growth of anarchy, use of terror and cultural destruction Flashcards
who did the Red guards (students) target?
firstly they targeted unpopular teachers and then anyone whose life style suggested wealth, privilege or adherence to the old ideas
why could the Red guards (students) do what they wanted?
As Mao ordered police and army to stand down.
what happened to those targeted by the Red Guards (students)?
they went through Struggle sessions where they were physically attacked, tortured and forced to confess ‘crimes’ against the Chinese people
How did the random attacks become more systematic?
officials in the ministry of public security passed on names of members of the bad classes e.g. landlords, rich peasants etc. to the Red Guard
what is the suggested death total implied by the gang of four trial
over 500,000 people
how many people died in ten years in the southern province of Guanxi
67,000 over ten years 1966-76
when and why did Mao make a U-turn on the Red Guards power
Firstly Mao override the PLA and Politburo from suppressing the out of control red guard
by august 1967 after realising the PLA couldn’t defend the country (due to pressure of Vietnam war and bad relation with Russia) due to being undermined he authorised The PLA to crack down on radical groups who had gone too far
how much cultural destruction did red guards cause (examples)
two thirds of 7,000 places of cultural importance in Beijing were destroyed
over 100,000 homes broken into in search of old artefacts
worst attack was on Qufu Confucius home town , where it suffered 4 weeks of attacks of vandalism on graves status etc.
what did Zhou Enlai prevent from being attacked
forbidden city was protected by PLA
