IV - Change in the Modern World - Cultural Revolution Flashcards
1
Q
Mao Zedong
A
- led CCP to victory in Chinese Civil War and was leader of the PRC from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976.
2
Q
Aims of the CCP
A
- to become the true communist republic of equality
- to ensure the application of Marxist theory in Chinese society
3
Q
3 Major Political Campaigns
A
- Dealing with counter-revolutionaries: 500-800 thousand members of Guomindang Nationalist Party executed, 13 800 arrests in 1950.
- Three-anti Campaign 1951: targeted three evils: corruption, waste and the culture of bureaucracy
- Five-anti Campaign 1952: targeted 5 evils: bribery, tax evasion, fraud, the theft of government property and the leaking of state secrets.
4
Q
First Five-Year Plan (1953-1958)
A
- aimed to end Chinese dependence upon agriculture.
- land was redistributed to farmers: 60% of the rural population owned 43% of cultivatable land by late 1950s.
- Feudal (organised by families to increase power and wealth) marriage was abolished
- Traditions of bigamy (legally allowed to have more than one wife), concubines and betrothal of young children abolished.
- regulations and restrictions put in place on art and literature
- new industrial plants were built and agricultural production eventually came to where industry was beginning to produce enough capital that China no longer needed the USSR’s support.
5
Q
The Great Leap Forward 1958
A
- Initial target was to surpass British output and ultimately Mao aimed to ensure that by 1988, China would have an economy to rival America (actually happened).
- GLF brought about the entry of women into the workforce full time (but paid less than men)
- backyard steel (poor quality due to lack of engineering experience).
- By the spring of 1959, China faced food shortages.
- Lead to major economic disaster ‘Great Leap Forward’
- Mao resigned from position as head of state, suggests acceptance of responsibility.
6
Q
17-Point Agreement
A
- assured the Tibetans that no socialist land reform would be carried out in Tibetan territory.
- Tibetan resistance became violent and open fighting erupted in late 1955
- The CCP and PLA subjected the region to intense campaigns aimed at breaking the power of the religious elite
- Backyard steel poor quality
- Major famine killed 20 - 55 million people between 1959-1962, referred to as the ‘Three Bitter Years’
7
Q
Peng Dehuai
A
- letter to Mao on the situation in the rural areas, which he visited.
- Criticised GLF and it’s chief architect, Mao.
- Mao demanded that Peng and his letter be repudiated.
- Mao believed that Peng’s criticisms had been influenced by USSR.
- Peng dismissed
8
Q
Socialist Education Campaign 1962
A
- replaced GLF
- goal was to rekindle revolutionary fervour
9
Q
Causes of Mao’s dissatisfaction with the political climate of the early 1960s
A
- lacklustre Socialist Education Campaign
- emergence of what Mao saw as capitalist tendencies in a system that offered bonuses and other incentives for workers
- his own increasing distance from the daily routines of government business
10
Q
Mao’s dissatisfaction with the political climate of the early 1960s created an opportunity to support or critique Mao
A
- Created the opportunity for Lin to bolster his position through zealous support of Mao through publishing the ‘Little Red Book’.
- Others saw an opportunity to indirectly critique Mao, such as Wu Han’s play ‘Hai Rui Dismissed From Office’, which hinted at Mao’s wrongful dismissal of Peng Dehuai.
11
Q
Sino-Soviet Relations
A
- China sought to become independent from the USSR
- Zhou Enlai (good diplomat) led to the signing of the Friendship and Mutual Alliance Treaty between China and USSR in 1950.
- Stalin withdrew his troops from all Chinese territory it occupied during WWI and gave US $300 million at 1%.
- Khrushchev’s ‘secret speech’ (1956) condemned Stalin’s cult of personality.
- Led to Mao encouraging dissenting views in his ‘One Hundred Flowers’ movement (1957), but dissent became a crime again in mid 1957.
- November 1960, Mao and Khrushchev disagreed over K’s desire to encourage ‘peaceful coexistence’ with the West.
- End of 1960s, border skirmish over land almost led to war.
- China accused USSR of weakening its commitment to a true communist society
- Fighting broke out over the disputed islands on the Ussuri River Negotiations
12
Q
Tensions with CCP
A
- Failure of the GLF, relinquishing of role of PRC President to Liu Shaoqi
- Mao’s dominance increasingly challenged by Liu and Deng Xiaoping
- Mao retained Chair of CCP
- ‘As the Cultural Revolution unfolded, it became clear that it was not in fact a struggle about culture but was a battle for the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party’ (Michael Dillon)
13
Q
Liu Shaoqi
A
- became leader of PRC after failure of GLF
- popularity grew rapidly especially amongst conservative communists
- Mao left Beijing (conservative) and moved to the more radical Shanghai, where his wife (Jiang Qing) had a strong powerbase.
