TOPIC 10: PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA AND MAO ZEDONG ELENA STREUDING AND JOSH SANCHEZ

TIMELINE: 1949 – War of Liberation; the final military conflict between the KMT and the CPC in the Chinese Civil War. October 1, 1949 – Mao proclaims the Liberation army’s victory and the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. Chiang Kai- Shek, in response, fled to Taiwan with his Nationalist Soldiers. March, 1950 – Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries; the first political campaign launched by the new republic in order to eradicate the KMT from the government. This was in response to the strong resistance against the People’s Republic of China that was mostly originated by past KMT members. A “directive on eliminations of bandits and establishment of revolutionary new order” was issued. This meant that all the Kuomintang members and those opposing the CPC were to be heavily suppressed and punished. As a result, there was a large scale suppression of the counter-revolutionary movement which included a number being arrested and/or labor reform. Mao was initially displeased with the leniency of this campaign, and after the Korean war he became more ruthless and issued the five-anti and three-anti campaigns.

June 25, 1950 – Korean War breaks out between North and South Korea, with China and the USSR assisting the North. China aided North Korea because North Korea had given previous troops to the Communists during the Chinese Civil War, and their efforts had not been forgotten. However, Communist involvement and assistance in the Korean War led to a division in the North Korean government between the Communist party led by Kim II-sun against the other party led by Pak II-yu. This was also fueled by China’s support of Communist Revolutions in North Korea in order to up its standing in the Communist community around the world. End of 1951 – Three-anti campaign; campaign aimed at KMT members within the CPC and bureaucratic officials. The three antis imposed were corruption, waste, and bureaucracy

January, 1952 – The five-anti campaign; designed to target the capitalist class, which eventually evolved into an all out war against the bourgeoisie in China. The five antis were bribery, theft of state property, tax evasion, cheating on government contracts, and stealing state economic information. Trained workers began to spy on their fellow citizens, the media encouraged compliance with government policies. This campaign was the beginning of the brainwashing of the Chinese people from Mao. Citizens of China were sending in hundreds of thousands of letters that were outing supposedly capitalist or bourgeoisie citizens. March, 1953 – First Five Year plan; initial economic success that lead to great industrial and economic growth as well as a change in agricultural organization

July 27, 1953 – North Korea defeated the South Korean troops, which influenced and assisted Mao’s cause as a leader, creating an image of success and military prestige. July, 1957 – The Hundred Flowers Campaign; a six week campaign where the CPC encouraged people to speak out on solutions to national policy issues. The slogan was “Letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend is the policy for promoting progress in the arts and sciences and a flourishing socialist culture in our land.” Immediately after this brief period of liberalization, the CPC cracked down hard on those who criticized the government. This was in the form of forced confessions, students being sent to labor camps, and imprisonment. This campaign made a lasting impact on Mao’s ideological perception, and continued in his attempt to set socialist ideals in future movements such as the Cultural Revolution where he used more violent means.

July 1957 – First wave of the Anti-Rightist movement, after the Hundred Flowers Campaign 1957 – Great Leap Forward, Mao’s economic campaign that replaced the Second Five Year plan to 1961 – Three Years of Great Chinese Famine that occurred due to the extreme economic changes made in the Great Leap Forward. July 2, 1959 – Second wave of the Anti-Rightist movement, following the Lushan Conference 1959 – Mao Zedong “stepped” down as head of state after the Great Leap Forward failed, but still remained president of CCP 1960 –Start of the Sino-Soviet Split when China split from the Soviet Union’s way of Communism and used their own version. Relations between the Soviet union and China testified as China began to make friends with the United States.

1963 – Socialist Education Movement; Mao changed the education in China and “reeducated” people May 1966 – Cultural Revolution is launched; Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping labelled as revisionists and were purged by Mao. Education, transportation, and production were all depleated due to the worker’s political activities instead of them focusing on their jobs. It was also lowered because people that were put in charge of factories did not know how to run them properly. Old Chinese culture is abolished and new culture is established – Gang of Four established; the political faction of four CCP officials 1971 – Lin Biao killed in a “plane crash” over Mongolia 1972 – United States President Nixon met with Mao Zedong in Beijing 1976 – “Mandate of Heaven”- Deaths of Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, and Mao Zedong

ESSAY QUESTION: EVALUATE THE SUCCESSES AND FAILURES OF ONE RULER OF A SINGLE-PARTY STATE Thesis: Whilst Mao was successful in unifying China and turning it into a major world power, his socialist economic policies were lacking and thus led to his downfall during the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution Answer: Mao was a successful leader due to his ability to hold onto power as well as his transformation of China into a significant power in the world. However, he made many fatal mistakes that stained his reputation such as the economic disaster of the Great Leap Forward that pushed China into three years of famine, as well as the Cultural Revolution which radically eradicated the old Chinese culture from China.

Mao Zedong SuccessesFailures EconomicFirst Five Year Plan: Industrial Growth Agricultural Growth (less than industrial) Economic growth Great Leap Forward Socialist economic policies deflated China’s economic potential and led to three years of famine PoliticalUnified China Achieved complete and absolute political power and abolished all possible opposition Korean War victory His hopes to spread Marxism failed miserably Never achieved a popular democratic way to control the bureaucrats in his regime SocialSocial reforms such as equality of women and the bringing down of abusive warlords Cultural Revolution was a disaster