Mao ZedongMihir PatelDeborah Park

China Before Mao

Large Western influence was forced onto China

The Opium War with Britain

Western Powers divided China into many sections

The Western Powers left the Qing Dynasty in power because it was very weak

Violent rebellions along with the Japanese War led to the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911

The Republic of China was formed. Many political parties (Communists, Nationalists, and the Japanese) fought for power

The Early Years of Mao

Born on December 26, 1893 and grew up in the village of Shaoshan (pop. 2000)

Growing up in that village gave Mao a first hand experience with poverty

At the age of 16, Mao left his village to search for better schooling. On his journeys he developed very extreme nationalist ideas.

In 1911 Mao studied the revolutionary work of Sun Yat-sen.

As he was traveling, he saw the constant struggles of the Chinese peasants with their landlords. He saw that China needed a revolution

Mao Becomes More Involved

In 1921, Mao attended the First Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.

In 1923, the Chinese Communist Party formed an alliance with Sun Yat-sen and his Nationalist Party

He was appointed the Nationalist’s Executive Bureau

Mao went back to Shaoshan where he witnessed many police shootings of innocent peasants. He started to organize peasant revolution groups

Mao Becomes More Involved

In 1927 General Chiang Kai-shek took over the Nationalist Party and became leader of the Republic of China

He led an anti-communist movement and killed many of them (Civil War of the Nationalists and the Communists)

In 1934, Mao and the Red Army, consisting of 90,000 people, went on a year long march called the Long March

After a year, Mao and the Red Army arrived in the Shaanxi Province with 10,000 people. This showed the Chinese people that he would make a wonderful leader.

Mao Becomes More Involved

On October 1, 1949, Mao spoke in front of Tiananmen Square where he was cheered on by a huge crowd

Mao took control over China and was now the leader

This marked the start of a new era for China

The Leader of China- Mao Zedong

To gain support from the peasants, Mao led land reforms from 1949-1953

He told peasants to revolt against and kill their land lords and anyone who owned land

He led China to victory in the Korean War which showed other countries that China was indeed a rising power

The Leader of China- Mao Zedong

The Great Leap Forward (1958-1962) Solidified Mao as the leader of China Transformed the economic and political lives of

all the Chinese people Mao used the Red Army to destroy any other

political parties (nationalists, anti-communists, etc.)

The Leader of China- Mao Zedong

The Cultural Revolution 1965-1976 Mao used the Red Army to transform China

culturally Used the Red Army to kill all intellectuals so

there is absolutely no opposition against him He encouraged kids to fight against their

teachers There were no more strong political parties in

China that could threaten Mao

How Mao Ruled

He ruled with force by destroying anything that had the potential to oppose him

“The Little Red Book” symbolized the people’s loyalty to him

He controlled all aspects of the Chinese life (family, education, culture, economy, and politics)

Family- he encouraged people to revolt against their parents

Education- encouraged people to fight against their teachers

Culture- Cultural Revolution Economy and Politics- The Great Leap Forward

Outline - PoliticsCreated a one-part system that condemned any

opposition: non-conformists were attacked and imprisoned, opposing political leaders were killed Gave absolute security of his reign

Anti-Rightist Campaign Reaction/condemnation of strong opposition (2 waves)

500,000+ people (Intellectuals) killed Mao realized the growing opposition (100 Flowers

campaign & Lushan Conference) against his economic decisions & therefore needed to purge those ideas

Outline - EconomicsGreat Leap Forward

Was supposed to mass produce and collectivize agriculture to surpass/match Britain’s status. Copied Stalin’s 5-Yr Plan However: misused resources, unstable water projects

Mines, factories, plants went into full production However: over-used workers and machines, eventually production

plummeted bc overly relied on Soviet assistance, who withdrew A positive economic result wasn’t even from Mao’s own policies

Economic policies were a failure Millions died of starvation, growing opposition against his regime,

led to several reforms: agriculture replaced industry in priority

Mao attempted to model Stalin’s economic policies, but backlashed bc of inefficiency. He eventually ruined the economy even more through the Cultural Rev. where production stopped and output decreased.

Outline - Social Land reforms – collectivization, eliminated religion, raised status of women,

labor camps Great Leap Forward. Everything was government owned

Peasants (strength of China) brought under a single party of rule, everyone was of equal status, anyone w ho opposed were eliminated

Revolution and suppression of counter-revolution 100 Flowers Campaign – period of liberation, encouraged critiques of communist

regimes Manipulation: Used for progression in science, but at the end Mao executed those

who spoke out against the regime Cultural Revolution – only promoted nationalistic Maoist arts, denounced

imperial China, millions killed Manipulated the peoples perception to glorify Mao’s regime Little Red Book – the people’s ‘Bible’ outlined the demeanor that was necessary, no

individuality

Mao won the love of majority of his people (peasants), which was the sole reason for maintaining his regime until his death. He inspired their anger for the disparity between them and intellectuals, businessmen, industrialists etc. Communism removed that disparity.

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