"The Founding Ceremony of the Nation (1951), showing Mao proclaiming the birth of the People’s Republic of China from the Imperial Palace Gate at Tiananmen Square, 1949"
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/oct/25/who-was-mao-zedong/
Communism
Mao supported both the Nationalists and the Communists, but favored Communism. Later, the Nationalists broke off ties with the Communists and the Chinese Civil War erupted for control of China. Mao's guerilla warfare would eventually win the civil war for the Communists.
In 1937, China was invaded by Japan, entering World War II (WWII). The Communists and Nationalists reluctantly made an alliance, but only on paper. When the Japanese withdrew at the end of WWII in 1945, the civil war was fully engaged again. |
"In many ways. . . the Nationalists under Chiang [Kaishek] and the Communists, eventually led by Mao, had much in common. Both parties saw themselves as revolutionary, and both would swiftly conclude that their revolutions had come grinding to a halt. The slogan of the Nationalist party – ‘the revolution is not complete’ – could have been uttered with equal conviction by Mao. It was their similarity of intention, in part, that made their rivalry so deadly."
-Rana Mitter, Modern China: A Very Short Introduction
At the end of the civil war, Mao sent revolutionary leader Deng Xiaoping to rid the Nationalists from China. Meanwhile, Mao declared the founding of the PRC on October 1, 1949.
"Ours is a just cause. A just cause is invincible . . . We know we will overcome all difficulties and build our country into a great, socialist republic."
-Mao Zedong Speech, China: A Century of Revolution: Part II
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CCP Gradually Turned China Completely Communist
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"While . . . Mao's rule was highly ideological in the 1950s and 60s, in the 1930s and 40s, . . . Mao had a highly pragmatic approach to rule . . . he was willing to make many compromises and alliances of conveniences with various segments of the population in order to drive out first the Japanese and then the Nationalists. The most important face of his pragmatism was . . . his willingness to go to the countryside to make revolution . . . Building revolution on the Chinese peasantry meant giving them what they wanted, namely land reform and land redistribution. This pragmatic policy . . . made Mao and the early Chinese Communist Party very popular. Only in later years, after the 1949 victory of the CCP, did Mao begin to implement his vision of a more radical political vision."
-Interview of Jeremy A. Murray, History Department, CSU San Bernardino
Mao in Power
"We wanted to establish relation with the Soviet Union. If the imperialists invade, we have a friend to help us . . . We must work hard and learn from the example of the Soviet Union."
-Mao Zedong Speech, China: A Century of Revolution: Part II
Mao wanted a strong industrial China to surpass the western countries in fifteen years. He promised his people that they could have a better life by giving them profits and land.
"Chairman Mao always said that capitalist [sic] was dying and that Communism will rule the world. The fact is that he killed millions of Chinese and said it was a necessary loss for the greater good of the country."
-Pros and Cons of Communism
Great Leap Forward
The GLF is etched into the mind of historians and those Chinese who can still remember the time. This event shattered Mao's legacy and is a dark spot on modern Chinese history.
"In 1958, I was only eleven years old. I do not remember much; however, the only thing I remember was the crazy amount of yelling in the streets. They were yelling slogans in support of the Great Leap Forward. They yelled out, 'Dare to think, dare to act.' Additionally, I later heard from my parents that millions of people died from hunger mainly on the county side. It did not really affect us because we lived in the city."
-Shui Chow, Retired, 68 years old
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slideshare.net
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"Following the establishment of the PRC . . . in 1949, Mao was responsible for many of the political initiatives that transformed the face of China. These included land reform . . . [and] . . . the collectivization of agriculture. . . . this leader of the revolution remained alert to what he saw to be new forms of oppression and sensitive to the interests of the oppressed. In 1958 he advocated a self-reliant 'Great Leap Forward' campaign in rural development. The failure of the Leap led Mao to turn many responsibilities over to other leaders (Liu Shaoqi, Deng Xiaoping, etc.) and to withdraw from active decision making."
-Asia For Educators, Mao Zedong: Biographical and Political Profile
"The Bloody History Of Communism" Volume III/(00:16)Narrator: Fatih Kocoman Youtube: Chris Smith |
"The Bloody History Of Communism" Volume III/(00:11)Narrator: Fatih Kocoman YouTube: Chris Smith |
"China: A Century of Revolution" Part II/(00:18)Narrator: Will Lyman Director: Sue Williams
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"A top-secret document found in the archives reveals that not only was Mao completely aware of the peasants' distress, but it was part of his strategy to sacrifice the countryside in order to feed the cities and the industrial and political centers. It's a report on the debates in a Politburo session dated 25th of March, 1959. Mao stated, 'When there is not enough to eat, people starve to death. It is better to let half of the people die, so that the other half can eat their fill.' " |
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"When Mao Ze Dong [sic] was just a small general in the Communist army, he was well liked by all. By the time he became Chairman and President of China, he completely changed and showed his true self – a cruel, sadistic leader who would kill millions of his own people for his own political purposes."
-A Young Investor
"The Leap has been interpreted as an example of how Mao's dominance over the CCP ended the possibilities of real debate within the leadership: when Peng Dehuai, the defence [sic], tried to point out the hardships caused by the Leap at the 1959 Party conference at Lushan, he was abruptly dismissed from his post."
-Rana Mitter, Modern China: A Very Short Introduction
The GLF cost approximately thirty to forty million lives, in an attempt to change China's old society to build a new one. Mao hoped to bring China out of a medieval state to create his vision of Communist utopia. This led him to destroy millions of lives.
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When the GLF's results were revealed, Mao was forced to abandon his post as PRC Chairman. He was able to keep his position of CCP, but Liu Shaoqi would become China’s new leader, working with Deng to recover China.
"After Mao resigned as Head of State, the People's Congress elected Liu Shaoqi to succeed him . . . Liu was a veteran Revolutionary, and one of the most conscientious and talented in the Party. He worked with . . . Deng Xiaoping to rebuild the country."
-Will Lyman, China: A Country of Revolution: Part II
"China: A Century of Revolution" Part II/(00:18)Narrator: Will Lyman Director: Sue Williams
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"While scholars inside and outside of China all acknowledge that there was terrible suffering . . . there is disagreement over whether the disaster was caused by a mix of factors, including bad weather and policies that were implemented badly in some places, or due almost exclusively to misguided extremist ideas that Mao was responsible for. The official line in mainland China is the former, though there are some brave writers there who emphasize that degree that Mao and those close to him were directly responsible for the suffering. In the West, most scholars say that Mao deserves most or all of the blame for the horrors of the time, though they may argue over just how many people died . . ."
-Jeffrey Wasserstrom, History Department, CSU Irvine |
"Yet the Great Leap Forward was a monumental failure. It can hardly be defined as anything else, as its methods caused a massive famine whose effects were dismissed by Mao, and caused at least 20 million deaths. Its modernizing aims were dashed in the face of reality. Yet the return to a more pragmatic economic model in agriculture and industry when the Leap ended in 1962 did not dampen Mao’s enthusiasm for evolutionary renewal as well as ideological success."
-Rana Mitter, Modern China: A Century of Revolution