How successful was Mao in achieving his aims in the Cultural Revolution in the years 1966 to 1971? Flashcards
1
Q
Agree - Aims on purging Mao’s enemies
A
- The ‘Sixteen Points’ released in August 1966 referred only to ‘those within the Party who are in authority and are taking the capitalist road’. As the Cultural Revolution went on it became clear that it was Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping who were the real focus of Mao’s anger. Liu and Deng advocated reliance on intellectuals and experts, and a belief in practical solutions over ideological visions.
- Liu was subjected to constant struggle meetings where he was abused and beaten.
- Liu was denounced as a ‘renegade, scab and in 1969 he was officially traitor’. He was stripped of all his posts and in 1969 he was officially replaced as successor to Mao by Lin Biao.
- Mao was also angered by Deng Xiaoping. His famous dictum about the irrelevance of the ‘colour’ of a policy was a direct affront to Mao’s belief that it was better to be communist than practical. Deng had helped Liu introduce economic reforms without Mao’s advice. He was sent to a tractor factory in rural Jiangxi to work.
2
Q
Agree - Indoctrination of propaganda
A
- The regime urged total to Maoist thought. At workplaces each morning people bowed to Mao’s portrait and asked for instructions’ for the day ahead. Mao’s works were referred to as ‘treasure books and special ceremonies were held to celebrate their sale. Mao’s thoughts were revered as the word of God. The message of the cult, namely that Mao was a near-divine being worthy of worship was encapsulated in the song.
- As Zhou Enlai put it simply, Whatever accords with Mao Zedong Thought is right, while whatever does not accord with Mao Zedong Thought is wrong. Mao built a propaganda cult that effectively placed him above all other Party leaders Whipped into frenzy of adulation, Mao called the Red Guards to Beijing to personally encourage them to attack his enemies.
3
Q
Agree - aims on attacking the four olds
A
- To destroy the old habits would hinder the ability of the bourgeois feudal classes to endure. The Red Guards had been told to ‘put daring above everything else’ and ‘boldly arouse the masses’ but their frenzied actions went far beyond that expected by the pragmatic Party leaders like Liu, Den and Zhou. The Red Guards ignored the orders to allow any who had made ‘mistakes’ the chance to ‘turn over a new leaf ‘. Places and objects representing old-fashioned ideas were attacked.
- Old feudal shop signs were changed to read ‘Defend Mao Zedong’ or ‘Permanent Revolution’, Children’s names were changed to Red Glory or Face the East.
4
Q
Disagree - The growth of Anarchy
A
- January Storm: The biggest example of the anarchy spiralling out of control was in Shanghai in early 1967, the so-called ‘January Storm’. Encouraged by Mao’s calls to attack the Party, radical rebel Red Guard groups, made up not of students but of unprivileged workers in the city, destroyed the Party establishment and created their own form of control modelled on the Paris Commune of 1871 when the city’s labourers had seized control and created a new social order with democratic elections.
- For all Mao’s encouragement of the anarchy, In reality,’ he said, ‘there will always be “Heads”.’ He observed that in Shanghai, There are people who wave the Red Flag to bring down the Red Flag.’ In this wave of ‘ultra-democracy’ the radicals were calling for the abolition of the Party itself and, he said, ‘that won’t do’ He demanded that the commune in Shanghai be closed down.
5
Q
Disagree - The questioning of the regime after Lin Biao’s death
A
- What seems likely is that Lin was convinced he was to be purged himself, He fled from Mao’s security forces in such a panic that his escape plane was not fully fuelled before take-off and he was killed when it crashed, along with his wife and son. The death of Lin caused a major problem for the regime.
- For years propaganda had described him as Mao’s ‘closest comrade in arms’ and no one had done more to spread the cult of Mao. Now he was denounced as having always secretly been a traitor who was working for the Soviet Union. For the first time, people began to question the regime
