3.4 Winding down the Cultural Revolution, 1968-76

Question 1

Why did Mao eventually decide to crack down on the Red Guards?

Answer 1

Mao decided to clamp down on the red guards in 1967 as they were beginning to undermine the army and were damaging China’s economic and educational systems

Question 2

Why did the PLA want to stop the Red Guards sooner?

Answer 2

• The PLA did not want to open
  itself up to the self-criticism and struggle sessions that radicals wanted.
• The PLA did not want to risk losing the status they earned of being the creator and defender of the revolution.

Question 3

What did Mao order the Red Guards and workers’ factions to do?

Answer 3

Ordered Red guard and worker’s to form alliances to stop fighting each other. He sped up the creation of new revolutionary committees that ran provinces.

Question 4

Who dominated the new political systems establish in the provincial committees?

Answer 4

The PLA dominated these new committees which gave them political influence

Question 5

How did the PLA begin to purge the Red Guards?

Answer 5

• Disbanded Red Guard Units and closed down their newspapers by the end of 1968
• Launched a campaign to cleans the ranks

Question 6

What role did the PLA play in schools and universities?

Answer 6

• PLA put in charge of re-establishing in schools and universities
• Often threat of force was used to suppress. Qinghua University proved difficult as Red Guards refused to lay down their arms. 10 died

Question 7

What was the rustication programme?

Answer 7

The compulsory movement of 5 million people from cities to the countryside between 1968 and 1970.

Question 8

Why was the rustication programme carried out?

Answer 8

• Ease urban unemployment
• Dispersed former Red Guards to areas where they would cause less trouble
• Reinforced the army’s control over the young
• Reminded the youth of the peasant base of the revolution

Question 9

What was the experience of the Red Guards like during the rustication programme?

Answer 9

• Forced to learn new skills from a hostile peasantry who had little extra food
• Rural conditions were primitive
• Standards of living were lower than many of those moving were used to

Question 10

Why is Zhou described as ‘the ultimate survivor’?

Answer 10

He managed to miss being purged by Mao and kept his post as Prime Minister from 1949 until 1976

Question 11

How did Zhou achieve his survival?

Answer 11

• He was too useful for Mao to purge him
• He distanced himself from awkward situations

Question 12

What were the ‘Four Modernisations’?

Answer 12

Zhou’s policy that advocated for development in 4 areas; agriculture, industry, defence and education.
These policies had little success but became the basis of Deng’s policies after Mao.

Question 13

How did Zhou establish closer links with the West?

Answer 13

• Zhou played the key role in facilitating US President Nixon’s visit to China in 1972
• This improved relations between the US and China; with the shared dislike for Russia.

Question 14

How did Zhou begin to restore stability within China?

Answer 14

After the success of the Nixon
visit, Zhou attempted to restore economic production and stability after the disruption of the Cultural Revolution. Chen Yun (a veteran economic planner) endorsed Zhou’s policies

Question 15

Why did Zhou have to remain cautious throughout the stage?

Answer 15

Mao had turned on Lin (who had been pretending to be far left when he was rightist) to back Zhou. This slowed Zhou’s progress with his policies and led to him becoming a greater target by radicals.

Question 16

How did Zhou convince Mao to restore Deng to power?

Answer 16

After Lin Biao, China needed to be moderated. Zhou persuaded Deng, who had been in exile in manual labour, to be brought back in to train Wang Hongwen (Member of the Gang of 4) - Mao’s newly chosen successor.

Question 17

What impact did Deng have between 1973 and 1976?

Answer 17

Helped create a peace truce between the pragmatists and the radicals.
He would work alongside Wang for a few years and then Wang would be able to do it alone.
Deng was later purged again in 1976 by Jiang’s orders after the Tiananmen Incident. Mao was too ill to stop it.

Question 18

Who really held the power within China following the suppression of the Red Guard in 1968-69?

Answer 18

• The Gang of Four had a large influence due to their high ranks in the CCRG.
• PLA controlled what happened after 1968. PLA saw themselves as the guardians of the revolution.

Question 19

What was the Tiananmen Incident?

Answer 19

A memorial service for Zhou (who died Jan 1976) became a demonstration in favour of the moderate policies pushed by Deng and Zhou.

Question 20

What impact did the Lin Biao affair have on the Gang of Four?

Answer 20

The mystery from the Lin Biao affair meant that Zhou and Deng could restore more moderate policies. This made other leadership question the severity of the CR.

Question 21

What evidence is there that the Gang of Four still had influence?

Answer 21

• Anti-Confucius campaign in 1973 continued to discredit Lin - labelling him as a reactionary. This was done to purposefully target Deng and Zhou.
• Phrase “Learn from Dazhai” circulated again from 1964 to act as propaganda as Dazhai was a model commune that utilised Maoist methods.

Question 22

How did Mao react to the Gang of Four?

Answer 22

Mao initially supported them, thinking they were pushing for continued revolution. However, it was later shown this was not the case as they were just trying to gain a good position in the succession struggle.

Question 23

Why was the death of Zhou crucial in the succession story?

Answer 23

The memorial for Zhou became a huge demonstration in Tiananmen square supporting Zhou’s moderate policies and acting against the Group of 4.

Question 24

What does the Tiananmen incident tell us about the role of the Gang of Four by 1976?

Answer 24

This shows that the radical extremists still had some power but, as the demonstration took place, they were becoming less popular and had less influence.

Question 25

What evidence is there of Mao’s declining health between 1971 and 1976?

Answer 25

His health had been declining since Lin Biao’s death. It is believed that he had lung infections that were made worse by smoking. He may also have had Parkinson’s disease. Relied heavily on injections that made him almost Coma-like.

Question 26

When did Mao die?

Answer 26

September 1976

Question 27

List each of the potential candidates to replace Mao

Answer 27

• Jiang Qing had personal enemies
• Zhang Chunqiao had a too small power base
• Wang Hongwen was too under the influence of Jiang
• Hua guofeng - Force to make a possibility after Deng’s purge

Question 28

Who was Hua Guofeng and how did he outmanoeuvre the Gang of Four?

Answer 28

• A Politburo member and administrator that was pragmatic and moderate
• Outmanoeuvred the Gang of Four by becoming an alliance with the Military commanders who used the PLA to arrest the Gang of Four

Question 29

What did this mean for the long term future of the CCP?

Answer 29

• Avoided Civil war and moderate, pragmatic politics was re-introduced.
• Deng could later return to politics and replace Hua in 1980.