Mao's China

events of Civil War timeline

9th August 1945 - Soviet Troops invade Manchuria

November 1945 - GMD forces take over Manchuria

Jan-Feb 1946- GMD struggled to control Manchuria, CCP and GMD agreed to ceasefire

April-July 1946 - peace breaks down, GMD attacks CCP strongholds in north

May 1947-GMD’s last major attacks

June 1947 - PLA forces advance across Sungari and Yellow River

Nov 1948 - PLA conquers last cities in Manchuria

Jan 1949 - end of Hua-Hai campaign

Oct 1949 - Mao announces victory and creation of People’s Republic of China

why and when did Chiang want to gain control of Manchuria

- USSR invaded it in Aug 1945

-he suspected Soviet forces would aid their fellow communists in the CCP

-It was in the north-east of China, bordering CCP strongholds-Chiang concerned Sviet invasion would lead to CCP gaining control of all of northern China

-it contained lots of modern industry-large stocks of Japanese weapons-concerned CCP would get access to them

When and how did Chiang get control of Manchuria?

-reached agreement with USSR that Soviet forces would control region until his forces took control

-nov 1945- US military flew 110,000 GMD troops over, giving Chiang control

-however, Soviets had already let PLA take 100,000 guns and thousands of pieces of artillery left by Japanese

Why did GMD struggle to control Manchuria?

• their rule was unpopular

• they only reopened 852 of 2411 factories-unemployment rose

• struggles to control rural areas as PLA guerilla units fought them there-by early 1946 GMD basically lost control in rural areas

when was the ceasefire and why? When did it end?

-Feb 1946

-USA had urged Chiang to establish a united, democratic government

-fighting started again in April, full-scale civil war by July

How did CCP strengthen positions after ceasefire?

-extended control of northern countryside

-Mao ordered PLA to retreat; CCP lost control of cities, but PLA survived

-to consolidate power in northern countryside, speed up of land reform-peasants joined PLA

How did GMD strengthen positions after ceasefire?

-Chiang persuaded USA to provide more economic and military support

-wanted to end communist control of territory in north- May 1946, controlled all cities in north except Habrin

why and when did workers lose faith in GMD?

by mid-1947, ecause of unemployment, inflation, corruption and lack of reform

when were PLA’s first attack and what what happened?

-June 1947

-400,000 PLA troops attacked across Sungari river

-Liu Bocheng (one of PLA’s best generals) attacked across Yellow River, allowing them to push further south

-all led to GMD losing lots of conrol in Manchuria-PLA secured hold on north-east China

describe Mao’s 2 part strategy

-PLA gained control of countryside, cutting of GMD in cities

-PLA stormed and surrounded cities

why was GMD’s loss of Manchuria significant?

-by Mao surrounding cities, GMD couldn’t retreat, so lost around 1/3 of troops

-CCP control of north and Manchuria allowed them to recruit more soldiers-By OCT 1948, 1.6 mill peasants joined

-PLA could capture their weapons

-major PLA victory and major psychological blow for GMD

what was the Huai-Hai campaign?

6th Nov-10th Jan 1949

-largest battle and major turning point of civil war

who had the avantage in Haui-Hai campaign?

-CCP

-had much larger army

-PLA spies had infiltrated GMD and supplied Mao with Chiang’s plans

-morale in GMD was so low that some were switching to PLA

what was the significance of the Huai-Hai campaign?

-GMD lost 500,000 troops

-destroyed GMD’s last line of defence and couldn’t stop PLA advancing into south of China

-following defeat, Chiang redigned as president

give 5 factors that helped the CCP win the civil war:

-military factors

-economic factors

-peasant support

-leadership

-urban unrest

how did military factors help CCP win civil war?

-initially GMD had advantage (larger army, more weapons)-but PLA used guerrilla warfare, which plays to strengths of small, highly mobile militia bands

-PLA’s tactics were superior in final phases of war; Mao and generals could act defensively, but GMD was slow and indecisive

how did economic factors help CCP win civil war?

-wealthy lost faith in GMD because savings lost value (inflation due to GMD’s policies)

-GMD leaders would sell indistrial machinery and close down factories-unemployment

how did peasant support help CCP win civil war?

-poor peasants gave food + helped PLA transport vital goods, as they associated GMD w oppressive landlords

-brought PLA supplies during Huai-Hai campaign

how did Mao’s leadership help CCP win Civil War?

-ensured soldiers treated peasants w respect, however Chiang didn’t deal with corruption in GMD so people in their territories lost faith in them

-Mao understood significance of politics; supported land reform, winning over peasants, but Chiang did little for poverty, unemployment or abuse of women’s rights

-Mao worked well with his top generals (Liu Bocheng and Lin Biao), but Chiang’s government was divided (disagreed w a highly respected general, Fu Zuoy, over strategy)

how did Urban Unrest help CCP win civil war?

-unemployment + inflation led to industrial unrest

-strikes rose and CCP worked with groups in GMD zones to organise them

• eg in 1947, CCP helped organise a strike of around 90,000 female textile workers across GMD territory

-GMD tried fighting these back, but striked still disrupted economy, and telecommunications striked made it hard for GMD leaders to coordinate with gov

The CCP after they had won power

1. Was initially too small to dominate the government, so worked with members of other parties until it grew large enough
2. Dominated all other parties by 1952
3. Grew from 4.5m members in 1949 to 6.5m members in 1953
This mass party membership was used by Mao to organise campaigns such as the Antis (santan and wufan)
4. Democratic centralism allowed party members to vote in a controlled way on policies, but once a decision was made every party member had to carry it out immediately

china’s new government, however was it organised

• at first, government of the new PRC was very democratic-1954 constitution set out how it would be governed:

  • equal rights, multi-party elections, free speech

  • parliament to make laws

  • provisional congresses to govern China’s provinces and main cities

  • a state council elected by National People’s Congress (the parliament)

  • a premier (prime minister) of the State Council and first was Zhou Enlai

what was democratic centralism

• there is open discussion allowed in the party about policies

• but after decision is made by central leadership (mao and top leaders) everyone has to obey without quetions

• thus allows him to maintain absolute control

what was mass party membership?

