The Rise of Communism in China

In 1911, a new government called the Chinese Nationalist Party had taken over but was failing due to poverty. Peasants became interested in a new party, the Communist Party, headed by Mao Zedong, who promised better living conditions.

In 1949, following WW2, Mao was elected In 1949, following WW2, Mao was elected. Communist governments have complete control over all decisions, so Mao had almost unlimited power. Mao took land from the wealthy and distributed to the poor. Communism was popular amongst the poor until bad planning made them victims of the regime.

Great Leap Forward The Great Leap Forward was a five year plan meant to build China’s industry and agriculture and make it’s economy rival the U.S Mao’s idea in 1958 was to boost the economy by creating collective farms. These failed within a year due to natural disasters, high death tolls and loss of people’s confidence in the government.

Great Leap Forward continued… By 1960, it was obvious that the Great Leap Forward was a failure and it was abandoned.

The Cultural Revolution 1965 – Mao attempts to stop any opposition to the Communist Party in China. Mao shut down schools and recruited students into his Red Guard, which attacked people who opposed communism. China’s economy became weak and caused mass chaos. The government denied healthcare and transportation and only created more distrust of China’s communist government.

Tiananmen Square Mao died in 1976, but the government still stuck to his Communist ideas. The people were not given basic human rights like freedom of speech or a fair trial. The events of Tiananmen Square in 1989 will be remembered as one of China’s most cruel actions against human rights.

Protestors had filled Tiananmen Square for seven weeks speaking against Communism and calling for Democracy. After the protestors were warned, the government sent tanks into the square and opened fire, killing hundreds of people. The worldwide disapproval of the massacre inspired China to improve the human rights of its citizens.

Mini Documentary of Tiananmen Square Incident (internet connection required) The Tank Man, or the Unknown Protester, is the nickname of an anonymous man who stood in front of a column of tanks on June 5, 1989. The man achieved widespread international recognition due to the videotape and photographs taken of the incident. Some have identified the man as Wang Weilin , but the name has not been confirmed and little is known about him or of his fate after the confrontation that day.

The Communist Party in China today, explained: (internet connection required)