Chinas Cultural Revolution

The revolutionary war is a war of the masses; it can be waged only by mobilizing the masses and relying on them.-Mao Zedong, CCP Chairman 1943-1976

Chinas Cultural Revolution 1966-1976

CommunismBackground/Why a Revolution?Great Leap ForwardIncrease agriculture and industryReforms create communes (700 million people into 26,578 communes)Production of steel in backyard furnacesSteel melted down for construction. Many times tools were melted down Propaganda to set and beat targets of production leads to lying/over-reporting numbers

Background/Why a Revolution?Useless, poor quality steel created and time away from crops led to bad harvest3 year famine (1958-1961) caused by drought, flooding, poor agricultural techniques~10-30 million dead from starvation or diseaseMao dislikes shift towards capitalization (the capitalist road)Mao urges people to overthrow govt Images of the Great Leap Forward

Plans of Mao ZedongCreate a true Communist societyDestroy the Four Olds (Ideas, Culture, Customs, Habits)Rid the government/society of elites or reactionaries who threaten Communist goals (Government officials, teachers, artists, scholars, scientists, or any in opposition)Spread the Cultural Revolution throughout all of China Sending the Red Guard out into the fields to spread the word/ideasFactory workers and elites sent to work the fieldsWhat happened?Chinas urban youth create the Red Guard (~20 million high school and college students)Schools closed to free students for Red GuardRed Guard uses violence and intimidation to spread the word of MaoIndividuals beaten, killed, publicly shamed (degrading signs hung around their necks, made to wear dunce caps)Put up posters, banners hung, Little Red Book, leaflets and newspapers distributedLittle Red Book: handbook of quotes to tell readers how to apply Mao Zedong ideas to their lives"Little Red Book" Guidance

What happened?Books, artifacts, museums, temples and shrines were destroyedThe Red Guard groups began to fight each other thinking they knew best what China needed to move forward.Some individuals sent to the countryside to be re-educated by agricultural workers (To read too many books is harmful. -Mao Zedong)Others sent to the countryside by parents to carry out the communist goals of Mao Video of destruction/violence

Red Guard TargetsRed Guard/Students against:AdministrationTeachersParents of studentsStudentsKilling spills out into community

http://www.chinese-memorial.org/Images of the Cultural Revolution

Images of the Cultural Revolution

Effects of the Cultural Revolution~10-40 million dead because of GLFStarvation/diseaseLand owners executed/land used for communesElitists targeted/beaten and killed A generation of uneducated youth (The Lost Generation)

RecoveryRecovery began because:Mao gives up control of govtFactory managers return from fields to run industry Forced collectivization of agriculture stops

ReviewWhat is communism? What are some of its characteristics?What was the Great Leap Forward? What caused it?What was the Cultural Revolution? What caused it?What individuals were targets of violence/intimidation?Who was targeting these individuals? Why?What were the desired affects of the violence?What were the actual affects?AssessmentChoose an assignment:You are a newspaper reporter who has immersed him/herself in the revolution. Write a narrative about what life used to be like and what it is like post-revolution. What differences to you see? Use imagery to tell your story.

On an unlined sheet of paper draw two pictures. One picture should illustrate a before look at China prior to the Cultural Revolution. Next to this, an after picture of China, showing a changing/changed country.

RubricsNewspaper ArticleHeading (First and last name, date, period) 2ptsDate of revolution in article (Month/Day/Year) 2ptsExplanation of feelings 2ptsExplanation of surroundings 2pts4 example of how China or its people changed 8pts2 forms of imagery present 4ptsIllustrationHeading (First and last name, date, period) 2ptsDate of revolution in drawings (Months/Days/Years) 2ptsColored 2ptsDrawn neatly (quality decided by me!) 2pts2 changes present in drawing 4ptsShort description of pictures = 4ptsExplanation of changes and how they came about in Communist China 4pts