Chapter 10: The aftermath of the Cultural Revolution

Question 1

How old was Mao in 1969?

Answer 1

76

Question 2

What was the main problem after the cultural revolution related to how old Mao was?

Answer 2

Who would succeed him after he died

Question 3

What were the 3 factional rivalries after the cultural revolution?

Answer 3

• Lin Biao and the PLA
• Jiang Qing and the Shanghai radicals
• Zhou Enlai and the bureaucracy

Question 4

What was the general status of the PLA in the PRC?

Answer 4

• They held a special status in the PRC since it’s victory in the civil war
• Mao used the army as an exemplar of revolutionary discipline and power. Mao said “the whole country should learn from the PLA”
• The crucial role played by the PLA in the cultural revolution, especially towards the end when they clamped down on red guards, gave the PLA an enhanced prestige and a higher profile in the political life of China.
• The PLA dominated the Central Committee and regional and provincial committees.

Question 5

How did attempts by Mao after 1969 to rebuild the CPC as an essentially civilian political party progress at first?

Answer 5

-At first it made slow progress as despite all of Mao’s efforts, the PLA still dominated the party at local and provincial levels.

Question 6

What was Mao’s concerns with the PLA dominating the CPC?

Answer 6

-It had always been a guiding principal of Maoism that the party should control the military. In the aftermath of the cultural rev, there was the potential for these roles to reverse

Question 7

What power did Lin Biao have shortly after the cultural rev?

Answer 7

• He was commander-in-chief of the PLA, defence minister in the government and a member of the Politburo standing committee, and was Mao’s chosen successor.
• He exercised a lot of power.

Question 8

What role did Lin Biao play in the cultural rev?

Answer 8

-He had been one of the key figures in promoting the cult of Chairman Mao, he wrote the introduction to the “little red book”

Question 9

What number wife was Jiang Qing in Mao lifetime?

Answer 9

His fourth wife

Question 10

How had Jiang Qing risen to prominence in Chinese political life?

Answer 10

• She rose to prominence through the cultural revolution.
• As she was close to Mao she was a useful ally to those who wanted to gain his trust and advance in their own political careers
• Therefore she was able to make powerful alliances and extend her own influence

Question 11

Who was Jiang Qing closely associated with?

Answer 11

A group of Shanghai radicals which included Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, Wang Hongwen and Jiang Qing (Gang of Four)

Question 12

How had Jiang Qing forged close alliance with Lin Biao?

Answer 12

Through the Shanghai forum on literature and art in the armed forces

Question 13

What was the importance of the Red Guards to Jiang Qing and her allies?

Answer 13

• The red guards provided Jiang Qing and her allies with their mass support base.
• The red guards enabled them to pursue their radical political and cultural agenda

Question 14

What happened to Jiang Qing, Zhang Chunqiao and Yao Wenyuan in 1969?

Answer 14

They were elevated to the CPC’s politburo as a recognition of their enhanced status as a result of the cultural rev

Question 15

How did the official end of the cultural revolution affect the power of Jiang Qing and her allies?

Answer 15

• The end of the cultural revolution appeared to bring a reduction in the power of Jiang Qing and her Shanghai allies.
• The red guards were disarmed and millions were sent to the countryside. They were their mass support bass.
• Mao appeared to be swinging away from the ‘ultra left’ policies that Jiang and her allies had been promoting

Question 16

What did Mao do in November 1970 which increased the power of Jiang and her allies?

Answer 16

• In november 1970, Mao gave Jiang and her allies control over the Central Committee’s Organisation and Propaganda Group.
• Through this they could exercise enormous power over party affairs, propaganda and the media

Question 17

How did the relationship between Jiang Qing and Lin Biao become increasingly strained after they forged an alliance in 1966?

Answer 17

• Although they shared broadly the same policy objectives, there was a power struggle between the two.
• Each sought to outmanoeuvre the other in a contest to win Mao’s favour

Question 18

What was the role of Zhou Enlai?

Answer 18

He was the State Premier (prime minister) and was in charge of an enormous state bureaucracy

Question 19

What were Zhou Enlai’s priorities?

Answer 19

• Political stability

- Continuing economic growth

Question 20

What were Zhou Enlai’s character traits and qualities?

Answer 20

• quiet
• cautious
• behind the scenes negotiations and diplomacy
• he was a pragmatist
• skilled in the art of compromise

Question 21

How did Zhou Enlai’s character traits sit with Mao?

Answer 21

-Such pragmatic character traits did not sit well with the radical ultra-left agenda pursued by mao and Jiang Qing

Question 22

How did Zhou Enlai ‘survive’ in politics?

Answer 22

-He was a great adapter. He survived by adapting and reading Mao’s coded signals and then putting forward suggestions that Mao agreed with

Question 23

What were the key battlegrounds between the factinal rivalry between Zhou Enlai and Jiang Qing in the early 1970’s?

Answer 23

-Education and the economy

Question 24

In 1969, who appeared to be the person who had gained the most from the cultural revolution?

Answer 24

Lin Biao

He was named as Mao’s successor in the ninth party congress

Question 25

What doubts did Mao have about Lin Biao?

Answer 25

• Mao was beginning to have doubts about Lin’s ambitions and reliability
• Mao started to change his tack after the cultural rev and he began to criticise the PLA for ‘carelessness’ and ‘arrogance’ in the way they had carried out the purge of party cadres. From his study of Marx, he learnt that he had to be wary of an over-powerful army and Lin Biao, the leader of the PLA, became a kind of threat for mao

Question 26

When and how did Mao’s relationship with Lin Biao start to deteriorate?

Answer 26

• In March 1970
• Mao wanted to abolish the position of state chairman, but Lin Biao made strenuous efforts to persuade Mao to keep it. This caused Mao to be suspicious