POLI 324: Asian Politics Dr. Kevin Lasher

GREAT PROLETARIAN CULTURAL REVOLUTON

Mao’s Retirement, 1961-66 Mao retreats to “semi-retirement” to deal with theoretical issues after disaster of Great Leap Forward Pragmatists Liu Shaoqi, Deng Xiaoping and others return to moderate economic policies of 1950s Return to normal collective farms with private plots Economic recovery

Mao’s Retirement, 1961-66 Mao is restless and unhappy with the return to pragmatism and bureaucratization Mao is “marginalized” Feels he has one more chance to reshape his revolution Plotting his “return to power” Turns 70 in 1963

Socialist Education Movement, 1962-65 Mass campaign to combat bureaucracy, corruption, growing capitalism, improve relations between cadres and people Pragmatists are able to minimize the negative effects of this campaign

Cult of Mao Defense Minister Lin Biao and PLA promote intensified “cult of Mao” in which Mao assumes god-like status Culminates in publishing of hundreds of millions of copies of “Mao’s Little Red Book” (Quotations from Chairman Mao), beginning in 1964 Previous “adoration” of Mao taken to new, extreme level

Cult of Mao People collected and traded Mao badges like baseball cards

Cult of Mao “He is the People’s Great Savior”

Cult of Mao

Return of Mao Formation of Cultural Revolution Group in May 1966 consisting of Mao loyalists, including Jiang Qing (Mrs. Mao) Replaced Politburo Standing Committee as top body for a few years

Return of Mao July 1966 Mao swims in Yangtze River to show he is healthy and ready for action

Beginning of Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution

What was GPCR? 1966-1969 (core of disruption) 1966-1976 (until Mao’s death)

What was GPCR? “To struggle against and overthrow those persons in authority who are taking the capitalist road, to criticize and repudiate the reactionary bourgeois academic authorities and the ideology of the bourgeoisie and all other exploiting classes, and to transform education, literature and art, and all other parts of the superstructure not in correspondence with the socialist economic base.” CCP at 11th Plenum, 1966

What was GPCR? An effort to remove old bourgeois-traditional culture and replace it with proletarian-egalitarian-socialist culture (art, education, relationships, thought) Unleashing of ideological squads to attack and change improper thinking and behavior Attempt to destroy corrupt party structures and replace them with revolutionary Mao-led structures Attempt by Mao to return to power and “save” his revolution

What was GPCR (Really)? Re-impose Mao’s policies by unleashing power of youthful masses Cynical move by Mao loyalists to gain power Bizarre movement by aging Mao to reassert total control over CCP Chaos that attacked CCP members and society Civil war between different Red Guard factions Mao’s improvisation (PLA steps in to stop chaos)

What was GPCR (Really)? A kind of “madness” that falls upon Chinese society, only partially controlled by Mao

Cultural Revolution: Why? Mao’s concern over nature of his revolution Mao’s political marginalization Mao and mass line; Mao and permanent revolution Pragmatists unable to resist Mao couldn’t control violence of Red Guards

Nature of revolution CCP was bureaucratic and elitist Less equality under post-GLF policies Soviet-style “degradation” in China Need for permanent revolution Old Mao’s last chance to “get it right”

Mao’s Political Marginalizaton Pragmatists “manipulated” and “limited” Mao Mao did not really accept his semi-retirement GPCR was Mao’s way of eliminating pragmatists and returning to full control Khrushchev (USSR) ousted in 1964

Mao and mass line GLF failed but Mao still believed in power of mass politics Another super-mass movement Focus on culture and politics more than economics

Pragmatists unable to resist Supported early Cultural Revolution, just another minor mass movement Divided and fought back too late Couldn’t confront Mao, replacing him was “unthinkable”

Red Guards Encouraged by Mao, millions of youth (age 12-21) who created Red Guard units Originally to attack the four olds – old customs, old culture, old habits, old ideas Eventually attacked party members and civilians (especially teachers) Split into different factions and attack each other

Red Guards Targets: university professors and administrators, teachers and school administrators, intellectuals, artists, writers, bureaucrats, party members Red Guards criticized, attacked, tortured and killed “enemies”

Red Guards Strange combination of travel, enthusiasm and violence Main activity from 1966-68 PLA finally disbands Red Guards and millions are banished to countryside for years or decades Schools shut down from 1966-1970 A lost generation who were exiled to countryside or shut out of higher education

Red Guards Eventually little logic to targets of Red Guard attacks except opponents of Mao Identity of different factions eventually loses coherence How can you determine which Red Guard faction is truly “the most Red”?

Mao lost control of Red Guards Mao created Red Guards with little conception of their function Red Guards attacked Mao’s enemies but then began to attack each other Civil war between Red Guard factions from 1967-68 PLA cracks down and Red Guards sent to countryside in 1969

Mao lost control of Red Guards Millions sent to languish in countryside Mao discarded Red Guards after they had served his purposes (bring him back to power)

Lin Biao Began cult of Mao in early 1960s Defense Minister since 1959 Named Mao’s successor in 1969 PLA nearly replaces CCP (for a time) Opposed opening to USA Died in plane crash in mysterious circumstances in 1971 Rumors of anti-Mao coup Lin’s demise leads to more questioning of Mao’s decision-making

Lin Biao After death of Lin Biao, Mao again calls on pragmatists (Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping) to quell turmoil and bring normalcy back to China PLA had taken over many functions from discredited and ravaged CCP

Nixon Visits China, 1972 US and China begin process of normalization of relations when President Nixon visits China in February 1972 China more worried about military threat from USSR than from USA “Making peace” with USA while GPCR continues points to the strange nature of the period

End of Mao Era, 1972-76 Sickly Mao plays different factions off one another Maoists vs. PLA group vs. pragmatists Delayed power struggle waiting for the death of Mao Mao dies September 9, 1976

What did the Cultural Revolution accomplish?

The End