Essay Plan- Winding Down Flashcards
Question
‘The Cultural Revolution maintained its intensity from its launch in 1966 until Mao’s death in 1976.’ How far do you agree?
Small paragraph maybe p2 about how violence didn’t stop after RG disbanded
While the Red Guards were disbanded, the violence did not stop, it was just re-directed to fit with Mao’s new political agenda. The continued brutality is highlighted by the ‘Cleansing of the Class Ranks’ campaign where the PLA launched a wave of terror and arrested 1.84 million for being ‘spies’, ‘bad elements’ or ‘newly-emerged counter-revolutionaries’. even though the power was shifted to the PLA, this does not mean that the violence stopped. soldiers took over schools and colleges and terrorised the students into submission. The majority of people who died during the Cultural Revolution did not die at the hands of the Red Guards. They
were victims of this violent attempt to restore order, which lasted until early 1969, and in some areas until as late as 1971. In successive waves of purges across China’s many different provinces, thousands were detained, killed or committed suicide. By early 1969, cleansing had in some parts turned so violent that even the party leadership reproached committees telling them to calm things down. Moreover, it was in the more remote provinces of south, southwest and west China that violence was at its most brutal, and least reported.
P1- it maintained its intensity because the Gang of Four ensured radical
All wanted to see radical political and economic change continue in China. They were all important in the CR. As Mao became ill, the Gang worked hard to build a powerbase in the CCP. They wanted to ensure his radical ideas continued after his death. The Gang were all given important positions in the Politburo by Mao in 1973, which led to faction fighting between them and Zhou. Jiang Qing launched a campaign that tried to link Zhou with Lin Biao since he was hated as a traitor to China. When Zhou died and people wanted to go to public events about him, Gang prohibited public mourning for Zhou. BUT unpopular and thousands of people ignored the ban and went to Tiananmen Square where there were tributes to Zhou and protests against the Gang. The Gang responded with a severe crackdown on counter’revolutionaries- the police violently drove the people away from Tiananmen Square and people protesting against the Gang were executed, and they linked Deng to the protests. Mao, very ill, supported the ‘criticise Deng’ campaign. In April 1976, Deng was purged for a second time.
What can you put in the conclusion to challenge the idea that Gang kept revolutionary fervour alive
So in conclusion can say that while they did maintain some intensity, the fact that people ignored their orders suggests that their authority was not very strong and people had started to become disillusioned with the government since the death of Lin Biao so hero worship had dwindled and the radical government no longer had the control to enforce control over CR events. A fact proven by the fact other members in the Politburo joined together with PLA leaders to bring down the ‘Gang of Four’, they were arrested Oct 1976. They and their supporters were sent to prison and there were public celebrations. Chinese media blamed them for CR terror.
Disagreement point about the cult of Mao- small p5?? Conditions at start of revolution
Propaganda created an image of Mao as a god-like leader whose ideas were never wrong and who lived only to care for the Chinese people. The ‘Little Red Book’ was viewed almost as a sacred text- people would read the book for guidance on problems in their lives. end of 1968, rigid conformity and repression ruled lives. army pushed cult of mao to new heights, led by lin biao. People had to report all their thoughts to mao twice a day and dance the loyalty dance. hero worship surrounding Mao, demonstrated by the millions of young people that attended the mass rallies. This was mainly the result of the cult of personality developed strongly by the Little Red Book that had been made available to the masses in 1965. The authorities expected all loyal citizens to own a copy and not only carry it around at all times but to actively read it on a daily basis for inspiration and guidance in all aspects of everyday life. Disrespecting or misquoting the book could get you in serious trouble. As a result, there was widespread indoctrination of Mao’s cult of personality and communist ideology and the population devoted themselves entirely to Maoism.
Small p5- after Lin Biao died
the fanaticism faded and the Little Red Book stopped being used to the same extent. Daily rituals praising Mao and Lin stopped completely. People know longer felt staunch loyalty to the leader. Lin Biao had been regarded by the public as Mao’s principal supporter; he was his designated successor and he commanded the army. Therefore, revealing Lin as a traitor made the population question the regime and start to disbelieve other aspects. For many Chinese, the fall of Lin Biao marked a turning point in their relationship with Mao, who came to be regarded with increasing scepticism. Moreover, the Rustication campaign dampened the revolutionary fervour because they caused disillusionment: rural conditions were primitive and standards of living were low. People felt like they had been used as pawns in his power struggle, which resulted in hatred. Therefore, the Cultural Revolution did not maintain its intensity because intense revolutionary attitudes did not remain constant, which meant that there was a marked contrast in support at the start of the revolution and the end, with less enthusiasm to carry out Mao’s bidding.
Disagree- Mao allowed PLA to restore order because
Mao allowed PLA to restore order because he was worried that China would be vulnerable to future attacks from foreign countries and economy suffering from the constant violence and upheaval.
P3- As soon as things started to escalate and Mao’s authority was threatened, things were reigned in.
