Authoritarian States - Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong

Grew up as a peasant, and was exposed to violence in the Hunan province. This greatly influenced his belief that “all power gorws out of barrel of a gun” Influenced by the communist manifesto and Karl Marx is eventual leader of the CCP.

Lin Bao

Head of the People’s Liberation Army, chosen by Mao to be his successor. Starts a national movement to purge the party, igniting students and radical teachers. Mao however becomes paranoid about the power Bao had gained and tries to flee china but his plane crashes in mongolia.

Chiang Kaishek

Leader of the Guomindang (nationalist party) starting in 1925. Tries to then exterminate the communists, which forces them to innitiate the long march.

Jiang Qing (madame mao)

Creator of a new chinese culture that followed what Mao wanted. Imposed a strong censorship on entertainment and art needing media to praise the proletariat.

The May Fourth Movement, 1919 (what caused protests to occur in China?)

Outraged by Japanese expansion after the first world war thousands of demonstrators began protests on may 4, 1919 calling for upheaval. Mao participated in these demonstrations.

Mao Zedong’s role and the formation of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)

Emerged after the May 4th movement in 1921. Originally supported by the USSR. Then had alliance with the GMD to defeat regional warlords.

The Long March, 1934-1935 (how did this march contribute to Mao’s rise to power?)

Kaishek forced the communists to leave in 1934, Mao insisted that 100,000 troops go towards Yunan instead of USSR. Over a year and 6,000 miles traveled only 8,000 left but Maos popularity had increased due to his decisions.

Mao’s ideology on the Chinese Revolution and  where the peasants fit in that revolution

Mao was influenced by Marxist-leninist ideas but interpreted them for china. Argued that the Chinese revolution must come from the rurual peasants, as they can overpower the oppression of the upper class.

Weaknesses of the Guomindang (The People's Party) (GMD) in the Chinese Civil War

Kai-shek and his government was widely unpopular and corrupt. Taxes also increased leading to unpopularity and inflation.

Strengths of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the Chinese Civil War

In 1945
- Support of the peasants

-Mao’s military leadership

-Controlled area populated by 90 million Chinese

In 1948

-Was using guerilla warfare successfully

-PLA troops attacking strategy in decisive campaigns

The Reunification Campaigns, 1950 (what was the ‘goal’ of these campaigns?)

Mao and CCP believed that religion was the greatest threat to their authotarism. Goal was to secure full control of China’s borders, impose martial law, and repress independence movements.

The Anti-Movement (what types of people did this movement focus on?)

Mao declared that the middle class were enemies of the state and encouraged everyone to spy and inform the government of anyone who wasn’t willing to accept the regime. People targeted were those who commited fraud, tax evasion, and waste.

‘100 Flowers Campaign’ (what was originally encouraged and then was withdrawn?)

In 1957 allowed for open criticism of the state. Halted shortly after and began to purge intellectuals who had previously criticized the party, after they were labeled as rightists.

The First Five Year Plan, 1952-1957 (what happened and was it successful)

Aimed to develop china’s industrial power. Heavily depended on soviet support but had to pay back all loans with intrest and strained relations. Not successful as it left a majority of peasants without food and started famines.

The Great Leap Forward, 1958-1962

Mao wanted to achieve industrial progress without the steps other nations had taken. With the plan of producing mass amounts of food to sell over seas and modernizing the steel industry to compete with USSR. Large goals were set so families were then encouraged to smelt steel in their backyard

Mao’s plan in the Great Leap Forward (what steps were taken in this economic plan?)

The first step was to take land from peasants then to force them to live and work on communes.

The Great Famine (of the Great Leap Forward)

Believing that collectivism would lead to a great increase of food production. However the opposite happened with 40-45 million people starving as a result of this. Blamed of shortcomings of peasants.

Communes of the Great Leap Forward (how did this change agriculture in China?)

Mao created communes from land stolen from peasants and forced them to live and work on them. This affected agriculture by making it so only government could control the agriculture in china.

The Cultural Revolution, 1966-1976

Mao’s reputation had greatly decreased from result of the great famine. Cultural revolution was launched as a way to restore authority in mao. Massive purges took place of any deemed disloyal to Mao.

