Lesson 4-What were the main reasons for the launch of the Cultural Revolution? Flashcards
Neo-Capitalism
A return to the corrupt bourgeois system based on greed, individualism and profit-making.
Where does Mao’s imagery of “Monkeys to disrupt the palace” come from?
Drawn from the practice in the imperial court of having monkeys as pets
Corrective labour
Communist theory of imprisonment that allowed a prisoner to see the error of his ways
Red Guards
Radical students whose name derived from the red armbands they were given by Lin Biao
What does the term “hare-brained economic schemes” refer to?
Khrushchev’s unsuccessful attempts to reform Soviet agriculture and industry during 1956-64
Who were spearheads of the erroneous line?
Leaders who had tried to persuade the party to follow policies that ran counter to Mao’s wishes
January Storm and February Adverse Current.
Instances during the Cultural Revolution when Mao at first sided with the PLA in cracking down on the Red Guards then turned against them to side with the radicals.
What was Cleansing of the Ranks campaign?
Purge of the CCP membership and government carried out by the PLA from 1968.
How many arrests did the Cleansing of the Ranks campaign lead to?
1.84 million
Who were the CCRG?
Central Cultural Revolution Group
A group within the Politburo which believed the party had been bureaucratised and a campaign was needed to purge these elements.
What did Lin Biao launch in May 1966?
Wall Poster campaign
Where did Lin launch his Wall Poster Campaign?
Universities
What did Lin’s Wall Poster Campaign aim to do?
Encourage young people, radical and students to attack the education system and those in authority.
What did a typical Red Guard look like?
Wore Red Guard armband
Carried Mao’s Little Red Book
The Red Guards only consisted of males.
True or false?
False-mixture of boys and girls
What was the official starting date of the Cultural Revolution?
May 1966
What did Mao announce at the start of the CR?
A purge of the CCP party
What brought the beginning of the CR to public attention?
Mass rally in Tiananmen Square on 18th August
Who organised the purge of the CCP party?
CCRG
Why did Lin Biao attack the education system for his Wall Poster campaign?
Attacked it for its divergence from the revolutionary path.
How did the Wall Poster campaign cause unrest?
Students attacked teachers
How did the CCP react to students attacking teachers for the Wall Poster Campaign?
Liu and Deng sent special work teams to the campuses in an attempt to contain the trouble
Between what party factions, did Zhou Enlai try to keep the peace between?
Those who wanted to restore order.
AND
The Maoist elements who were eager for the disruption to spread.
What happened to the work teams sent to control students by Liu and Deng?
Attacked by students who began to take to the streets as Red Guards intent on creating a reign of terror.
What was the first battle of the play over?
A play
Hai Rui Dismissed from Office
Who was Hair Rui Dismissed from Office written by?
Wu Han
Deputy Mayor of Beiijing
What was Hair Rui Dismissed from Office about?
Set during days of Ming dynasty.
Its central character, Hai Rui, was dismissed from office for criticising the cruel policies of the emperor
What was Hai Rui Dismissed from Office seen as reflecting?
The purge of Peng Dehuai following his criticisms of the Great Leap Forward
What did Hai Rui Dismissed from Office give Mao an ideal avenue to do?
`Attack Liu Shaoqi
Why did Hai Rui Dismissed from Office give Mao a chance to attack Liu Shaoqi?
Peng Zhen was Wu Han’s boss.
Peng Zhen was one of Liu Shaoqi’s greatest allies
By blaming Peng Zhen for not dealing with his deputy, Mao could discredit Liu by association.
When did Mao make his return after he stepped down from his duties as Head of State in 1959?
July 1966
How did Mao make his public reappearance?
Was seen swimming across the Yangtze River at Wuhan
What was Wuhan the scene of?
1911 revolution against the Qing dynasty
What had Mao proved by swimming across the Yangtze River?
He was still alive and therefore still in control.
What did John Fairbank, an American scholar, suggest could be thought of, in order to understand the impact of Mao’s swimming across the Yangtze River on the Chinese imagination?
Said one needs to think of the reaction there would be in Britain to the news, ‘Queen Elizabeth II had swum the Channel’
Why did Mao summon a special meeting of the CCP’s Central Committee in August the year he returned?
Condemned the revisionist tendencies in the party and called on members to rededicate themselves to unwavering class struggle
Whose downgrading and elevation did Mao announce in the meeting of the CCP’s Central Committee in August 1966?
Announced downgrading of Liu and elevation of Lin to second in command
What did Mao nominate Biao as in the August 1966 CCP Central Committee meeting?
His successor
Why was Mao unhappy with the work Liu and Deng had done when he was gone?
He was an ideologue so was unhappy with efforts taken to reverse his GLF.
Their work was viewed as revisionism and he began to accuse them of taking the Capitalist road.
Although the member of the ruling class had lost their political power, what was Mao still concerned about?
That their attitudes still lived on in the assumptions and behaviours of people in general.
As long a these ideas were embedded in society, China could not advance
Mao was determined to eradicate people who held what?
Capitalist attitudes
When did the divide between ideologues and pragmatists become more apparent?
Following Mao’s call for the 7000 cadres conference in Jan 1962
What did the 7000 cadres conference aim to gather?
Support against any further drift away from Socialist ideals
At what conference did Mao withdraw from public life?
7000 cadres conference
What did Deng, Liu and economic planners, Chen Yun and Bo Yibo, believe was needed for China to advance?
Economic compromise.
Believed technical experts should be in charge of economy and more conciliatory (peacemaking) foreign policy should be taken.
Why did Deng, Liu and the 2 economic planners want there to be more conciliatory foreign policies?
Wanted to avoid any confrontation with the USA over Taiwan
What did Mao believe about Deng, Liu and the 2 economic planners belief about the economic change needed for China to advance?
It was ideologically wrong
How did Mao continue to fight back against the pragmatists?
Launched SEM in 1963
What did the SEM preach and aim to do?
Importance of collective economic approach and aimed to root out corruption in rural cadres.