📌 Week 3: Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) Flashcards
What were Mao’s goals in launching the Cultural Revolution?
Reassert ideological purity, remove political rivals, mobilize youth.
What were the ‘Four Olds’ targeted by the Red Guards?
Old ideas, old culture, old customs, old habits.
How did the Red Guards impact society?
Public humiliation, destruction of cultural relics, violence against intellectuals.
Who were the main victims of the Cultural Revolution?
Intellectuals, moderate leaders like Liu Shaoqi, teachers, artists.
How did the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) end the Red Guard movement?
PLA was deployed to restore order after factional violence escalated.
What was the ‘Down to the Countryside’ movement?
Sent urban youth to rural areas for ‘re-education’ through labor.
What was the Gang of Four’s role in the Cultural Revolution?
Led extreme policies, later blamed for the violence after Mao’s death.
How did the Cultural Revolution end?
Mao’s death (1976), Deng Xiaoping’s rise, arrest of the Gang of Four.
What was the Lushan Conference (1959)?
A CCP meeting where Peng Dehuai criticized the Great Leap Forward, leading to his purge and Mao’s continued radical policies.
The conference highlighted internal dissent within the Communist Party regarding economic policies.
What is the Red Book?
A propaganda book of Mao’s political quotes, widely used during the Cultural Revolution to promote loyalty to Mao.
Officially titled ‘Quotations from Chairman Mao’, it became a symbol of Maoist thought.
What was the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976)?
A political movement led by Mao to eliminate capitalist influences, purge rivals, and enforce communist ideology, resulting in mass persecution and social chaos.
The Cultural Revolution aimed to reinforce Mao’s control over the Communist Party and Chinese society.
Who was Deng Xiaoping?
A Chinese leader who introduced economic reforms (1978–1992), transitioning China from a planned economy to a ‘socialist market economy.’
Deng’s reforms significantly altered China’s economic landscape and opened it to global markets.
Who were the Gang of Four?
A radical faction led by Jiang Qing that controlled China’s policies and propaganda during the Cultural Revolution, later arrested and blamed for its excesses.
They were prominent supporters of Mao’s radical policies and were key figures in the Cultural Revolution.
What were the Red Guards?
Student-led paramilitary groups mobilized by Mao during the Cultural Revolution to attack perceived enemies of the revolution, including intellectuals, officials, and cultural institutions.
The Red Guards played a crucial role in promoting Maoist ideology and enforcing revolutionary zeal.
What were the Peoples Liberation Army
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is the military force of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the armed forces of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). It was founded in 1927 during the Chinese Civil War and has since evolved into one of the largest and most powerful military forces in the world.