• millions join CCP, and members had ot follow Maoist ideas strictly and helped to enforce his policies

he used it to organise mass campaigns like the ‘antis’

Mao’s use of terror

-launched almost immediately after taking control in 1949

-1951-52-used terror to intimidate + kill oponents

-’black’ (enemies) and ‘red’ (allies)

-black = landlords, capitalists, rich peasants, (aka ‘bad elements’) criminals

Red-working class backgrounds people, families who took part in communist revolution

Urban terror

-in cities

-aimed at intellectuals, property owners, and gov officials who had worked w GMD-overall targeted 2% of urban population

-expected to make humiliating public confessions, many comitted suicide out of fear, thousands executed

Rural Terror

-aimed to speed up land reform and attack local religious leaders

targeted landlords who refused to surrender their land

-put on trial by locals-mass meetings were organised where peasants were encouraged to ‘speak bitterness’ against landlords, reminding them of their crimes.

-around 1 mill killed

around 40% of land redistributed to peasants

popular w peasants as they made up 70% of population, it allowed them to take land and resulted in them paying less taxes

what was 3 antis movement? + consequences

Dec 1951

-Sanfan

-to challenge waste, corruption, inefficiency

-targeted officials, based in cities, who had worked w previous gov.-ocused on officials responsible for managing economy

-led to a wave of terror. officials were publicly humiliated after being sacked from gov posts.

those who refused to confess were tortured

around 4 mill were investigated, just over 1 milll convicted-sent to prison or labour camp or executed

caused huge government disruption (as those arrested worked in gov administraion) so Mao was forced to end after a month

what was the 5 antis movement? + consequences

Jan 1952

• Wufan

• focused on bribery, tax evasion, fraud, theft of gov property and secrets

• main target was people who ran industry-attack on China’s capitalists

• CCP would raid and investigate businessed until they believed they found evidence of a c rime

• accused was expected to confess in public-bosses of 450,000 companies put on trial, so affected almost every major company in China

• most paid heavy fines, only 1% went to prison/labour camps

• main result was increase in gov control over economy-business owners were frightened into collaborating w them, heavy fined gave gov more mney to invest in industry, and gov took over bankrupt businesses

reasons for the Hundreds Flowers Campaign?

• Mao's growing confidence in the benefits of communism, so expected praise of communism, said he wanted criticism ‘Let a Hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend’

• expected praise that would strengthen his position

• CCP needed support of china's tech experts + academics in order to industrialise china

• worried CCP was becoming ineffiecient and also corrupt-more interested in power than serving people

• didnt want CCP to lose touch with people like the communist parties had in Hungary and Poland-following Krushchev’s speech criticising Stalin’s rule and his demanding reform, which led to unrest in those countries

features of Hundred Flowers campaign

dec 1956- experts expressed limited concerns, scientists + technicians criticised CCP’s interference of new factories + technologies, economists criticised CCP’s interference in running of economy-Mao welcomed criticism

Jan 1957- radical writes joined campaign (Liu Pin-Yang published a story about lazy + corrupt PLA officials who stood in the way of talented engineers wanting to build a bridge), criticisms about CCP, unpopular in CCP, Mao still welcomed

March-June1957-students criticised key aspects of communist rule, some criticsed Mao’s use of terror-also published own magezines + newspapers which CCP had no control over-Mao reacted by ending campaign, regecting ‘poisonous weeds’ and began to purge opponents

results of the hundred flowers campaign

- the 'Anti Rightist' purge of 1957-9
- people who had spoken out were humiliated
- 300,000-5 were sent to labour camps to be 're-educated'
- educational programs were set up for workers + peasants so they learn to appreciate the CCP
- 5-10% of top CCP officials were removed
- Mao became stronger as people saw this as a trap/clever tactic

-he forced govs premier and foreign minister, Zhou Enlai, to make a pubic apology for failing to impliment Mao’s economic policies fast enough-used him as a scapegoat, blaming for problems in CCP

later led to economic problems in late 1950s and early 1960s as inellectuals were fearful of challenging economic policies so didnt give insight.

what economic reforms did Mao implement and what did they involve?

agricultural reform- Land reform and collectivisation/creation of commmunes

industrial reform- the first 5 year plan/the second 5 year plan (Great Feap Forward)

Land reform-when and causes

1949-57

1. Landlords were GMD supporters- helped get rid of opposition
2. Popular with peasants- essential for CCP support
3. Renting land went against communism
4. Allowed peasants to improve farming, which China needed to feed its workforce

features of land reform

1. Land reform of northern china already started during the civil war
2. Agrarian Reform Law of 1950 allowed the CCP to take land and redistribute it
3. Between 1950 and 1952, 40% of Chinese land was redistributed
4. Seen as a first step to 'collectivising' agriculture by joining small farms to create large farms
5. Four Freedoms for peasants: trading, buying, lending and employing

cooperisation and collectivisation

1950: Agrarian land reform
1951: Mutual Aid Teams of peasant households working together in farming jobs but owning their land. Voluntary
1953: Agricultural Producers' Cooperatives of 20-30 households putting all their land and resources together and getting paid for the work they did. Voluntary
1955: Advanced ACPs of 150-200 households, voluntary
1956: Record harvests achieved

by early 1957-almost 90% peasants had joined Advanced APCs

successes of cooperisation and collectivisation

Most peasants did not want to join APCs. 1954 flooding led to food shortages so CCP put pressure on them to join. By 1957, 90% of peasants had joined advanced APCs
Food production increased by 40% from '51-'57

First 5 year plan causes and date:

1953-1957

-Korean war led to worries of invasion from USA as they had come close to Chinese border, so needed stronger military

-success of soviet industrialisation with USSR’s first 5 year plan

-efficiency-wanted to use China’s limited resources more effectively

first 5 year plan-targets:

-lay foundation for fully industrial economy

-focused mostly on heavy industry eg steel, iron, oil, coal production

-improve Chinas transport infrastructure-new roads, railways, bridges etc

USSR’s support with 5 year plan:

-financial aid was not very significant-only 3% of money for plan came from USSR

-technical support was much more helpful-soviet technicians had genuine expertise, helped chinese planners to use resources more effectively.

