The Development of the Cultural Revolution 1966-76 Flashcards
What was the key chronology of the Cultural Revolution (Aug 1966 - Apr 1969) (9)?
1) Aug 1966: Launch of the Cultural Revolution.
2) Nov 1966: Factional rivalries appear in the Red Guard.
3) Dec 1966: Fighting between Red Guard factions in Shanghai.
4) Jan 1967: January Storm in Shanghai + Shanghai Revolutionary Committee (SRC) set up.
5) Feb 1967: February Crackdown + February Adverse Current.
6) Aug 1967: Beginning of the purge of radical Red Guard units.
7) July 1968: The PLA take over Qinghua university campus in Beijing.
8) Oct 1968: CCP Central Committee declares the Cultural Revolution ‘a great and decisive victory’.
9) Apr 1969: CCP Party Congress declares the end of the Cultural Revolution.
What was the key chronology of the Cultural Revolution Sept 1971 - Sept 1976 (6)?
1) Sept 1971: Death of Lin Biao.
2) Feb 1972: President Nixon visits China.
3) Aug 1973: Wang Hongwen confirmed as Mao’s successor, Deng Xiaoping rehabilitated, start of the Anti-Confucius campaign.
4) Jan 1976: Death of Zhou Enlai.
5) Apr 1976: 1976 Tiananmen Incident/Festival of the Dead demonstrations.
6) Sept 1976: Death of Mao Zedong.
What is meant by ‘Hong Kong style’?
Hong Kong was under British rule (1841-1997), and was therefore more Westernised than the rest of China. Western clothing and hairstyles were seen as degenerate.
What was the state of China in August 1966 , and what were the Red Guards doing (6)?
1) Schools/universities were closed, with chaos and violence spreading across China.
2) Red Guards targeted intellectuals, teachers, the ‘five black categories’, and non-Communists. They were free to beat, humiliate and kill.
3) The Red Guards began a campaign to eradicate the Four Olds, and any trace of Western influence in China, with ‘correction stations’ set up at street corners.
4) Historic sites (temples, statues, artifacts, etc.) and religious buildings were damaged.
5) Red Guards invaded/ransacked the private homes of those suspected being bourgeois.
6) Antiques, jewellery, paintings, books, foreign currency, etc. were confiscated or destroyed. Books by authors considered feudal/bourgeois were burnt.
How did the targets of the Red Guards change in September 1966?
The attacks of the Red Guards became more systemic and targeted at Party officials, opposed to intellectuals, teachers, non-Communists and the ‘five black categories’.
How did the Red Guards punish their targets (3)?
1) Appeared before struggle meetings and were subject to verbal and physical abuse.
2) Paraded through the streets in dunce’s caps.
3) Forced to adopt the ‘jet-plane position’ for hours.
This caused serious injury as well as death.
Why did factional rivalries begin to emerge amongst the Red Guards in September 1966?
Some officials encouraged the formation of Red Guard units that were more under the control of the Party bureaucracy - ‘conservative mass organisations’. They recruited workers and students whose parents were Party cadres. The most radical Red Guard units were composed of students from bourgeois backgrounds. This caused splits and rivalries in the Red Guards.
How did factional rivalries in the Red Guard develop in Shanghai (November - December 1966) (5)?
1) In November 1966, militant factory and office workers began to form their own Red Guard units.
2) In Shanghai, a Worker’s Revolutionary General Headquarters (WRGH) was set up, in order to coordinate radical groups in the city. Supporters of this were known as ‘revolutionary rebels’.
3) The CCP leadership in Shanghai opposed this, instead supporting the establishment of a ‘conservative mass organisation’ - the Shanghai Red Detachment.
4) Mao declared that workers had the right to establish their own mass organisations, and the Shanghai Party leadership were forced to make self-criticisms.
5) This factional rivalry quickly turned into street fighting in Shanghai by the end of December 1966.
What were the origins of the January Storm (3)?
