Mao

· **Conditions that produced authoritarian and single party states>>what was the state of China at this time?** o **Historical context** § Like other single party states in history, Mao Zedong came to power and created the People’s Republic of China after decades of civil and international war. (October 1, 1949) § “Hot Wars” with Korea… § Furthermore, the world was in the aftermath of WWII and entering the Cold War period, which is a time when communism flourished in certain parts of the world until foreign powers stepped in. § The Communist party assumed power and utilized propaganda strategies to alter people’s opinions and outlooks · **Emergence of leaders: aims, ideology, and support** o **Leader** § He grew fat and lost the air of an earnest intellectual. § Always the same was the sense of a man in focus. Self-contained. Giving the impression of thinking of six things at once. § Top half of the face suggested an intellectual: immense forehead, questing eyes, and longish hair. Bottom half was that of a sensualist: plump lips, chubby nose, round and childlike chin. Mao did not move with grace; he was a lumbering type of man. § He excelled academically. “After graduating from Hunan Normal School, the highest level of schooling available in his province, Mao spent six months studying independently.” § He is officially held in high regard in China as a great revolutionary political strategist, military mastermind, and savior of the nation. Additionally, Mao is viewed as an intellectual poet philosopher and visionary.” § He utilized Communism ideology, convincing his country that the People’s Republic of China was superior to  countries like Japan and the US. § **Random note: Mao often did his work either in bed or by the side of the pool, preferring not to wear formal clothes unless absolutely necessary, according to Dr. Li Zhisui personal physician.** § Mao instigated a series of land reforms · “Shortly after the founding of the PRC, land reform, according to Mao biographer Phillip Short "lurched violently to the left" with Mao laying down new guidelines for "not correcting  excesses prematurely.” Mao insisted that the people themselves, not the security organs  should become involved in the killing of landlords who had oppressed them. This was quite   different from Soviet practice, in which the NKVD would arrest counterrevolutions and then   have them secretly executed and often buried before sunrise. Mao felt that peasants who  killed landlords with their bare hands would become permanently linked to the revolutionary  process in a way that passive spectators could not be actual numbers killed in land reform  are believed to have been lower, but did rank in the millions as there was a policy to select  "at least one landlord, and usually several, in virtually every village for public execution."   § Starting in 1951, Mao initiated two successive movements in an effort to rid urban areas of corruption by   targeting wealthy capitalists and political opponents, known as the three-anti/five-anti campaign. § Following the consolidation of power, Mao launched the First Five-Year Plan (1953–58). The plan aimed to end Chinese dependence upon agriculture in order to become a world power.
 * · **Totalitarianism: the aim and the extent to which it was achieved
 * o **Elimination of opposition**

I. Methods of gaining authority a. Legally gained support because of resistance to KMT (Nationalist party) i. KMT inefficient and corrupt, did not improve factory conditions or peasant poverty, and put up little resistance against the Japanese ii. Communists gained strength and following while the war with Japan (1936) weakened the Nationalists b. Civil War (Red Army) i. Communists (CCP) triumphed, largely due to determination/organization, also more popular ii. Communists (led by Mao) used Guerrilla warfare, and finally won in 1949 iii. The revolution was “peasant-based”, and had the commitment for future help from the Soviets through the Sino-Soviet alliance c. Once in power… i. Mao used insane propaganda to keep support, through youth programs, his “Little Red Book” of Mao quotes, and full-size billboards with his face ii. “Cult of Personality” to keep Mao the leader of the Communist party II. Form of Government and Ideology a. Ideology i. Mao claimed to be the truest interpreter of the Marxist ideology, and wanted to keep his revolution as strictly Marxist-Leninist as possible. ii. Mao believed in a Marxism with Chinese characteristics iii. Cultural Revolution: Mao cut ties with Russia, and wanted to renew support and revolution for his Chinese Marxism b. Government i. Constitution of 1950: National’s People Congress took authority for legislation and was elected by the people (however, had to be Communist to run), the Chairman and the State Council were elected by Congress, and the Politburo was chosen by the State Council and made main decisions for the government ii. All officials were Communist iii. Mao was truly a Chairman, and took a back seat to his administrators (as long as they stayed true to Communism) III. Opposition a. Nature of Opposition i. Right wing, and believed that people needed incentive to work ii. Also believed that the country needed experts to help run everything, but Mao believed that experts would turn into a high class iii. External opposition: America, eventually Russia, enemies of China b. Treatment of Opposition i. During the first four years of Communist rule, Mao had roughly 750,000 enemies killed ii. Mao kept the country in a constant state of revolution, with faith in the power of the masses all following Mao’s lead iii. Mao often ruled through terror, and “rid” himself of his opposition and enemies