USSR povided 11000 experts for China

Successes of first 5 year plan:

-industry grew at 16% a year instead of target 14.7%

-heavy industry tripled in size

-4m people moved to cities-urbanisation meant stronger economy

-living standards in cities improved

-private industries abolished-all industry nationalised as part of transition to socialism-last private factories nationalised in 1956

failures of first 5 year plan:

-oil target not met, so they still had to import lots of oil

-90% of investment went into heavy industry, so inefficiency in it

-to maximise investment in industry, gov had to put off pay rise for urban workers until 1956-led to strikes in cities

-peasants didn’t benefit as: China paid for Soviet aid with grain, soo imposed higher taxes on peasants and still paid low price for grain-unimproved living standards for rural areas

-soviet aid required China to pay high interests-led to issues with peasants standards

5 year plan transport improvements

around 6000km of railway line built, connecting cities on the coast to cities far inland, in the northwest and southwest

manufacture of over 1 million bicycles

building of the great bridge over the River Yangtze

first 5 year plan-impact on Mao’s leadership:

-success consolidated his authority

-he felt that China could achieve anything-caused Great Leap Forward

what were communes?

introduced in 1958

-huge collective farms

-much bigger than co-operatives

-responsible for making industrial goods as well as food, unlike co-operatives

-compulsory-unlike co-operatives

life in the communes:

-reflected communist principles, requires to ive their animals, tools and land to communes

-childcare provided by commune

-food provided freely (no matter how hard they worked)

-work long hours

-expected to be part of the militita (made up of working people-according to Karl Marx’s belief, in a communist society, the army would be replaced by a militia of the people, which is one reason why CCP encouraged militias in communes)-these militia units would police communes

-peasants encouraged to do non-agriculturla work eg male peasants encouraged to make steel in backyard furnaces

problems with communes:

-food shortages began to become an issue by autumn 1958

-food was provided freely and equally to all, so no incentive to work hard

-food production dropped as peasants were encouraged to do non-agricultural work

poor administration-the organisation was chaotic and inefficient

-led to food shortages due to poor administration and food production dropping

what was Lysenkoism?

-Lysenkoism was a pseudoscientific movement based on ideas by Trofim Lysenko

-claimed farmers could create ‘super crops’ which were 16 times as productive as regular crops

-method was to: expose seeds to cold and damp conditions, plant seeds deep undergrouns, plant seeds close together

-said these created harsh conditions which would force plants to become stronger and produce more food

failiure of Lysenkoism:

-failiure of close planting: planted up to 15 mill seeds per acre instead of usual 1.5 mill per acre-resulted in massive crop failiure and over 90% of crops wasted

-failiure of deep planting: seeds normally planted a couple of centimetres below surface of soil, but influenced by Trofim Lysenko, CCP ordeed wheat be planted 1.5 metres into the soil-wasted huge amounts of labour as tens of millions of peasants spent months digging-it also failed as crops didnt grow

what was the 4 pests campaign?

-launched in 1957

-aim was to eradicate flies, rats, mosquitoes and sparrows as they were eating grain and spoiling food

-had little impact on other 3 but led to sparrowcide: mass killing of sparrows with villages competing to kill them, chased sparrows and made loud noises and eventually sparrows dropped dead from exhaustion

Sparrowcide in 1957 led to plague of caterpillars and locusts in 1958-as sparrows would normally eat these-they then ate to crops

-therefore led to decline in crop production

Reasons for the Great Leap forward

• economic- first one led to uneven economix growth, not enough light industry, also solve unemployment

• peasants-wanted to rely on revolutionary energy of Chinese people (had had lots of faith in the peasants) rather than plans of experts

• wanted China to be a global power and overtake Britain’s economy within 15 years, wanted China to be leader of communist world, not USSR

• Krushchev cut soviet aid, so could only use China’s own resources and methods

what was the Great Leap Forward?

1958-62

• small-scale production and energy of peasants rather than large-scale factories and advice of soviet experts

• industrialisation in villages, not cities

successes of the Great Leap Forward

• about 90 mill peasants were involved in building backyard furnaces and producing steel in first year

• 1958-amount of farmland that benefited from irrigation doubled (success in modernisation of farms)

• by end of 1958-half of China’s steel was produced by small-scale furnaces

• apparent success was highlighted in reports from each commune, stressing rate and quantity of production

The Lushan Conference-what happened

1959

• Mao used conference to persecute critics of the policy, therefore suppressing truth of crisis that was happening

• Peng Dehuai (widely respected military leader, key role in defeating GMD in civil war, one of Mao’s olders allies) criticised policy due to having seen beginnings of famine and waste of resources in a commune

• Mao sacked him

consequences of Lushan Conference

• Mao launched ‘Anti-Rightist Opportunist Campaign’-persecuted critics, labour camps

• made Party members continue to lie about chaos

• delayed recognition of huge economic problems, so delayed changes to be made to fix them

• led Mao to advocate a ‘second leap’, which expanded disastrous policies, increased crisis

failiures of Great Leap Forward

• heavy industry production fell by 55%, and production of light industry fell by 30%

