Opposition Flashcards
Policies + Aims
03/1950, “Campaign to Suppress Counter-revolutionaries”
08/1951, Three Anti’s.
02/1952, Five Anti’s.
Targeted opponents - intimidation, imprisonment and execution.
Enhanced Mao’s control and effectively removed opposition.
Three Anti’s
08/1951.
Corruption, waste, delay in the government and party.
People disappeared.
Encouraged rallies that denounced counter-revolutionaries.
Victims subjected to “Struggle Meetings” and forced to confess to large crowds demanding retribution.
Five Anti’s
02/1952.
Bribery, tax evasion, theft of state property, fraud and economic espionage.
Bourgeois + private business owners targeted.
Party cadres tasked employees to gather incriminating evidence against bosses - “Tiger beaters”.
End Feb, Bo Yibo hunted down 100k ‘tigers’ in E. China.
Victims subjected to “Struggle Meetings”, many committed suicide before being denounced.
Use of Terror
PLA thousands of bandits killed, very popular.
>150k criminals arrested, 1/2 of which executed, parents billed to cover costs of bullets used in criminals execution.
Cadres distributed Danwei’s food, housing and clothing via ration cards - device of conformity.
Labels (60) specified family backgrounds, social status, occupation. “Red” (friend) & “black” (foe). Children inherited status from head of household.
Made harder with demobilization of PLA.
Great Terror, 1950-51.
Great Terror
1950-51.
Targeted counter-revolutionaries.
>150k criminals arrested, 1/2 of which executed, parents billed to cover costs of bullets used in criminals execution.
Tao Zhu “The Tank”, clampdown on Guangxi province. Killed 46k bandits, 2.5% of pop.
Mao’s acceptable target of 1 killing per 1000, adjusted according to local circumstances.
28/04, police swept 16 cities, arresting 17k people. Confessions, executions, suicides followed.
Reunification Campaigns
Control of China’s territories to ensure safety from foreign interference/rival ideologies.
Tibet = Buddhist. Loyal to Dalai Lama. Buddhist traditions banned + Dalai Lama forced to flee.
Xinjiang province = Muslims + ties with USSR national groups. Feared Soviet interference. 03/1950, resistance cleared.
Guangdong, economically important port close to Hong Kong purged of Nationalist forces. 28k executed.
Laogai System
Laogai - “reform through labor”.
Vast network of labor camps.
1955, 1.3m in forced laborers.
Common criminals, political opponents, educated people (doctors/engineers) = prisoners.
Terrible conditions, death + disease common.
Brainwashed with Communist propaganda.
Many suicides.
Hundred Flower Campaign
05/1956 - 07/1957.
Encouraged intellectuals to criticize Party.
Genuine attempt for advice for faster economic growth.
Encouraged intellectuals to point out mistakes of Party members, so they acted in the interest of the people again.
Snuff out conservative Communists so they could be removed.
02/1956, Khrushchev denounced secret police and repression, Mao wanted to prove he wasn’t a dictator, greater democracy + discussion.
Expectation of Hundred Flower Campaign
Optimistic, People’s Republic of China (PRC), Korean War, 1st FYP = success.
Expected ringing endorsement for policies.
Increased influence so he could advance personal policies to quicker communist expansion which were not endorsed by less radical Party members.
Criticism to Hundred Flower Campaign
Denounced Party failure to provide democratic rights or freedom of expression.
Attacked privileged situations of Communist leaders - better food, housing, education.
Response to Hundred Flower Campaign
06/1957, “Handling Contradictions” speech published in People’s Daily, declaring that “poisonous weeds” had grown up among the “fragrant flowers”.
Claimed “right-wingers” abused their freedom,
Anti-Rightist Campaign - class struggle.
440k - 700k intellectuals purged, sent to countryside/Laogai System. Others committed suicide.
