Communist China

SS7H3d Describe the impact of

Communism in China in terms of Mao Zedong, the Great Leap

Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and

Tiananmen Square.

Chiang Kai-shek

• leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s

• attempted to wipe out the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1934

• improved transportation, education, and industry, but failed to improve the lives of peasants in China-this led to the resurgence of the CCP

Communism

• an economic and political system in which property is owned collectively and labor is organized in a way that is supposed to benefit all people; the government controls all resources (natural, capital, and human)

Mao Zedong

• established China as a communist state in 1949

• attempted to strengthen China economically by instituting the Great Leap forward in 1958

• his programs backfired and production in farms and factories actually decreased

• 20 million Chinese starved to death as a result

Long March

• Mao Zedong’s Red Army marched 6,000 miles through swampland and over mountains to escape Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist (KMT) forces;

• Less than 20,000 of the 100, 000 that started the journey survived; the communists gained peasant support along the way

Communist Revolution

• Chiang Kai-shek joined forces with Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party following the Japanese invasion of China at the start of World War II

• When World War II ended the two sides turned on each other again

• Communists defeated the Nationalists (Kuomintang) in 1949 and Mao declared China a Communist state called the People’s Republic of China;

• Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalists fled to what most people call Taiwan

• Great Leap Forward Video Segment

Great Leap Forward • Series of policies that Mao Zedong thought

would help China to become equal to the West in agricultural and industrial production

• Established “Collectives”: government-owned farms that employed large numbers of workers

• Shattered China’s economy; poor agricultural production, droughts, and floods caused famine and 20 million Chinese starved in less than 2 years

1958: The Great Leap Forward

• The Great Leap Forward took place in 1958. The Great Leap Forward was Mao’s attempt to modernize China’s economy so that by 1988, China would have an economy that rivaled America.

1958: The Great Leap Forward

• The Great Leap Forward planned to develop agriculture and industry. Mao believed that both had to grow to allow the other to grow. To allow for this, China was reformed into a series of communes.

1958: The Great Leap Forward

• The geographical size of a commune varied but most contained about 5000 families. The life of an individual was controlled by the commune. Schools, nurseries, and “Houses of Happiness” were provided by the communes so that all adults could work.

Great Leap Backwards???• By the end of 1958, 700 million

people had been placed into 26,578 communes.

• In 1959, things started to go wrong. Political decisions/beliefs took precedence over common sense and communes faced the task of doing things which they were not able to accomplish. Commune leaders, who knew what their commune was capable of doing or not, could be charged with being a "bourgeois reactionary" if he complained. Such a charge would lead to prison.

Great Leap Backwards???

• Quickly produced farm machinery made in factories fell to pieces when used. Many thousands of workers were injured after working long hours and falling asleep at their jobs.

Great Leap Backwards???

•The excellent growing weather of 1958 was followed by a very poor growing year in 1959. Some parts of China were hit by floods. In other growing areas, drought was a major problem.

Great Leap Backwards???

•1960 had even worse weather than 1959. Nine million people are thought to have starved to death in 1960 alone. The government had to introduce rationing. This put people on the most minimal amount of food and between 1959 and 1962, it is thought that 20 million people died of starvation or diseases related to starvation.

Great Leap Backwards???

•Some party members put the blame of the failure of the Great Leap Forward on Mao. He was popular with the people but he still had to resign from his position as Head of State (though he remained in the powerful Party Chairman position).

What to do next?

The day-to-day running of China was left to three men. In late 1960, they abandoned the Great Leap Forward. Ownership of land was given back to individuals and communes were cut down to a manageable size.

What to do next?

These three leaders had cut down on Mao’s power but his reputation among the ordinary Chinese people was still great because he was seen as the leader of the revolution. He was to use this popularity with the people to gain back his authority at the expense of the new leaders. This was in the so-called Cultural Revolution.

Cultural Revolution • 1966-1976

• Mao Zedong launched programs to wipe out past culture and history as well as foreign influence

• Red Guards - high school students were encouraged to form groups called Red Guards-these groups had the government’s permission to smash books, artwork, religious temples, or anything else that showed connections to China’s past

• Cultural Revolution Video

1966-1976: The Chinese Cultural Revolution

• In 1966, after spending years studying political economy and the classics of Chinese history, Mao was ready to act.

1966-1976: The Chinese Cultural Revolution

• Mao launched the Cultural Revolution in August of 1966 in front of the Central Committee when he called for Red Guards to challenge Communist Party officials for their lack of revolutionary vision.

• Mao and his group of radicals were still in control of the government.

The Changing of the Guard• After years of

turmoil and power struggle within the country involving offshoots of Mao’s revolutionary group—including the radical group led by Mao’s wife, Jiang Qing, Mao died in September of 1976.

The Changing of the Guard

• A coalition of army and political leaders united and arrested Jiang Qing and her radical supporters called the Gang of Four.

• In 1977, Deng Xiaoping emerges as the supreme leader of the People's Republic of China.

Mao Dies• 1980 Deng Xiaoping was named the leader

of China

• He had been with Mao since the Long March but was more moderate

• Began to allow farmers to own some of their own land

• Allowed some private business to organize

• Opened China to foreign investment and technological advances

1989• When communism was under attack around the

world, there were protests in China• Tiananmen Square: over 10,000 students gathered

to protest what they felt was corruption in the Chinese government

• They called for a move toward democracy• Deng Xiaoping ordered government troops to end

the protest. • Goddess of Democracy: a statue raised by the

student protestors that was modeled on the US Statue of Liberty

• Tiananmen Square