• economic chaos meant factories (opened in first 5 yr plan) shut down and new construction projects cancelled-8.5 mill urban workers lost jobs, couldn’t afford food

• wasted labour and tools-peasants melted own objects to create steel, which was low quality so worthless anyway-they lost wealth

• focused on producing steel rather than agricultural work, not enough food made

• false reporting of reports and statistics by party officials so unable to spot problems

causes of the Great Famine and how can they be argued against:

• communes-drop in agricultural production across China. Failed to provide incentive to work harder and produce more crops. Also focused on non-agricultural work too much-however, reforms in 1959 and 1960 adressed many of these issues but famine continued untill 62

• CCP bad policies-4 pests campaign led to plagues of locust which devoured crops. Lysenkoism saw millions of seeds wasted and wasted hours of labour-however CCP spotted problems with them and stopped policies in 59

• natural causes, bad weather-periods of drought and periods of extreme rainfall in parts of China which helped to exacerbate the famine eg in Sichuan-however some areas with famine had good weather or only sort-lived bad weather, also it is estimated that dry season in Sichaun was only responsible for 12% of drop in ag production in 59

• Central government-by 58 everyone was too scared of Mao to criticise policies to gov officias hid evidence of economic problems, ‘Anti-Rightist’ purge led to many experts and economists being expelled from gov, to gov didnt have expertise to understand impact of their policies, in 59 CCP exported almost 7 mill tons of grain to buy machinery in industrial development-however gov did introduce rationing in 60 to try and improve food shortages

reasons for restoration of private farming:

• Mao’s withdrawal from government-withdrew in 1960, failiure of his policies seriously harmed his authority at top of gov

• pragmatism-Liu and Deng willing to abandon utopian policies of PLF, introduced more pragmatic policies eg restoration of private farming. Deng famously defended pragmatism with a metaphor “whether white or black, a cat is a good cat so long as it catches the rat”-economic policies should be judged on results-GLF appeared ideologically correct byt failed

• decline in popular support-famine made the popular enthusiasm that accompanied the GLF disappear, people wanted end to famine, and improvements in living standards-supported polocies that emphasised hard work and higher pay, rather than utopian enthusiasm

• restoring control-famine led to breakdown in policitical control in some areas of China-as communes failed, some peasants joined gangs of bandits who robbed and terrorised other peasants-gov introduced new policies to regain control

reform of communes:

• no longer required to make industrial goods-focused on food

• reduced to 1600 households rather than up to 5000

• pay and other benefits were linked clearly to work, hard work rewarded

• communal canteens were phased out

features of economic reform:

• employed experts and economic planners who had een dismissed in anti-rightist purge-experts developed new strain of rice, Dwarf rice

• bonuses and prizes introduced as extra incentive to boost production, managers told to emphasise discipline on farms andin factories

• restoration of private farming helped boost incentives as they could sell some of own crops

• closure of thousands of small factories and backyard furnaces phased out

• targets for industrial growth lowered, made more achievable, led to fewer attempts to distort production figures

• soldiers, students, unemployed, all sent to villages to work on farms

• peasants allowed to own small private farms to grow food-up to 12% of collectivised land was given over to peasant families, allowed to cultivate this land as well as wasteland and other unused areas, they were also allowed o trade food, peasant marketplaces were restored and farmers could cell surplus produce (except grain sold to state)

• abolished backyard furnaces-resources redirected to heavy industry

• advocates of Lysenko were driven from unis and replaced with research scientists and orthodox agronomists

consequences of economic reform:

• by end of 62, economy has stabilised

• from 62-65, industry grew at 11% a year-but this was partly achieved by sacking many industrial workers to make factories more efficient

• a ‘return to the village’ campaign, which encouraged workers to return to farming, led to a 50% drop in industrial workforce

• farming began to recover in 62-grain production rose from 147.5 mill tons in 1961 to 214 mill tons in 1966

• led to political consequences-inequality re-emerged, workers had many consumer goods which peasants couldnt afford,lucky or hardworking peasants grew wealthier than other peasants due to ability ot farm own land and trade

• Eased overcrowding, encouraged moving to countryside, between 20-30 mill relocated in early 1960s

Reasons for changes in education:

1949-1976

• Mao + CCP believed China needed an educated workforce for economic growth, and he thought ideas would spread faster if people were literate

• Mao + CCP were critical of traditional education

  • It was elitist-only available to children of elite including landlords in rural areas, and factory owners and gov in urban

  • It taught Confucian principles eg respect for authority, and some missionary schools were founded on Christian principles-taught respect for imperialism

  • This type of education led to problems eg in 1949, only 20% of people were literate, and limited access to schooling (45% men and 2% women had formal education)

• Wanted to extend literacy, basic education that reflected needs of workers and peasants

How did CCP improve literacy?

• Pinyin

  • In 1949, Chinese spoke sever diff langs and dialects, no agreed way of writing the languages, to master official lang of People’s Republic of China, Mandarin, had to learn many characters

  • In 1958, gov introduced Pinyin, a new written script, became standard script in all of China and only around 400 characters in alphabet

• Educational reform

  • More primary schools by end of 1950s

  • New textbooks designed to help teaching and learning literacy

  • Literacy drives launched, and backed up by poster campaigns-included setting up short-term and winter schools for workers and peasants

• Due to this, improved literacy greatly (20% in 1949, 50% in 1960, 70% in 1976)

Failures of changes in education:

• cultural revolution had negative effect eg textbooks focused on praising Mao’s thoughts rather than teaching (not fully covered yet)

Changes in healthcare:

• barefoot doctors introduced in 1949

  • By 1965, there were ¼ of a million of them

  • Around a million by 1970 (due to his reforms in cultural revolution)

  • CCP organised basic medical training for better educated peasants, so they could offer simple medical care to other patients

  • Trained in hygiene (prevent occurrence and spread of some diseases), in family planning techniques, to spot and offer remedies for common illnesses, to administer vaccines

• Hygiene work by early barefoot doctors backed by patriotic health movements-emphasised link between dirt and disease, and importance of good hygiene-ccp produced posters warning abt causes of disease eg keeping rats out of villages

How is it clear that the CCP was committed to improving healthcare?