1) In January 1967, strikes paralysed the port of Shanghai and the railway network around the city.
2) On 3rd January 1967, the ‘revolutionary rebels’ seized control of the main newspapers in Shanghai, resulting in the collapse of the authority of Party leadership in Shanghai.
3) Mao intervened, sending Zhang Chunqiao and Yao Wenyuan to bring down the Shanghai Party Committee and establish a new authority.
What was the Workers’ Revolutionary General Headquarters (WRGH) and who were ‘revolutionary rebels’?
1) The WGRH was an organisation set up to coordinate Red Guard units comprising of workers in Shanghai.
2) Supporters of this group were known as ‘revolutionary rebels’.
What were the events of the January Storm, and when did it take place (3)?
5th - 23rd January 1966.
1) Jan 5th 1966: The WRGH announced the overthrow of the Shanghai Party Committee, and the City would therefore be run by ‘revolutionary rebels’.
2) With the support of the PLA, the WRGH took control of all factories, docks, newspapers and businesses in Shanghai.
3) During the rest of January 1967, rebel groups seized power in 7 other provinces, including Beijing.
How did Zhang Chunqiao fail to bring down the Shanghai Party Committee (3)?
1) Having gained control of Shanghai with PLA support, Zhang set up a Shanghai people’s commune - a body subject to democratic accountability and with elected officials. This meant there would be no Communist monopoly over elections to the commune.
2) Zhang believed he had Mao’s support, following the principle of ‘trust the masses’. However, Mao declared ‘There must be a Party somehow. There must be a nucleus, no matter what we call it’.
3) Mao refused to back the Shanghai people’s commune, and instructed rebel groups in other cities to not follow the example of Shanghai.
What did Mao do on 23rd January 1967, and what was its significance for the Cultural Revolution?
On 23rd January 1967, Mao disbanded the Shanghai people’s commune, and replaced it with the Shanghai Revolutionary Committee. This was made up of Red Guards, PLA representatives, and Party officials, and became a prototype for other revolutionary committees.
This was significant because the role of organising and supporting the new revolutionary committees fell to the PLA, as the CCP were in disarray.
What were the origins of the February Crackdown (3)?
1) Many of the top PLA commanders wanted the PLA to be insulated from the revolutionary upheavals destabilising China, and that the discipline of the army should be maintained - PLA officers should not be subject to struggle meetings.
2) The CCRG believed that no sector of China should be immune from the rectification campaign. Mao did not reveal his views, but prohibited attacks on the PLA. However he did not condemn radical military cadets who staged struggle meetings against their commanders.
3) In the absence of clear political leadership, some senior military commanders acted on their own initiative, using armed force to suppress radical Red Guard units and arrest their leaders.
What was the February Crackdown?
When regional military commanders in Sichuan and Wuhan used armed force to suppress radical Red Guards and arrest their leaders.
What was the February Adverse Current?
The Adverse Current was the joint effort of CCP veterans to oppose the radicalism of the Red Guard in February 1967.
What were the events of the February Adverse Current (4)?
1) In February 1967, Mao criticised Jiang Qing and Chen Boda for making decisions on the CR without consulting him. This opened up backlash and criticism towards the CR from Politburo members.
2) Politburo members pointed out that the Red Guard had overstepped the boundaries of the CR, as laid out in the Sixteen Points.
3) A Politburo directive, with Mao’s support, imposed limits on the use of force by Red Guards, ordered them to stop travelling the country and return to their home city, and to withdraw from Party/government departments.
4) The PLA were tasked with restoring order.
What was the significance of the February Adverse Current (5)?
1) Mao saw the criticism of the CR as a challenge to his authority, confirming his decision to attack the CCP establishment.
2) After February 1967, the Politburo practically ceased to function, and its powers were transferred to the CRG.
3) The criticism of CCP veterans became more sustained.
4) PLA officers who had attempted to crackdown on radical Red Guards were denounced as ultra-rightist and court martialled.
