Elimination+of+the+opposition+Mao+and+Stalin

Elimination of the Opposition Opposition:  Political parties  Religious groups Rivals for leadership Trade unions Dissident factions Members of the former ruling party

 Mao claimed opposition from the Nationalists (led by Chiang Kai-Shek), landlords who were a reactionary group wanting a return to more feudal ways of government, capitalists, religious leaders, educated elite, and right-wingers  Stalin claimed opposition from Trotsky (Left opposition) and other high ranking members of the Politburo including Leninists, kulaks (rich peasants), the Russian Orthodox Church

Eliminating the Opposition:  Quasi-legal  Banning/closure of political parties  Restricting civil liberties Rewriting laws  Seizure of property/financial assets  Intimidation  Purges within the government  Arrest and detention of members of rival or dissident groups  Execution of rival groups  Image  Propaganda to destroy credibility of opposition I. Quasi-legal A. Stalin i Moscow trials- In response to the murder of Kirov Stalin wrote into law that terrorist acts and organizations were not to be tried for no more than ten days, retracting liberties like attorneys and having the sentence be enacted quickly ii. Collectivization- Stalin took land away from the kulaks (wealthy peasants) and attempted to run collective farms in which multiple peasants would farm on one large farm in an attempt to meet a quota iii. Banning religion- Laws were written discriminating against religion and days before Stalin’s death many religious sects were outlawed B. Mao i. Land reform- Mao instituted a system of land reform similar to Stalin in order to eliminated the entrenched conservative social class of the landlords ii. Hundred Flowers Campaign- Mao initially relaxed the suppression on the flow of ideas to believing there to be no opposition to his rule, when he saw vehement opposition he restricted this flow II. Intimidation A. Stalin i. Great Purge- Troikas, quick conviction by a committee of three NKVD, throughout the country convicted citizens, Red Army officers, military and political leaders, ethnic minorities, and revolutionaries. Most were either sent to the gulags or sentenced to death (700,000 dead). Trotsky and other leading officials were ousted from the party and-or exiled. ii. Deportation- Between 1941 and 1949 an estimated 3.3 million ethnic groups were deported to Siberia and Central Asia iii. Religious persecution- By 1939 due to continued persecution active parishes of the Russian orthodox Church were in the low hundreds. In addition an estimated 100,000 religious leaders were killed. B. Mao i. Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries- This Mao’s first attempt to eradicate opposition to his rule, especially in the case of remaining Nationalists. Between 1949-1953 an estimated 2 to 5 million were killed while another 4 to 6 million were sent to labor camps ii. Cultural Revolution- 1966 Mao called on the youth Red Guard to weed out “liberal bourgeoisie” elements of society but it quickly spread throughout society and the party. Intellectuals, capitalists, and anyone or anything represented old China were eradicated. 100 million suffered iii. Three-Anti/Five-Anti Campaign- 1951-1952 capitalists and political opposition were targeted creating wide spread terror as neighbors, spouses and children turned on each other to turn in the opposition iv. Struggle Sessions- used throughout Mao’s reign to physically and mentally humiliate the opposition through criticism and forced self criticism III. Image A. Stalin i. Cult of Personality- Stalin made himself the focus of Soviet society and upheld himself as the “Great Architect of Communism” diminishing the ability of opposition to gain the spotlight ii. Pravda- Stalin used Pravda as his speaking box to the nation. In addition to Pravda, Stalin controlled what was printed throughout the USSR consistently denouncing his opposition B. Mao i. Media- Mao assumed full control of the media utilizing it promote his image and to denounce the Nationalists and the countries of the United States and Japan. ii. Little Red Book- Mao’s Quotations from Chairman Mao was an unofficial requirement for Chinese citizens. Surrounded Mao with this god-like image (Posters of Mao) that helped to eliminate opposition

IV. Conclusion A. Comparisons-Mao and Stalin’s elimination of their opposition was very similar and both mainly focused on the physical elimination of their opponents through purges and intimidation. Both sought to eliminate the power of the rural landlords and built up cults or personality. B. Contrasts-Although Stalin and Mao both were Communist single party state leaders the conditions under which they rose to power were instrumental in their approach to eliminating opposition. Stalin took power in an already communist state meaning that the main source of his opposition came within his own party i.e. Trotsky, Bukharin. Whereas Mao had created a communist state, making it necessary to eliminate all ideological opposition to his rule i.e. capitalists, Type in the content of your page here.