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

NATURE OF POLITICAL DISRUPTION AND THE IMPACT ON THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY

• Disruption

  • 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

• Power Struggle

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

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RESPONSES TO THE DEATH OF ZHOU ENLAI

• Official

  • 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

  • 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

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CHANGING POLITICAL STANDING OF MAO ZEDONG AND DENG XIAOPING

• Deng returns
  • 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 goes 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