5) The PLA were ordered to refrain from using armed force against Red Guards.
How did Red Guard factional rivalry escalate in July 1967 (1), and what was the significance (2)?
1) Factional rivalry escalated, with battles taking place between rival groups. E.g. in Wuhan, in July 1967, 600 were killed in a battle between the (radical) WRGH and the (more conservative) Million Heroes workers’ group.
2) Mao, Jiang Qing and Lin Biao sided with the radicals, and the regional military commander, who had imprisoned radicals in the February Crackdown, was purged.
3) Mao and Jiang Qing began to advocate arming the radical groups in preparation for a struggle against the ‘capitalist roaders in the PLA’, who were supporting the more conservative mass organisations.
Who were the May 16 Group, and what was their significance for the Cultural Revolution?
The May 16 Group was a ultra-left group, with only about 40 members. They had blamed and attacked Zhou Enlai for the Adverse Current. By August 1967, they no longer existed, however Mao branded it as a ‘counter-revolutionary clique’ and exaggerated its importance. This provided him with an excuse to crack down on radical groups.
When, how, and why did Mao begin the crackdown on radical Red Guard units (5)?
1) On 11th August 1967, Mao stated that the ‘policy of dragging out capitalist roaders in the army’ was ‘unstrategic’. 2) This was because he realised he was undermining the PLA as a disciplined and effective fighting force with his radical policies.
3) This signalled a crackdown on radical groups and their leaders, with the earlier chaos and radicalism blamed on the May 16 Group, a tiny radical group few had heard of before it was named as a scapegoat.
4) In late August 1967, the 4 most radical members of the CRG were purged, and in September Mao forbade Red Guards from seizing weapons.
5) The PLA was authorised to open fire on radical groups in self-defence.
What was the significance of the events of August - September 1967 on the Cultural Revolution (3)?
1) The main focus of the CR shifted from the destruction of an old order, to the creation of a new system.
2) Mao ordered the Red Guard factions to unite and form ‘grand alliances’.
3) Mao called for rapid progress in the set up of new Revolutionary Committees. This happened in Beijing and Shanghai, but in other areas factional rivalries delayed the process.
How were Red Guard units purged Sept 1967 - spring 1958 (3)?
1) By the end of 1967, a far-reaching purge of the Red Guards was under way. 10 million fell under suspicion, and 3 million were detained for questioning.
2) At the Foreign Ministry, 2000 officials were purged.
3) In the Spring of 1968, the campaign was widened into a ‘cleansing of class ranks’, with 1.8 million arrested. Tens of thousands were beaten to death or committed suicide, with the rest sent to labour camps.
What was the ‘Cleansing the Class Ranks’ campaign (3)?
1) A Maoist campaign, launched in 25 May 1958, targeting radical Red Guards, class enemies, and ‘stubborn bourgeois power holders’ (supporters of Liu Shaoqi).
2) Torture, trial by suspicion, conviction by forced confessions, massacres and other forms of mass killings all took place. Around 30 million people are estimated to have been persecuted, with an estimated death toll of 0.5-1.5 million.
3) Jiang Qing and her allies were a driving force behind the campaign.
How did the PLA take action against Red Guard units in Shaanxi and Guangxi in summer 1968?
The PLA attempted to restore order in Shaanxi and Guangxi by separating the rival factions and setting up Military Control Commissions. In Guangxi, this provoked a wave of indiscriminate slaughter, with so-called ‘traitors’ being killed and their livers eaten by assailants.
Explain the final suppression of the Red Guards (Qinghua) (3).
1) There was serious violence and disorder on university campuses across China, with Mao now believing that the leadership of the CR should be in the hands of the workers, not students.
2) In July 1968, Mao sent a team of 30,000 workers and PLA troops to Qinghua University campus (Beijing) to disarm the student Red Guards.
3) 10 people were killed in the fighting.