Talk about how RG causing chaos and anarchy. Conflict in the countryside between RG who wanted to break up private farming and reform communes, and peasants who wanted to keep their land. RG founght with indusrial workers who did not want to get rid of their managers in case it meant the workers did not get paid their production bonuses. Conflict and chaos meant that economic production badly disrupted. ALSO RG purging CCP meant towns and cities left with no government: even whole probinces. Shanghai Commune- Jan storm?- is an example of ome RG groups setting up their own governments and replacing the CCP with an elected city govt. slogan- ‘do away with all heads’ so didn’t understand Mao’s aims, he did not want RG to start campaigning for this kind of govt as it went against his aim to be a leader that nobody challenged. Mao encouraged the PLA to take control. Challenged position.
Lin Biao- Leader of PLA. PLA had taken control over the revolutionary committees that ran cities and provinces
P3 continued
The end of the RG- by 1967, radical RG groups wanted an end to central Party control, which challenged Mao’s dictatorship. He used different strategies to demobilise the RG- spring 1968, ordered RG to demobilise but majority didn’t so by Aug, used PLA to break up RG groups by force. Dec 1968, ‘Up the mountains, down to the villages’ campaign. Increasing power of PLA so needed to rebuild power of CCP. up mountains- More than 17 million young people were moved out of the cities 1968-1976 to countryside for re-education to prevent further chaos in cities. Radical measures did not last e.g. reforms in 1969 made conditions equal for all workers and bonuses stopped, managers had to spend one-third of their time doing factory work rather than administration but by 1972, managers were paid more again because the CCP needed to promote economic growth.
P4- Increased influence of Zhou Enlai (could do a paragraph about how moderate pragmatists regained power).
Zhou warned that the purges had made the CCP so weak that Lin Biao could use the PLA to take control of China so Mao and Zhou began to rebuild the CCP, bringing back purged officials and CCP started taking back control. WORKING WITH ZHOU TO REBUILD COMM PARTY. Mao turned to Zhou to help rebuild CCP. After Lin died 1971, began to bring back purged CP officials into govt. 1972-73, Zhou reinstated 700 senior CCP officials and 150 senior military leaders- he allowed them to return to their old roles. Zhou’s ‘Four Modernistations’ which called for greater trade links with the West- he helped negotiate the visit of American President Richard Nixon to Beijing in 1972.
The return of Deng Xiaoping- re-joined CCP March 1973. By Aug, got back many of his old powers e.g. he was a member of the Politburo again. By the end of 1975, Deng was China’s main leader.
One reason to suggest the revolution lost its intensity after 1968 is the fact that one of the main reasons it was launched (to rid pragmatists to strengthen the influence of ideologues) was later betrayed when both Deng Xiaoping and Zhou Enlai returned to power.
P4- Deng
In 1973, Deng was employed back into the Party, given the significant role of training Mao’s successor. He was appointed vice premier, and the following year he regained his old post of Party secretary. This demonstrates how the revolution lost its spirit after 1967 because during the early times, Deng was treated violently, which highlights how Mao had previously been unforgiving of his actions because they went against the revolution. He had been placed in corrective labour and his son was permanently paralysed when the Red Guards threw him from an upstairs window. The fact that he was now not only restored in the Party, but he was able to once again reach a position of such high influence shows that Mao was less intent in maintaining the intensity of the revolution, and that it no longer served the purpose it once did
Conditions before- at its most active
In 1966, the most significant events of the Cultural Revolution took place such as the May ‘Wall Poster Campaign’, 8 Red Guard Rallies and the attack on the ‘Four Olds’. During the ‘Four Olds’, 2/3 of the 7000 places of historical and cultural significance were destroyed and 100,000 homes were broken into. This shows the relentless nature of the revolution at the early stages and how untamed and merciless the revolution began- which is also shown by the fact that there was no boundaries to what the Red Guards could do, authorities were instructed to overlook their crimes. In the Wall Poster campaign, student protests spread across campuses nationwide. This epitomises the extent of involvement that the population initially took, which shows the scale of the revolution at the beginning. Further buttressing this idea that the revolution started as a mass, intense movement is the Red Guard rallies, because over one million attended the first one, and the fact that seven followed in the same year shows how alive and fierce the start of the Cultural Revolution was. 1966, when the Babaoshan Crematorium disposed of 2,000 bodies, showing how many deaths were caused just in the first year. The struggle sessions that included torture also give an example of the brutality.
Conclusion ideas
The events at the beginning were full of passion and extreme violence, which evidently deteriorated as the years progressed. Mao started to adopt the more limited ambition of guaranteeing China’s survival as a Communist state, rather than trying to make it the launching pad for the spread of world communism. In 1967, Mao allowed the PLA to clamp down on the Red Guards, removing four of the most radical members of the CCRG. This further proves how he was turning against the revolution so it was no longer an active and vehement event. By April 1969, the full Party Congress declared the Cultural Revolution to be over. In addition, Zhou and Deng started to gain more power after the Lin Biao Affair. This epitomises how the Revolution lost its momentum after the first two years, and though there were some events that carried it on, they did not match the high intensity of the first years and it is clear that the Revolution was no longer supported or needed thereafter.