• each commune had a medical clinic to serve local peasants

• CCP training produced over 100,000 fully qualified doctors between 49 and 65

• By 1965, medical schools were training 25,000 medical doctors

• Build more than 800 modern hospitals between 1950s and 60s

Successes and failures of healthcare reforms:

• vaccinations meant many diseases eg cholera and smallpox were eradicated

• Between 1950 and 65, medical system expanded at a faster rate than any other country in history

• Educational campaigns meant STDs and opium addictions were wiped out by 65

• By 1976, 85% of rural population had access to a doctor, and every commune had a clinic

• Morality rate dropped hugeley- 20 per 1000 in 1949 to 7 per 1000 in 1976

• HOWEVER

  • Rural people rarely had access to expensive drug

  • Less than 2 mill hospital beds for 900 mill people

  • Party officials often had better treatment than most-disparity between rich and poor

Reasons for attack on religioun:

• most members of CCP argued that religious beliefs were based on ignorance

• believed that as people gained better understanding of science, it would die out

• believed religions justified inequality

• believed religious leader were an alternative source of beliefs and authority to CCP

attack on Buddhism:

• CCP attacked as part of invasion of Tibet in 1950-they recognised that it was a crucial part of Tibetan culture, and concerned that they might organise resistance against Chinese rule

• banned Tibetan form of Buddhism (called Lamaism) after Chinese victory of Tibet in 1950

• accused B priests of being parasites-accused of refusing to work and living off hard work of others

  • suppression of Buddhists intensified in Resist America, Aid Korea campaign-CCP converted temples into barracks and hospitals for soldiers involved in the war

  • attacked in ‘Anti-Rightist’s’ purge and ‘four olds’ campaign-in 4 olds, temples, statues of Buddha and religious items were destroyed and Buddhist monks and nuns were killed, beaten or sent to labour camps

• helped CCP to conquer Tibet, still failed to defeat religion-from mid 1970s, Bs across China began to restore damage done to their temples

attacking Confucianism, what is it and what did CCP do?

• Confucianism was very influential in 1949

• philosophy based on the Chinese thinker Confucius

• its philosophy, such as the ‘san gung’ (The Three Principles) stressed importance of respecting traditional authority-considered dangerous by CCP

• CCP banned major festivals that celebrated Confucius, closed temples and shrines, propaganda blamed Confucianism for oppression of women and peasants due to its emphasis on the authority of men and landlords

• became under more intense attack in Cultural rev-in 4 olds, Red guards destroyed temples and shrines, including temple at Confucius’ birthplace

attacking Christianity: protestant and Catholic

• CCP believed it was brought to China by European capitalists, and was part of their plan to dominate China

• Protestant Church

  • 1952-1954: CCP’s religious Affairs Department forced Western Protestant missionaries to leave China

  • took over hospitals, schools and unis set up by Christian missionaries

  • RAD was very successful, almost all of 3000 Protestant missionaries who were in China in 1949 were expelled by mid 1952

  • protestants were encouraged to join the Patriotic Three-Self Church, established in 1952 by CCP and allowed them to practise some aspects of their faith - many refused to join due to limits - led to a secret house church movement emerging in mid-1950s

  • CCP responded to secret house movement by imprisoning leaders of house churches.

  • Patriotic Three-Self Church was banned in Cultural rev-led to more house churches -200,000 in 1940s to several million by 1976

• Roman Catholic churches

  • Most RC Missionaries also forced to leave China after 1949

  • CCP launched a propaganda campaign against it which accused Catholic missionaries of murdering + exploiting children

  • Closed many Catholic churches and took over Catholic churches and hospitals in early 1950s

  • Catholic clergymen encouraged to join Patriotic Three-Self Church, but Pope (head of Roman Catholic Church) threatened to excommunicate any clergymen appointed by Chinese gov

  • All remaining Catholic churches closed during cultural rev, but CCP policy against it had little impact-3 mill Catholics in China in 1949 and around the same in 1976

Attacking Islam

• the religion represented a rival set of values to communism, and local mosques and religious leaders had authority to challenge Communism in their community

• Majority lived along NW border of China- CCP concerned that they would break away from China and join nearby states which had majority Muslims

• PLA targeted NW border region trying to crush Islamic resistance to communist rule

  • Confiscated property

  • Established an official association to impose gov control over Muslims

  • Islamic schools where closed and Muslim children forced to attend gov-run schools where Islamic values and culture weren’t taught

• Attacked viciously in Cultural rev

  • Mosques were defiled by turning them into slaughterhouses for pigs

  • Islamic leaders forced to breed and eat pork

  • Muslims in NW were forced to abandon traditional clothes (which were associated with Islam) and wear costumes of the Red Guards

Attacking ancestor worship

• in 1949, traditional practice of paying respect to ghosts and spirits of dead relatives was widepread

• Communists believed it was a superstitious tradition which trapped people in traditional ways of thinking, so CCP attacked it

• tradition at New Year was to return to family home to celebrate ancestors and make small offerings to the Kitchen Gods-CCP set up a campaign to encourage people to end ‘superstitious’ customs like this

• Controlling this was easier when communes were established, as communes tended to break the link between people and their family homes, as no one owns property-however traditional customs associated w ancestor worship still continued

• Following Mao’s death in 1976, millions of peasants began to worship him in the way they worshipped their ancestors

Why did Mao want to initiate the cultural revolution?

