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The base area's economic situation was precarious.[4]: 129 It was difficult to support the growing Chinese Red Army with the local peasant economy and the Nationalist blockade made it difficult to secure resources from outside the region.[4]: 129
The blockade decreased during the Second United Front, but the Nationalists intensified it after military hostilities began again in 1941.[4]: 129 Japanese assaults in the region and poor harvests worsened the effects of blockade and the region had a severe economic crisis in 1941 and 1942.[4]: 130 Some CCP leaders raised the issue of abandoning the area, which Mao Zedong refused to do.[4]: 130 Mao implemented a mass line strategy to successfully address the crisis.[4]: 130
Media
In January 1937, American journalist Agnes Smedley visited Yan'an.[6]: 165–166 In April, Helen Foster Snow traveled to Yan'an for research, interviewing Mao and other leaders.[6]: 166
The Eighth Route Army established its first film production group in the Yan'an Soviet during September 1938.[7]: 69
Yuan Muzhi arrived in Yan'an in fall 1938.[4]: 128 With Wu Yinxian, Yuan made a feature-length documentary, Yan'an and the Eighth Route Army, which depicted the Eighth Route Army's combat against the Japanese.[4]: 128 They also filmed Norman Bethune performing surgeries close to the front lines.[4]: 128
In 1943, the CCP released their first campaign film, Nanniwan, which sought to develop relationships between the CCP army and local people in the Yan'an area by showcasing the army's production campaign to alleviate material shortages.[4]: 16
In 1944, the CCP welcomed a large group of foreign (primarily American) journalists to Yan'an.[6]: 17 In an effort to contrast the party with the Nationalists, the CCP generally did not censor these foreign reports.[6]: 17 In December 1945, the party's Central Committee instructed the party to facilitate the work of American journalists out of the hope that it would have a progressive influence on American policies toward China.[6]: 17–18
Diplomacy
After the US entry into World War II, the CCP sought military support from the US.[6]: 15 Mao welcomed the American Military Observation Group in Yan'an and in 1944 invited the US to establish a consulate there.[6]: 15