Mao’s motivation to implement the Cultural Revolution

Some of the motives behind the cultural revolution include: criticism from the great leap forward, concerns about his age, paranoia about opposition growing against him, resenemtn towards Liu and Deng for bringing the famine to an end.

The Little Red Book (what was it and how was it significant to the Cultural Revolution?)

Writings and speeches of Mao in 1964, established Mao as a cult leader and was extremenly effective as a piece of propaganda.

The Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution (who were they and what were they directed ‘to attack and destroy’?)

The Red Guards were young activists who targeted enemies of the revolution. Destroyed thousands of historical and cultural sites, and took over the media.

Up to the Mountains and Down to the Villages campaign, 1967-1972 (what were the Red Guards asked to do in this campaign?)

To show how much control the government had over the young population of china the Red Guard were directed to move to the mountains and live among the peasants. 12 million young people moved and experienced the near starvation that most people were living like.

Laogai (what were they and how did they allow Mao to control the people?)

The Laogai were forced labor camps where people who opposed the ideas of Mao and his government were imprisoned. These camps are where “re-education” would take place of the opposition.

Jiang Qing's role in the Cultural Revolution (how did she influence Chinese culture?)

Imposed a strong censorship on entertainment and art needing media to praise the proletariat. With the attempt of inspiring loyalty and conformity towards Mao and the party.

How was Chinese culture reshaped by the Cultural Revolution?

All media and entertainment had to be state approved and praising of the state. Caused many artists to fear criticizing as they feared retribution from the government.

Marriage Reform Law of 1950 (what were some things that it attempted to change?)

-Outlawed concubinage (the practice of men keeping women as mistresses)

-Arranged marriages were ended

-Women who had been forced to marry were permitted to divorce

-All marriages had to be registered with the state

Why did the communes influence the traditional family structure?

Mao declared that it was “neccesary to destroy the peasant family for the good of the state”. Collectivism only encouraged this. Children were instead to see Mao as their father and place the party over their own need for love.

Sino-Soviet Treaty of 1950 (what was part of this treaty and why did it sour the relationship between the PRC and the USSR?)

Treaty called for soviet assistance between the USSR and the newly formed PRC. Led to economic assistance to china and soviet expertise. Soured relationship because ussr believed china should repay back all $300 million plus intrest

De-Stalinization speech (Why did Mao consider it to be an attack on his leadership in the PRC?)

In 1953 Jospeh Stalin, at the time leader of the USSR, died and was replaced by Nikita Krushchev and denoucned Stalin and criticized many actions he did, especially for his cult of personality. Mao believed this was also an attack on him because he had built a cult of personality.

The Conference of Communist Parties, 1957 (how did it lead to tensions between the PRC and the USSR)

Meeting of all communist governments in Moscow in 1957. Mao declared that the USSR should stop giving things up to the west peacefully, saying that the USSR was seeking better relations with the US.

Sino-Soviet Relations (1959-1962) (what criticism caused Mao and the PRC to sever ties?)

Mao cut ties with the soviets in 1961 after they were openly criticizing the Great Leap Forward and the failures of it.

The Impact of Nuclear weapons on Sino-Soviet relations (Why did nuclear weapons cause tension?

China believed that nuclear weapons could be used as a tool against imperialism but the USSR denied this. USSR later had a withdrawal of soviet scientists from china after Krushchev thought China would cause a nuclear war with the US. China then was able to make their own nuke in 1964.

Impact of Cuban Missile Crisis on Sino-Soviet relations (what was Mao’s criticism?)

After the Cuban Missile Crisis Mao used it as a way to openly criticize the USSR saying that they backed down and were weak towards the US.

Sino-Indian War, 1962 (why did it impact Sino-Soviet relations)

A war between India and China, saw USSR at first neutral then provided India with some fighter planes and diplomatic support. Worsened relations between USSR and China.

Sino-Soviet confrontation, 1969 (what occurred and why did it concern the world?)

After some violent confrontations on the border over territory both sides then realigned their missiles to aim at each other away from common western enemies.

Mao’s view of the U.S. (why did he distrust the U.S.?)

US at first didn’t recognize Mao’s government as the official government in china after they supported Kaishek. Causing a distrust from Mao.

Detente with the US and the PRC (why did Mao want it to occur?)

China was allowed to take a seat in the UN, with this they then became open to negotiations. The motivation behind detente with the US was to isolate the USSR.