• wanted to regain control of CCP

• From 1962, he was concerned Liu and Deng were going too far

  • He was critical of their emphasis on private farming and on expert management of industry

  • They increasingly ran gov without consulting him, he felt snubbed

Mao’s concerns with his own authority leading up to cultural rev

• while most of population still respected mao, senior officials trusted Liu and Deng as their policies ended famine and were growing economy

• Between 1962 and 1964, he tried to to implement 5 new initiatives but Liu and Deng refused

  • Stop growth of priv farming

  • Reform school and uni curriculum

  • Increase investment in rural healthcare

  • Create an organisation to allow peasants to challenge the authority of CCP

  • Begin cultural reform to stamp out traditional ideas

Mao’s concerns with influence of Capitalism and wanting to regain control of the CCP leading up to cultural rev

• concerned about some of Liu and Deng’s policies

  • Break-up of communes

  • Reintroduction of priv farming

  • Introduction of incentives in industry and agriculture

  • Growth of bureaucracy

  • Increasing importance of experts in economic planning and industrial production

• These policies showed they were taking the ‘capitalist road’, experts growing wealthy and powerful, gov ignoring workers and peasant, wanted to preserve spirit of revolution and end domination of the pragmatists

• Revisionism-ideas and policies that undermined socialism, from mid-60s mao warned that the biggest danger threatening communist rule in China was revisionism by ‘capitalist roaders’ (members of the CCP who favoured ‘revisionist’ policies

Yang in educational reforms and Ma’s thoughts

• 1960, education minister Yang Xiu-feng set out new system of schooling designed to be more modern and efficient

  • Said they should study most modern science and tech-said this focus on science was essential to producing a new gen of technicians and experts to work in industry

  • Children of CCP went to best schools, others had fewer resources, bigger classes, less subjects

• Mao rejected his emphasis on need for experts and emphasis on science

• Said education should serve the masses and focus on ideology

• Said there should be an egalitarian education system so all students are treated equally

Mao’s allies in cultural revolution

• Lin Biao

  • His most influential ally

  • China’s defence minister, head of PLA, devoted supporter of Mao

  • Mao believed Lin and PLA retained a pure revolutionary spirit

  • PLA was a powerful organisation which could help Mao regain power

  • Lin had produced a pocket-sized book ‘Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung’-known as the ‘Little Red Book’, given to every Chinese soldier-Lin insisted PLA should study Mao’s words

• Jiang Qing

  • M wanted to revive the revolutionary spirit throughout China

  • Mao needed help of intellectuals, people who understood culture and propaganda

  • She was his wife and had important contacts in the propaganda department in Shanghai

  • She was also interested in reforming culture, particularly opera and ballet

the Socialist Education Movement

• launched in 1963

• Wanted to re-educate party members to stamp out revisionism

• Aims were

  • Expand collectivisation in farming

  • Purify CCP by ending privileged status of Party members

  • Ensure CCP trusted peasants and workers rather than experts

• Didnt work, as Liu and Deng issued instructions that the campaign should be controlled by CCP, not the people, so CCP officials ensured that the campaign didnt challenge their power, so didnt purify the CCP

Campaign against capitalist culture

• initiated in 1965

• Mao instructed allies to criticise play ‘Hai Rui dismissed from office’ by Wu Nan-about a 16th century gov official who was persecuted for criticising the Chinese emperor

• Wu Nan was a supporter of Liu and Deng

• Mao’s allies argued his play was an allegory for Peng Dehuai’s persecution, said it was anti-Maoist and therefore an example of the capitalist culture that was growing in China in mid 1960s

• Jiang Qing arranged for articles criticising the play to be published in a Shanghai newspaper-these articles were the first step towards a broader criticism of culture under Liu and Deng

The Twenty-Three Articles and the Central Cultural Revolution Group

• jan 1965, Mao published the 23 articles, which set out his strtegy for purging the CCP-proposed that peasants and workers should be allowed to form groups and attack corrupt officials

• Liu refused to allow formation of these groups, as feared attack on officials would damage economy

• After Wu-Nan’s play, CCP set up the Five Man Group to purge Chinese culture

• It was led by Peng Zhen (an ally of Liu and Deng) so they could keep control of it

• 5 man group refused to condemn the opera so Mao dismissed it in May 1966 and founded the Cultural Revolution Group-led by Jiang Qing and full of Mao’s allies-they quickly took control of CCP’s propaganda department, removing supporters of Liu and Deng

Why did young people support the struggle against Liu and Deng and join the Red Guards?

• students and young people had been hit by education reforms under Liu and Deng

  • Yang Xiu-Feng’s educational reforms led to inequalities in education-children of CCP officials could attend elite schools and go to top unis, but many others were denied places at uni and sent to countryside to do poorly-paid farmwork

  • Led to resentment among young people esp in cities

  • Mao appealed to students and young people in first phase of revolution

  • Jiang used gov propaganda to appeal to young people to join it

  • In Jan 1966, CCP began mass-producing the Little Red Book and giving it to all students encouraging them to rebel against CCP authority

What were the Red Guards and what did they do?

• groups of students from Chinas unis and schools, each group organised like an army battalion, wearing a military-style uniform, devoted to teachings of Mao and attaacking revisionists

• Attack on unis

  • Started in May 1966, students at Beijing uni started protests against uni lecturers, and started physically attacking in June

  • By aug 1966 radical groups of Red Guards were running many of China’s unis, having purged them of teacher and administrators

• Also attacked powerful people like industrial managers on streets of Beijing-Mao praised this and supported this

• In Aug 1966, CCP published the Sixteen Articles-gave Red Guards the right to overthrow ‘Capitalist Roaders’ and people with old ideas

• Also in aug 1966, Mao personally put up a big character poster instructing them to ‘bombard the headquarters’ telling them to storm the offices of the CCP, where Liu and Deng were based, and terrorise CCP officials

What happened in the Mass Rallies?

