The August 7th Meeting
The Chinese revolution was faltering after the failure of the Great Revolution. To summarize lessons, rectify the Party's serious mistakes, and set a new strategy, the CPC Central Committee held an emergency meeting in secret in Hankou, Hubei Province, on August 7. This was known as the August 7th Meeting, held in response to the Comintern's instructions and the requests of some CPC members.
The meeting was held under the direction of Qu Qiubai, Zhang Tailei (1898-1927), Li Weihan (1896-1984) and the Comintern representative, and was chaired by Qu Qiubai. The participants summarized the lessons of the failure of the Great Revolution, and discussed such issues as the relationship with the KMT, agrarian revolution and armed struggle.
Speaking at the meeting, Mao Zedong identified the mistakes in the approach of Chen Duxiu, head of the Central Committee (known historically as the "Right opportunist line"). These included accepting a subordinate role in the cooperation with the KMT, not supporting the revolutionary struggle of the peasants, and focusing only on the mass movement to the exclusion of military struggle. Mao emphasized the importance of military affairs. "From now on," he said, "we must be aware that political power comes from the barrel of a gun."
The participants accepted Mao's critique in full, and formulated a general policy of agrarian revolution and armed struggle. They elected a new Provisional Political Bureau headed by Qu Qiubai.
The August 7th Meeting was very important in the history of the CPC, as it saved the Party and the revolution, and marked the turning point from the failure of the Great Revolution to the start of an agrarian revolutionary war.
八七會議
1927年大革命失敗后，中國革命進入低潮。為了總結大革命失敗的經驗教訓，徹底清算并糾正黨在過去工作中的嚴重錯誤，確定新的斗爭方針和任務，根據共產國際指示和黨內同志的要求，中共中央于1927年8月7日在漢口秘密召開緊急會議，史稱八七會議。
會議由瞿秋白、張太雷、李維漢及共產國際代表一起負責籌備，由瞿秋白主持召集。會議總結了大革命失敗的經驗教訓，就國共兩黨關系、土地革命和武裝斗爭等問題進行了討論。毛澤東在會議發言中批評陳獨秀右傾錯誤：在國民黨問題上，黨中央在國共合作的國民黨中始終沒有當“主人”的思想；在農民問題上，黨中央不支持農民革命；在軍事問題上，“不做軍事運動專做民眾運動”。毛澤東強調“秋收暴動非軍事不可”，黨“以后要非常注意軍事，須知政權是由槍桿子中取得的”。會議徹底清算大革命后期陳獨秀的右傾機會主義錯誤，確定了土地革命和武裝起義的方針，并選出以瞿秋白為首的中共中央臨時政治局。
八七會議是中國共產黨歷史上一次重要會議，為挽救黨和革命作出了巨大貢獻，是由大革命失敗到土地革命戰爭興起的一個歷史轉折點。
