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.
八七会议
1927年大革命失败后，中国革命进入低潮。为了总结大革命失败的经验教训，彻底清算并纠正党在过去工作中的严重错误，确定新的斗争方针和任务，根据共产国际指示和党内同志的要求，中共中央于1927年8月7日在汉口秘密召开紧急会议，史称八七会议。
会议由瞿秋白、张太雷、李维汉及共产国际代表一起负责筹备，由瞿秋白主持召集。会议总结了大革命失败的经验教训，就国共两党关系、土地革命和武装斗争等问题进行了讨论。毛泽东在会议发言中批评陈独秀右倾错误：在国民党问题上，党中央在国共合作的国民党中始终没有当“主人”的思想；在农民问题上，党中央不支持农民革命；在军事问题上，“不做军事运动专做民众运动”。毛泽东强调“秋收暴动非军事不可”，党“以后要非常注意军事，须知政权是由枪杆子中取得的”。会议彻底清算大革命后期陈独秀的右倾机会主义错误，确定了土地革命和武装起义的方针，并选出以瞿秋白为首的中共中央临时政治局。
八七会议是中国共产党历史上一次重要会议，为挽救党和革命作出了巨大贡献，是由大革命失败到土地革命战争兴起的一个历史转折点。