• Mao played a key role in encouraging the Red terror by speaking at mass rallies and issuing radical orders

• Between mid-aug and nov 1966, Mao’s supporters organised 8 massive rallies

• In Tiananmen Square-a place associated with rebellion and also where Mao announced the formation of the PRC in 1949

• Mao and Lin biao spoke

• Millions of Red Guards heard him directly, feeling they had been personally instructed to purge China or revisionists

• Responded enthusiastically, chanting slogans like ‘It is justified to rebel’ and ‘Learn revolution by making revolution’

What were the 4 olds?

• at rallies, Lin Biao encouraged Red Guards to persecute anyone who:

  • Practised Old Customs

  • Respected Old Cultures

  • Still had Old Habits

  • Believed Old Ideas

• When doing this, RGs persecuted people who:

  • Read old or foreign books

  • Listened to foreign songs or sang traditional Chinese folk songs

  • Was dedicated to a religion

• This was a turning point in the Cultural rev-encouraged RGs to take their campaigns out of schools and unis and take to the streets and terrorise-this was the beginning of a breakdown in order, as Rs used terror against established authority across China

What happened with the cultural rev in 1967-68?

• growth of anarchy (disorder caused by lack of government), terror grew by Red Guards

• Attack launched on ‘Western’ dress

  • Forcibly cut hair of women with braids or men with long hair

  • Women who wore dresses, skirts, high-heeled shoes had their clothes cut to pieces and forced to weat military uniforms

  • Men in tapered trousers and pointed shoes were told to remove them

• Intellectuals, writers, artists were targeted

  • Many teachers forced to confess crimes, forced to wear boards listing their crimes on chest, public humiliation

  • Academics who escaped with their lives were sentenced to clean toiets

• Almost 400,000 people branded as rightists were forced to leave the villages and return to the villages their parents were from

Examples of artists writers tortured:

• in Beijing, the dramatist Tian Han, who wrote the words of the national anthem, was taken to the courtyard of the Writers’ association w/ 2 other well-known authors

• Recalled by an RG that his hair was shaved (harshly with razor cuts) and a placard around neck denouncing him for counter-rev, died 2 yrs later in prison

• Writer Ding Ling was made to sleep in a cowshed with hands in airplane position

• Lao She, one of the 30 writers and artists taken to courtyard of a former temple in Beijing, tortured and placards calling them ‘demons and snake spirits’ struggle sessions, beaten, blood was so thickly congealed on his clothes that wife had to cut them off, his body was found in the water that night so presumably committed suicide

Statistics of terror in cultural rev

• estimated that 1-2 million killed in CR

• Around ¾ of killings happened in cities rather than rural

• Gov estimated around 50% of urban population was persecuted in some way in 66-68

• In Shanghai when death toll reached 1238, 704 were suicides of those under attack

• 4922 of 6843 designated places of historical interest were trashed

• Destroyed 6618 cultural artefacts, including 2700 books and 2000 graves

Cultural destruction in the cultural rev

• 1967-68

• All by Red Guards

• Works of art and books associated with old ideas destroyed by RGs- paintings replaced by pics of Mao and books replaced by works of Mao

• Temples ransacked and often destroyed

• Statues of Buddha and other religious relics were demolisheD

• Broke into wealthy ppls houses and destroyed furniture, paintings, books, western clothes

• Changed name of roads, parks, buildings eg Prosperity Street in central Beijing was renamed Anti-Revisionist Street.

Gov breakdown in the cultural rev

• Mao’s aim initially of CR was to remove enemies from government and create new power base, but by 1067 there was too much violence and led to gov breakdown

• Problems by earl 1967:

  • CR spread across china and officials being attacked in all major cities

  • Bitter fighting in countryside between RGs and peasants- RGs wanted to stamp out private farming, peasants wanted to keep own land

  • Street fighting in urban between RGs and workers- RGs wanted to persecute factory managers, but workers wanted to keep production going to get their bonuses

  • RGs weren’t united, so diff factions fought each other on streets

• RGs took rebellion further than Mao intended, and this undermined the gov

How did Mao end Liu and Deng’s control of the CCP?

• He purged them- Jiang Qing helped by using her influence over the media to accuse them of taking the ‘Capitalist road’ and of being China’s primary political enemies

• Liu

  • Red Guards attacked Liu, beat him brutally, making his wife watch, until she broke free for RGs and clutched at his clothes, but they were both then beat together and separated forever after Liu was marched back to his house. He was severely injured

  • he was soon expelled from the party and dismissed from all of his posts, severely affecting him

  • Kept in solitary confinement, fed just enough to keep him alive, allowed medicine but couldn’t have sleeping pills, one leg was paralysed and became very ill, Mao only kept him alive to be a ‘living target’

  • taken from Beijing to Kaifeng,, incarcerated in an unheated building, starved, beaten, tortured, was refused meds died of pneumonia in nov 1969

• At party conference in oct 1966, both criticised for failing to support Cultural rev and forced to engage in public humiliation

• At end of feb 1967, both publicly condemned as counter-revolutionaries and held responsible for CCPs revisionist policies

• Deng

  • Not beaten, but made to kneel outside home in airplane position

  • His family was affected-brother harassed by red Guards until he killed himself, son studying at uni was harassed and caught on the roof of a building and pushed or fell and became paralysed from waist down, other son and daughter were sent to countryside

  • Was moved for re-education and hard labour on a farm

The purging of the CCP in the cultural rev

• according to the People’s Daily newspaper, 28,000 CCP officials were arrested due to association with Liu and Deng

• Around 70% of senior Party member were sent to labour camps for re-education

• Many officials sent to May 7th Cadre schools (large farms or camps where bureaucrats and intellectuals were re-educated on how to serve the people, had to undertake intensive political study of the works of Mao and Marx and engage in self-criticism, and also work alongside peasants, growing their own food

What was the point where Mao started to lose control of the Red Guard?