14
Q
Jiang Qing
A
- Mao’s wife
- powerful support in Shanghai
- Jiang used contacts and media to attack the conservative right-wing political direction of Beijing and Liu.
- Used media to attack play Hai Rui Dismissed From Office as a ‘poisonous weed’ (Shanghai newspaper, 1965)
15
Q
Hai Rui Dismissed From Office - play by Wu Han
A
- Wu Han: Deputy Mayor of Beijing, published play in 1961
- Story of an incorruptible official from 16th Century Ming Imperial Court being purged.
- regarded as an attack on Mao’s removal of his defence minister Peng Dehuai from all offices after he criticised GLF and Mao’s cult of personality.
- Wu was imprisoned and other ‘radicals’ from the right were then purged also.
- Wu died in prison in 1969
16
Q
Aims and Methods of Mao
A
- 3 main aims: ideological renewal, reassert control, dictate future direction of China
- Mao launched the Cultural Revolution in 1966 as the threat to his political career increased.
- attacked his own party if he believed they were taking the ‘capitalist road’
- called Liu and Deng ‘capitalist roadster 1 and 2’
- public posters promoted cult of personality, stategically placed (universities)
- people were encouraged to name opponents of the regime, who were then imprisoned or killed.
17
Q
Mao’s Little Red Book
A
- Quotations of Chairman Mao (published by Lin Biao to indoctrinate society and further his position)
- aimed to ‘correct’ political thought and promote a cult of personality for Mao as the country’s ‘Great Helmsman’
- Mao’s famous Yangtze River swim in July 1967 further enhanced his reputation as a strong leader.
18
Q
Gang of Four
A
- included Jiang Qing
- aim initially was to undermine Liu’s ‘work teams’ and turn students against them
- based in Shanghai
- Jiang played major role as Minister of Culture, turned art, film and opera into tools of indoctrination
- Gang of Four attacked Zhou Enlai to ensure he was not next leader, he later died of cancer in 1976 after being denied treatment by Mao
- Gang of Four became scapegoats for the ills of the CR when Deng took power in 1981
19
Q
Liu’s ‘Work Teams’
A
- made in response to Mao’s increasing cult of personality
- made to correct political thinking
- Lin Biao (defence minister: full control of PLA) replaced Liu as Mao’s designated successor
20
Q
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (GPCR)
A
- violent and destructive campaign that aimed to destroy the old society and replace it with a new, socialist order led by the younger generation.
- destroy the ‘four olds’ (chic: cultures, habits, ideas, customs)
- Red Guard
21
Q
Red Guard
A
- Young people (students recruited through poster campaign) formed the Red Guard
- They destroyed the ‘four olds’
- after GPCR, young people still tried to hold rallies and were arrested by the PLA and sent to rural areas to work
- later CCP apologised to some of the Red Guard’s victims
- for a whole generation, the realisation that their loyalties earned them only manual labour jobs in rural China and that their supposed ‘counter-revolutionary’ targets were exonerated contributed to changing attitudes toward the Party and its ageing leadership.
22
Q
Deaths in the GPCR
A
- In August and September, there were 1 772 people murdered in Beijing alone.
- In Shanghai in September there were 704 suicides and 534 deaths related to the Cultural Revolution.
23
Q
‘Bombard the Headquarters
A
- Short article written by Mao in August 1966 at the Central Committee of the CCP Plenary Session and published in Aug 1967 in newspaper
- Mao turned on his Party, targeted Liu and Deng
- Encouraged students to attack CCP cadres and their families were attacked as well
24
Q
Deng Xiaoping
A
- seen as pragmatic, dedicated and battle-hardened revolutionary
- General Secretary of the CCP in 1956
- initially an ally of Mao’s but attacked as a ‘capitalist roader’ in 1968 and disappeared after beatings of himself and family
- seen as a threat to Mao and the Gang of Four’s leadership aspirations
- ally of Premier Zhou Enlai
- re-emerged in 1973 and became China’s paramount leader in 1978
25
Q
Lin Biao
A
- hero in Civil War, Defence Minister in the 1960s, prepared the ‘Little Red Book’
- controlled PLA
- contradiction: deified and attempted to assassinate Mao
- propaganda turned ‘leftist’ Lin into a ‘scheming rightist’
- public became disillusioned with personality politics and Mao toned down his cult of personality, blaming Lin for its creation
- party strength prospered (after assuming power, Deng would avoid a personality focus)
- propaganda campaign from Mao and Jiang 1973 - 1976: ‘Criticise Lin, Criticise Confucius’, Lin is symbol of corruption, transferred to Zhou. Confucius was a philosopher who represented the ‘four olds’
