Rise of Mao &

Chinese CommunismUnit 6 - CH 21 Revolution, Socialism,

and Global Conflict

“Revolution is not a dinner party, nor an essay, nor a

painting... it cannot be so refined, so leisurely & gentle, so

temperate, kind, courteous, restrained & magnanimous. A

revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which

one class overthrows another.”

— Mao ZeDong, February 1927

Drew on mystique of earlier French Rev.:

New & better worlds could be

constructed by human actionsCommunist revolutionaries

★ Ousted old ruling classes &

★ Dispossessed landed aristocracies

Vast peasant upheavals in the

countryside & an educated leadership

with roots in the cities.

All 3 revolutions - French, Russian, &

Chinese - found their vision of the good

society in a modernizing future, not in

some nostalgic vision of the past.

The Communist Powers: Soviet Union & China

Guomindang or Kuomintang

Democratic "Nationalist"

Chinese Revolution, 1911

Sun Yat-sen (pictured right) led Chinese Revolution

of 1911

China became more westernized &

overthrew Qing Dynasty

3 Principles of the People:Nationalism, Socialism, & Democracy

Chiang Kai-Shek:

"Father of China" Sun Yat-sen died in 1925

Chiang Kai-shek: new leader of Guomindang

Two major problems for China:1) Japanese invaded Manchuria

2) Chinese Communists allied with Russia

Ideas of Marx & Lenin: spreading to China

Republic of China, 1912-1949

1911: End of Dynasty: Chinese imperial system -

Ancient imperial order that had governed China for

2 millennia - collapsed:

★ Pressure of foreign imperialism

★ Qing Dynastic inadequacies

Mounting internal opposition

★ Modest nudge from organized

revolutionaries (Guomindang)

Guomindang: Promoted a measure of modern

development - railroads, light industry, banking,

airline services. Impact of achievements was

limited largely to cities, leaving rural areas,

where most people lived, still impoverished.

Guomindang base of support was narrow: Urban

elites, rural landlords, & Western powers. (China’s

massive peasantry - no)

Republic of China, 1912-1949

Chased out of China’s cities in a wave of Guomindang-

inspired anti communist terror in 1927, Chinese

Communist Party (CCP) worked on a new revolutionary

strategy

Differed from classical Marxism & Russian practice:

Bolsheviks had found their primary audience among

workers in Russia’s major cities, CCP increasingly looked

to the country’s peasant villages for support.

★ Years of guerrilla warfare

★ Experiments with land reform

★ Efforts to empower women

★ The creation of a communist military force

★ Landlord reprisals

Slowly gained for the CCP & a growing

measure of respect & support among

China’s peasants.

“Struggle Meetings” -- Land reform teams encountered the age-

old deference that peasants traditionally had rendered to their

social superiors. One young woman activist described the

confrontational meetings intended to break this ancient

pattern:

“Speak bitterness meetings,” would help [the peasants] to understand how

things really had been in the old days, to realize that their lives were not

blindly ordained by fate, that poor peasants had a community of interests,

having suffered similar disasters and misery in the past—and that far from

owing anything to the feudal landlords, it was the feudal landlords who owed

them a debt of suffering beyond all reckoning.

This woman speaks some serious bitterness...

Not “Struggling” to Speak Bitter...

Chinese Civil War

Part I: 1927-1936 (WWII) Part II: 1946-1950

Ideological split between Communists & Nationalists.

Civil war continued intermittently until late 1937, when the 2 parties came together to

form Second United Front to counter a Japanese invasion.

1946: Full-scale civil war resumed after the end of hostilities w/Japan.

Chinese Civil War was won by the communist party, the

Republic of China (democratic government) relocated to Island of

Taiwan.

People's Republic of China (communist) asserted control over

"mainland" China.

R.O.C. contends they are rightful government of all China.

Chiang Kai-shek ruled 1925-1975. He was an ally of the US

during World War II.

Rise of CommunismCivil war: 4 years

1949 - Communists led by Mao

Zedong

Guomindang fled to island of Taiwan, where

they established the Republic of China

Communists named mainland China:

People’s Republic of China

UN & U.S. recognized the People’s

Republic of China as the true China.

Mao Zedong

Collectivized agriculture &

industry

Steel production grew rapidly

1950’s Great Leap Forward: Plan -

Cheap labor rapidly industrialize

It failed crippled the economy & caused

millions of deaths from starvation.

1958: Mao’s Great Leap Forward

One of world history’s most terrible man-made

disasters.

Chairman Mao tried to combat the

social effects of industrialization.

The Great Leap Forward (1958–

1960) promoted small-scale

industrialization in rural areas.By the end of ‘58: 700 Million People (99% of

peasants) were living in 26,000 communes.

Communes were told to hand in all pots, pans,

farming machinery & metal to be melted down

to create industrial foundries to produce steel.

As a result, every single year from ‘58 to ‘62 grain

production fell. Yet the govt. continued to

collect grain output as if the peasant communes

were producing more grain than they previously

did.

Created a horrible FAMINE - starvation of the

peasant people of China.

1958: Mao’s Great Leap Forward Results in Horrible Famine

Enormous disaster. Not a “GREAT LEAP FORWARD” - in any way.

Some villages lost more than 1/2 of their population. Reports of cannibalism exist.

35+ million people died of famine or famine related diseases. (pop of Canada

today)

Rebuilding ChinaBetween 1959-1961 poor policies & natural

disasters caused famine.

Introduced elements of capitalism that helped the

economy.

Cultural Revolution 1966-76Universities: Shut down for 4 years

Students & Faculty forced to work in

farm fields

Arrested or killed any who opposed

New curriculum: Communist studies

& vocational training (only)

Movement paralyzed China politically &

significantly affected the country economically

& socially.

