‘The Cultural Revolution ended the power struggle within the Communist Party leadership by 1969.’ Explain why you agree or disagree with this view.

Question 1

Agree - Purging of pragmatists and enemies ended opposition.

Answer 1

• 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.

Question 2

Agree - Purging of party members to cleanse the party of bureaucrats.

Answer 2

• The impact on the Party and government officials was devastating: At regional and provincial level 70-80 percent of all Party cadres were purged.
• In Yunnan 14,000 Party cadres were executed as ‘traitors’.
• Only nine out of 23 Politburo members survived the purge, two-thirds of the Central Committee had been deposed
• May Seventh Cadre Schools: Instead of learning about communism, most simply learned about the harsh realities of rural life. In total, 3 million bureaucrats and cadres were exiled to the countryside. Others were beaten and tortured. An estimated half a million Chinese were killed.

Question 3

Disagree - The power struggle after the cultural revolution.

Answer 3

• Lin had been a clear winner in the Cultural Revolution. After the Ninth Party Congress he was the official successor to the ageing and increasingly infirm Chairman. However, events soon turned against the leader of the PLA. First, he tried to reinstate the post of Head of State, a role that had been vacant since the purging of Liu Shaoqi. Mao had already made it clear he did not want the post. Mao, it appears, interpreted Lin’s move as an attempt to enable him to take the job for himself.
• Added to Lin’s military command, he could challenge Mao. Mao also began to be concerned about the power independence of the army. Having been a key force in controlling the Cultural Revolution, the PLA had massive political influence.
• Lin later died in a plane crash with his whole family while escaping China because there wasn’t enough fuel so the seat for Mao’s successor was vacant once more.

Question 4

Disagree - Jiang Qing and the gang of four influence over the people.

Answer 4

• In 1973 she and her allies, the so-called ‘Gang of Four’ radicals, used their influence over the media and propaganda to launch the ‘criticise Lin [Biao), criticise Confucius’ campaign. Historians and intellectuals were forced to attempt to find linkages between Lin and Confucius in an attempt to prove that the former PLA chief had been attempting to subvert the revolution by instigating traditional and rightist ideas. Clearly the target was not in fact Lin, who had been dead for two years, but two other less radical leaders, Zhou Enlai and Deng.
• Jiang Qing knew they were her two main rivals to succeed Mao and she hoped that the campaign would mobilise revolutionary forces against them.The campaign failed. This time, the people clearly saw her personal political motives and dismissed the anti-rightist rhetoric as nonsense. However, she still had enough influence at the top of the Party to have Deng removed.

Question 5

Disagree - A pragmatic approach by Deng

Answer 5

• It was quickly clear that Hua Guofeng was no match for Deng Xiaoping. The wily veteran returned to Beijing and quickly undermined Hua. Although he remained Party Chairman, it was Deng who had the strongest support within the Party. Deng became China’s Paramount Leader This was not an official title, but meant that Deng was the most powerful man in China. Deng introduced economic reforms that gave the people more freedoms.
• He came to power officially in 1978
• Far from calling for left-wing revolution, the overwhelming number of Chinese people embraced Deng’s new policies.