Mao Maintenance of power

Question 1

Structure of government?

Answer 1

Mao –> Democratic Centralism –> Made it seem as though power was distributed but he really controlled everything

China –> 6 regions –> Decisions taken at national level could be imposed throughout the country

• “Regional Congress” –> made it seem as if Beijing were listening to the peasants
• 4 Senior communist officials in place over each region –> Power extremly centralised –> Manchuria, Gao Gag held all 4posts
• The party even had a central commitee (49 members) ‘49 –> Ultimately controlled by the standing committe –> Liu Shaoqui close revolutionary colleague of Mao

Question 2

Criticisms of the idea that the structure of the government allowed Mao to maintain power?

Answer 2

Dikotter: Mao consolidated power through “violence and terror” rather than legal methods

• Mao consistently used terror –> (‘50-‘53) Campaign to suppress counter revolutionaries: 2 million executions
• ‘laogai system was built’ –> ‘49 - ‘76 –> 10,000 laogais built with 10 million imprisoned each year

Question 3

Rebuttals to the claim that terror was more useful than legal means?

Answer 3

Legal methods used to control people

All belonged to a danwei (work unit), which gave the CCP the control over the personal lives of individuals –> (granted permission to work or to marry)

Anyone wanting to migrate to a different region needed a ceritificate from the houko (household registration)

A dangan (record) was made for all peoples containing private info

Question 4

Force

Answer 4

Force –> Eliminate people within the CCP

• Three Anti - Campaigns (‘51) –> used to eliminate internal oppositon
• 5% of Politicans being purged
• Senior CCP officials were purged and sometimes even imprisoned if Mao perceived them as a threat to him

(1954: Gao Gang + Rao Shushi; 1959: Peng Dehuai; 1966: Deng Xiaoping + Liu Shaoqi)

‘laogai’ (labour camps) were built in the most inhospitable areas + used torture + scale of network was vast

(1949-1976: over 10,000 ‘laogai’ built; over 10 million imprisoned each year; 15-25 million prisoner deaths).

Question 5

Perspectives on Force?

Answer 5

PB: Todd/Waller → Mao never used a “highly centralised security apparatus” (like that used in Nazi Germany).

R1: much of the terror was actually committed by ‘regular’ citizens

→ during CR, Mao sanctioned ‘Red Guard’
violence against the ‘Five Black Categories’

→ this was not centralised and so led to local civil wars occurring

→ Mao also used non-violent punishments (1951: 6,500 intellectuals were forced to take courses on ideology)

→ Hundred Flowers Campaign (1957) involved an attempt at tolerating opposition (this was abandoned tho).

R2: the reliance on force was also reduced somewhat by the popularity of Mao

→ social policies had success
(1949-76: literacy rates rose from 15% to 70% AND life expectancy rose from 40 to 62)

→ communism itself
was popular due to its ‘mass line’ principle

→ Chinese political culture was influenced a lot by Confucianism
(this encouraged people to respect hierarchy / obey authority / conform) → reduced need for centralised terror.

Question 6

Propoganda?

Answer 6

‘cult of personality’ around Mao

• Posters + songs used to glorify him
• The Little Red Book (‘64-‘68) –> 750 million copies sold
• All houses to have a picture of Mao
• The ‘Central Propaganda Department’ controlled propaganda

→ schools (attended by 96% of kids by 1976) became used for indoctrination (taught through Maoist lens)