Mao Tse-tung died in 1976.

He was replaced by Deng Xiaoping

1966-76: Mao’s Cultural Revolution or “The Kids are NOT alright!”

Mao took tremendous heat for the failures of the Great Leap Forward, however he

felt it was the party that failed, not him. His “Cultural Revolution” was going to fix

that.

Mao was looking to energize a youthful movement to purge his detractors who

blamed him for the failures of the “Great Famine” that emerged from “The Great Leap”.

Mao gathered a group of radicals, including his wife Jiang Qing & defense minister

Lin Biao, to help him attack current party leadership & reassert his authority.

Chinese propaganda poster:

"Destroy the old world;

Forge the new world." A Red Guard crushes the crucifix, Buddha,

& classical Chinese texts with his hammer;

1967.

The Cultural Revolution: Mao's attempt to combat capitalist tendencies

that he believed had taken root in China’s

bureaucracy.

To encourage the personality cult that sprang up around Mao Zedong during the first phase of the Cultural

Revolution, Defense Minister Lin Biao saw that the now-famous "Little Red Book" of Mao's quotations was

printed and distributed by the millions throughout China.

Today in Beijing, you

can go to the Red

Classic Restaurant to

get some dinner &

Maostalgia.

Plus, dinner entertainment:

Songs, dance, & merriment

from the days of the Cultural

Revolution. Yes, they think this

is just fantastic! Go team!

Ping-Pong Diplomacy"Be it baseball or ping-pong, sports have enabled

different cultures & different political systems to get

together on another level. Politicians should

understand that sport is a great equalizer."—Stephen Bull, one of the organizers of Chinese table tennis team’s in 1972, one

year after the U.S. team's trip to China

April 1971: Chinese Suddenly Invited US to

China

Deng Xiaoping★ Sep. 1976, Mao Zedong died at 83

★ Deng Xiaoping seized power

★ Cultural Revolution ended

Four Modernizations"It matters not whether the cat is black or white,

as long as it catches mice." - Deng Xiaoping

His policy: The 4 Modernizations

SAID:

S: Science & Technology

A: Agriculture

I: Industry

D: Defense

Tried to bring progress to China because they had

been isolated for so long

Thousands of students were sent abroad to study

science, technology, & modern business techniques.

Privatization of Chinese Communes

Xiaoping took the communist party

machinery that Mao had created, plus

private enterprise & the profit motive.

Mass mobilization +

Individual capitalism =

Modern Economic Giant

Moving peasant farmers to cities & jobs

in industry & manufacturing.

This results in the fastest

industrialization of a country in the

history of the world.

Tiananmen Square

in 1987

Means:

“Gate of Heavenly Peace” Large city square in center of Beijing,

China, named after the Tiananmen gate

located to its North, separating it from the

Forbidden City.

4th largest city square in the world.

Tiananmen Square

Security cameras at modern Tiananmen

SquareStudents gather & demonstrate. Chinese Democracy,

1918.

The Great Hall of the People on the west side of the Square

Tiananmen Square

Center-Top: Zhengyangmen Gate Tower marking the south end of Tiananmen Square;

Left & Bottom-Left: Monument to the People's Heroes & the Mausoleum of

Mao Zedong occupy the center of the Square.

Tiananmen Square

Collective FarmsCollective farms could now lease lands

to peasant families for rent

Combined capitalism & communism:

"Socialism with Chinese principles"Similar: Lenin’s NEP & Gorbachev’s “Perestroika”

★ Plan worked: Industry began to

improve production

★ Per capita income increased1980s: Could not afford - refrigerators, radios,

watches, & TVs

1990s: More could afford these items

★ People still wanted change - even

democracy - especially students

★ Students were sent abroad &

influenced by western ideas, dress,

& pop culture

Tiananmen Square in

1988

Tiananmen

SquareJune 4, May 1989: Students & educators began

protests & hunger strikes

Reasons: Government corruption; rule of law;

inflation/economy; distribution of info. Inspiration:

“Autumn of Nations” East. Europe uprisings

against communism in ‘89.

Were not calling for an end to communism.

Goals: Social equality & democracy

Lasted: 1.5 months; spread to 300 cities

★ Massive demonstrations of 1 million in

Beijing

★ Deng ordered tanks & troops into Tiananmen

Square to crush demonstrators

Resulted in the Massacre of Demonstrators

Many violations of human rights

Hundreds to possibly thousands were killed

Democracy remained

only a dream

"Tank Man" temporarily stops advance of a column of tanks on June 5, 1989,

in Beijing. Widely considered one of the iconic images of the 20th century. This photograph (one of 4 similar versions) was taken by Jeff Widener of the Associated Press.

TANK MAN: Man who stood in front of a

column of tanks on June 5, 1989, morning

after Chinese military had suppressed

Tiananmen Square protests of ‘89 by force.

Tanks maneuvered to pass by the man, & he

moved to continue to obstruct them, in

something like a dance. The incident was

filmed and seen worldwide.

Currently, there is no reliable information about

the identity or fate of the tank man. In April

1998, Time included the "Unknown Rebel" in a

feature titled Time 100: The Most Important

People of the Century.

Memory of the Tiananmen Square protests

appears to have faded in China, especially

among younger Chinese people, due to

government censorship.

Modern Chinese students are simply baffled at what the imagine might be. “Looks like some kind of military exercise?”

“Did you make this up? Is it some sort of artwork?”

“I really can’t say... there is no context in which to understand it.”

Is China rising so fast that they will

essentially "rule the world" in your

lifetime?