Comes to power in 1949 after struggling throughout WWII; leads until 1976. I. Political Policy a. Goals: On October 1, 1949, the People’s Republic of China is declared with Mao Zedong as its leader. “Our state system of the People's Democratic Dictatorship is a powerful weapon for safeguarding the fruits of victory of the people's revolution and for opposing plots of foreign and domestic enemies to stage a comeback. We must firmly grasp this weapon.” He vows to protect the people’s revolution and claims Communism will help end China’s status as a lesser- developed state. Pledges to be-friend the Soviet Union and other ‘new democratic countries.’ b. Organization: Single party state of Communism with Mao as the Chief of State. Though he is forced to resign in 1959 after the Great Leap Forward, he remained chair of the party and in control of the country. c. Opposition: i. Mao’s seizure of power coincided with the ousting of the major political opposition, led by Chiang Kai-shek, who had been too tied to traditional social structures with power in the hands of the landowners and sympathies with Japan. He failed to garner support for not coming up with a good program for alleviating poverty. He was driven to Taiwan. ii. In the beginning, he was not a ‘dynamic’ leader; he feared competition from among his own party. By the late 1950s he condemned the educated, liberal class that had appeared, calling it a threat to Communism, and encouraged purges against them and anyone even slightly aligned with his perceived biggest rival within the party, Liu Shao-chi. d. Personality Cult: Even though personality cults went against Marxism and were discouraged, Mao could not help one from developing: Mao and the Communist party were heroes who had liberated the people from the oppressive past party. He came around to the cult as “useful” and exploited it until it took off and began enforced nationwide.

II. Economic Policy a. Maoism: Marxism, or goods produced and wealth accumulated being shared relatively equally by all, interpreted for colonial and peasant-based economies. b. Great Leap Forward: 1957: Economic movement initiated by Mao to break the Russian model of Communism. Decentralization of economy by establishing independent communes and reinvigorating revolutionary spirit. Impact: i. 20 million people die, mostly from starvation, due to the inefficiency of the system ii. Made to rival Soviet Union cuts off ties/aid and rift divides over true interpreter of Communism iii. Mao forced to step down from Chief of State, but remains head of Communist Party… III. Social Policy a. Cultural Revolution: Mao’s reassertion of his beliefs over society. Mao’s initiative to reinstate social control after the failure of the Great Leap Forward. Begins 1965 with closure of schools. Students given “Quotations of Chairman Mao” and mobilized into Red Guards. i. Results: Many die in ensuing purges, including that had once been Mao’s colleagues. Mao’s personality cult really takes shape. b. Red Guards: Battalions of students organized to incite local rebellions. Travelled around to make speeches, to universities and schools to promote Maoism and discourage the “four olds”: society, ideas, culture and manners. Became violent/oppressive against any who opposed Mao. In one incident, in 1966, march through a town destroying all signs of capitalist or traditional symbols like temples. Some clashes with peasants. Many members are brainwashed weapons for Mao. c. Personality Cult: As mentioned in the political section. i. Little Red Book: Aka //Mao Zedong on the People’s War//. Mao’s book of quotes was widely dispersed, studied and followed. ii. Giant portraits/billboards of Mao. He is made a social hero. iii. Mao wants to keep the Communist party revolutionary, feeling many socialist leaders get too comfortable. d. Death: Mao falls ill in early 1970s and dies in 1976. The Cultural Revoltuion, the feverish purging of neighbors suspected of being less than completely devoted to Mao, ended with his death. Mao’s wife was arrested for trying to succeed him and arrested for aiding the Cultural Revolution. Many of his policies were reversed in efforts to catch up to Westernized nations in the “Four Modernizations” – industry, agriculture, science and armed forces.