communist Party of China and pursued democratic peace beforeand after explicitly putting forward "the third way" in order to carry out its politicalview. China Democratic League imposed great influence and meanwhile paid a highprice. When comprehensive civil war between the Kuomintang and the CommunistParty of China broke out and there was no hope for domestic peace,"the third way"of China Democratic League had been bankrupt. The history selected the CommunistParty of China. China walked toward new-democratic revolution. In the late1940s,China Democratic League gave up "the third way", responded to revolutionary call ofthe Communist Party of China and participated in new CPPCC (Chinese People’sPolitical Consultative Conference). China Democratic League gradually evolved toparticipatory party under socialist system.