To gain peasant support, Mao used propaganda. He had his men put up posters depicting the Kuomintang as merciless and greedy people who looked down on peasants and cared only for the rich and their own well being. Another technique Mao used was to get his Red Army to be polite and to protect the peasants. They helped the peasants work in the farm, repaired houses, secure food. Mao seized the lands of the wealthy and distributed them to the peasants so that they could grow their own food and not be hungry. When the Japanese invaded China, the Communists fought against the Japanese while the Kuomintang fought the Communists. The peasants saw this as the Communists fighting for their country and taking care of the people while the Kuomintang were concerned only with money and power.
