The Restoration Of Order By PLA Flashcards
When did Mao decide to allow the PLA to clamp down on the Red Guards?
August 1967
What suggests Mao had always been in control of events?
The fact that he had almost decided to restore order in Feb but changed mind and ease with which the PLA did restore order after August
Why did Mao stop the Red Guards?
They were undermining the army’s role and were inflicting unsustainable damage on China’s economic and educational systems
Why was the PLA anxious to end the Red Guard violence?
It did not want to open itself up to the self-criticism and struggle sessions.
Did not want to risk jeopardising its status as the creator and defender of the revolution
How dis Mao go about restoring order?
Removed 4 of most radical members of CCRG
Ordered RG and worker’s factions to form alliances and stop fighting each other
Speeded up creation of nee revolutionary committees
Who was the membership of the new revolutionary committees dominated by?
PLA officers at provincial, county and local level (military main influence over the new political structures)
How many provincial committees were in place by September 1968?
29, prompting the CCRG to declare that the entire country was now red
What did the PLA’s full-scale purge on the RG include?
End of 1968- disbanding RG units, closing their newspapers, took over RG revolutionary tasks e.g. ‘cleansing the class ranks’ campaign
Example of serious unrest that needed military action to stop in summer of 1968
Full-scale civil war in Shanxi
What was a main problem due to 2 yrs missed education and drop in industrial output?
Youth unemployment
What was the PLA also entrusted with?
Re-establishing discipline in schools and unis
