AN ANALYSIS OF MALAYAN COMMUNIST PARTY PROPAGANDA, 1930-1946

Abstract

This thesis looks at Malayan Communist Party (MCP) propaganda from 1930 to 1946, to unveil the relationship that the communist party had with the wider international network of communism, specifically with Communist International (Comintern). The connection between Marxist-Leninist ideology and the contents of MCP propaganda, and the techniques of mobilizing propaganda during the 1930s to 1940s will also be explored. Overall, the relationship between the MCP and Comintern, along with knowledge of the workings of the MCP’s propaganda machinery, provide evidence to show that in the 1920s and 1930s the MCP’s agenda was to seek ideological purity, rather than become a mass-based party. This strategy turned out to be the start of the demise of the Party, for it failed to win the support of the different communities in Malaya, and even lost the official acknowledgement of Comintern.