Communism in China Rise of Mao Zedong Chinese Civil War Life Under Mao The Great Leap Forward Cultural Revolution Tiananmen Square

The Rise of Mao Zedong Mao Zedong was a Communist organizer and a member of the Chinese Communist Party Mao first had to defeat the Nationalists, using the peasants’ huge population as an advantage. During the Long March, an estimated 81,000 out of 90,000 people died while walking 6,000 miles to the last surviving Communist Base in southern China. During the course of the Long March, Mao established himself unquestionably as the leader of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) He held his title his whole life.

Chinese Civil War Cause: The war occurred because the Chinese Nationalists (led by Chiang Kai-shek) and the Chinese Communists (led by Mao Zedong) were competing for power The war between the two groups began in 1945

Chinese Civil War Outcome: Communists won over millions of peasants by promising them land Numerous people joined Mao’s People’s Liberation Army Nationalists lost to the Communists in 1949 People’s Republic of China was ruled by the Communist Party Chiang Kai-shek and 2 million Nationalists retreated to Taiwan and established the Republic of China

Life Under Mao Launched a program in 1955 in order to form a socialist society Took land from wealthy landlords and gave it to two-thirds of the peasants in hopes that food production would increase, which ended up not happening He took collective farms and combined them into communes, that contained 30,000 people who lived and worked together

Great Leap Forward It was a radical program that began in 1958 Mao Zedong started it in hopes to speed up economic growth He took collective farms and combined them into communes, that contained 30,000 people who lived and worked together His goal was to reach the final stage of communism – a classless society One of Mao’s campaigning slogans was: “Hard work for a few years, happiness for a thousand” The Great Leap Forward was a disaster The food production went down because of bad weather and bad planning 16 million citizens starved to death Two years later, in 1960, the Chinese Government broke down the communes

The Cultural Revolution Mao still wanted a classless society Only a permanent and constant revolution could make this happen In 1966 The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution began Little Red Book was a book of Mao Zedong’s thoughts Thought of as a bible and ultimate source of knowledge

The Cultural Revolution Continued Red Guards were formed Bands of mostly student and teenage revolutionaries Wanted to get rid of the “Four Olds” Old ideas Old cultures Old customs Old habits Destroyed books that were written by foreigners, foreign music, and temples Renamed the streets so that they sounded more revolutionary Brutally attacked people who “deviated” from Mao’s plan

Cultural Revolution Continued Many people including party members, professionals, and military officers went against the Red Guards because they were repulsed by the Red Guard’s actions Mao reined in the Red Guards and got tired of their actions Deng Xiaoping gained power after Zedong’s death Brought the Cultural Revolution to an end

Tiananmen Square Located in the capital of Beijing Massive demonstrations were held there The death of Hu Yaobang, a pro-democracy pro-market official, sparked these protests. Over 100,000 spectators showed up to Yaobang’s funeral on April 15, 1989 The movement lasted seven weeks, until Deng Xiaoping ended it on June 4 Xiaoping believed that protesters were calling for the end of communist square He ordered tanks and troops to get rid of the protesters Between 500 and 2,000 people were killed By the late 1990’s: Protested against Chinese citizens had high taxes A classless society was never achieved, and there was major economic and social inequality

Analyze & Discuss                                            

By: Rachel Furcick Nikol Grbic Max Mercado Steven Momi