• The Shanghai Commune, established Jan 1967

  • RG didnt stop after purge of Liu and Deng, they wanted to challenge authority of CCP

  • Organised mass meetings of millions of workers

  • Democratic commune representing workers of Shanghai

  • Would work on a democratic basis, with elections held to elect representatives to run key aspects of commune

How did Mao react to the Shanghai Commune?

• concerned as its slogan was ‘Do away with all the heads’ meaning they wanted to abolish ALL leaders

• Condemned the slogan, was wanted to regain control

• Encouraged Shanghai RGs to work with PLA and CCP to restore order to city

• Mao and CCP moved quickly to close it down but the fact that members of the RG had sought to create their own democratic communes, independent of control of CCP was shocking and concerning to Mao

• He had initially intended to only purge the CCP of ‘rightists’, but unleashed a greater revolution which intended to replace all CCP leaders

What were revolutionary comittees?

• in 1967

• RGs, PLA officers and surviving members of CCP took control of major cities

• Creation of these committees was first step to Mao regaining control, and indicated purge of CCP was over

• Mao ordered that slogans about rebellion be replaced with ones about loyalty to PLA

• PLA quicly established control of committees, and while they played dominant role in new revolutionary comittees, rival factions of RGs continued to fight on streets

Why did Mao want to dissolve RGs?

• By early 1967, it was clear that they were becoming more radical than he intended

• radical RGs fighting for more democratic form of communism, but Mao wanted to revive ictatorship of CCP

• Needed to dissolve them to restore order and rebuild CCP under his leadership

attempts to demobilise the RGs

• late 1967

• Reopened universities, hoping RGs would voluntarily return to studies and RGs would disperse, but they preferred to continue revolutionary activities

• Ordered their demobilisation in spring 1968, but most remained active

• By mid-1968, determined to break them up by force

  • After violence at Beijing uni, issued a statement condemning them, saying they lost sight of goals of cultural rev and needed to be supressed

  • In aug 1968, sent propaganda teams backed by elite PLA squads to unis and colleges to break them up

  • Justified by saying cultural rev was entering a new phase that should be led by PLA and workers

• ‘Up the the mountains and down to the villages’ campaign

  • Said their violence showed they needed discipline

  • Ordered PLA to transport millions of students to countryside, saying they would learn tru revolutionary spirit from peasants

  • Around 17 mill exiled in this way between 1968-1976

  • Many never returned to cities or completed studies

  • Protected CCP form threat of continued student revolt

  • Dealt with problem of Urban unemployment that had grown in 1968 due to disruption caused by Red Terror

the rise and fall or Lin Biao

• appointed Mao’s successor by CCP at start of cultural rev

• made the main speech at the 1969 CCP National Congress (and at this time, Mao became concerned that he would use PLA to take power) and by mid 1949, his supporters had 49% of seats on the Central Committee

• Mao began to work closely with Zhou Enlai (a minister who had been loyal to Mao), who argued PLA had grown too powerful and it was time to rebuild the CCP

• Mao wanter to revive and rebuild CCP, making the PLA and therefore Lin less important and play a smaller role

• Lin tried to slow down CCP revival but failed

• Mao and Zhou brought back the the CCP and centre of gov many people who were purged in cultural rev

• made Lin’s authority decrease, but still respected by people as he was acknowledged Mao’s successor

• Lin’s death

  • at end of 1970, Chinese media announced that Lin had been involved in a plot to kill Mao, and after this plot (known as Project 571) Lin was killed in a plane crash trying to escape the USSR (possibly something to do with Mao)

education effects of the cultural revolution

• short-term

  • 1966-unis closed as students joined Red Guard, most closed until 1972

  • academics were persecuted-killed, tortured or forced to work on farms eg May 7th Cadre schools

  • schools affected as younger students joined and attacked teachers

• long-term

  • educational funding for richer students was reduced, and for poor across all of China it increased

  • gov introduced 5 years of compulsory education across all of China, benefiting those in rural where education had been limited→ 15-fold increase in rural primary schools from 1956-1976

  • more educational opportunities of poor peasants and urban workers by changing admission procedures for unis, focusing on references rather than test scores, so more students in poorer schools could go

  • led to better educated population→ adult literacy rose from 43% in 1964 to 65% in 1982, and by 1981, 91% f young aged 15-19 were literate, compared to 56% of this age group in India

economic impacts of cultural revolution- workers, experts and industrial production

• 1967-industrial production dropped by 13%

  • increased to its 1965 level by 1971, but in short term there was high unemployment, so not many jobs for young people leaving school and uni

• Mao claied cultural rev was designed to empower workers by ending power and privileges of experts and managers

• technicians removed

  • beaten, killed, imprisoned or exiled to labour camps or farms

  • attacked because they got more pay than workers, so Maoist propaganda described them as ‘bourgeois’

• workers reforms introduced in 1969

  • abolition of bonuses and overtime payments

  • reduction of people involved in factory administration

  • workers allowed to play a role in their factory’s management

  • experts and managers required to spend at least 1/3 of their time directly involved in production

  • led to more egalitarian working environment, but phased out in 1972 to promote economic growth

  • although industry was more egalitarian than other developing countries, inequalities between workers and experts were still very evident (as they were when under Liu and Deng) eg in a factory nn Beijing in 1972, managers were paid 3 times as much as workers

impact of cultural rev on farming -economic

• cultural rev was designed to end ‘Capitalist road’ so reduced private farming

• by 1966, around 15% of farmland was farmed privately

• about 2/3 of privately farmed land was returned to communes

• official limit to keep priv farming to 5% on agricultural land

• privately farmed goods could no longer be traded freely-prices on all farm produce