Cultural Revolution Flashcards
What were Mao’s goals of the cultural revolution
- remould Chinese culture (remove bourgeois influence)
- purging party leadership (targeting high ranking officials such as Liu Shaoqi and deng Xiaoping
- rectification campaign (promote socialist ideology and eliminate opposition)
Who were the Shanghai radicals
Group of ultra leftist figures e.g. :
Qi Benyu
Wang li
Why did Mao rely on the Shanghai radicals
They shared radical views in line with Mao’s aim to challenge party leadership and attack policies
Who were the red guards and what did they do at the start of the cultural revolution
Consisted of university and high school students
During the start of the CR they carried out violent campaigns against senior members and leaders taking the capitalist road
What did Mao do to Qi Benyu and Wang Ali?
Purged them 1967 and 1968 for being too leftist - following Marxist communism and not Maoism
What were the four olds
Old habits
Old ideas
Old customs
Old culture
Why did Mao launch the rectification campaign
He was concerned the way the ccp was using its power. He said all party levels became too bureaucratic, corrupt and ineffective.
Party cadres became too accustomed to a privileged lifestyle which separated them from the people
What did Mao mean when he said “a great disorder across the land, leading to great order”
By unleashing mass movements like the red guards, disrupting systems and figures would result in a “new order” aligning with Mao’s revolutionary vision
What did Mao mean by “bombard the headquarters”
Mao rallying to revolutionary students to attack party leadership and cadres
What were the impacts of Kang Sheng’s execution squads?
In yunnan 14,000 cadres executed
Nei Menggu 350,000 arrested 90,000 beaten, 15,000 killed
Executions in Hebei, guangdong and Shanghai
What were the impacts of Kang Sheng’s execution squads on party leadership
70% provincial and high officials and 4/6 regional secretaries purged
60% national high ranking officials lost jobs
9/23 politburo members survived
20% local party bureaucracy “revisionist”
What was the impact on party composition after red guards in 1969
Out of 1500 delegates in congress, 2/3 PLA
PLA dominated new central committee (45%)
Veteran cadres dominated
Who did Mao primarily aim to target through the CR
Pragmatists and intellectuals
How could China be seen as being a military dictatorship
Mao replaced high ranking officials of the ccp for PLA
Of 1500 members of congress , 2/3 were PLA
Of new central commitee, 45% PLA
These PLA members were less educated and less politically minded —-> more loyal to Mao
What did Mao accuse Liu and Deng of?
Running independent kingdoms and taking the capitalist road
