NATURE OF POLITICAL DISRUPTION AND THE IMPACT ON THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY/RESPONSES TO THE DEATH OF ZHOU ENLAI/CHANGING POLITICAL STANDING OF MAO ZEDONG AND DENG XIAOPING

Political disruption

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* Completely disrupted the political organisation in China
* Conflict and disruption between Gang of Four and Lin with the PLA
* Lin presented as Mao’s successor in 1969, but after his flight the Gang of Four came back into contention and launched campaign against Zhou

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Power Struggle

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* Power struggle remained consistent due to Mao’s old age
* Party descended into factions which were all alienated from one another

Official Response to death of Lin Biao

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* Response reflected that Zhou was more significant than Mao at this point
* Gang of Four announced there would be no other memorials than the official one to try and quash support and legacy

Unofficial Response to death of Lin Biao

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* Marked genuine loss of political moderation
* Tens of thousands went to Tiananmen Square in 1976 to leave presents and flowers for Zhou but they were removed by police
* Led to mass demonstrations and protests which Jiang blamed on Deng and again removed him from all political positions

Deng returns

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* Deng brought back in 1973 by Mao for stability and growth
* Took increasing power through 1975 as Zhou was hospitalised and began plans for modernisation

Deng forced away again

* 1975 Mao’s health is declining and he was concerned about his legacy
* Gang of Four able to convince Mao that Deng was Confucianist resulting in exile in 1976 in order to rehabilitate him

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