Without a People's army, the people have nothing.- Mao Zedong [1]
When the Great Leap Forward failed Liu Shaoqi replaced
Mao Zedong as the chairman of the People’s Republic of China but Mao remained
the chairman of the Chinese communist party. Mao still had an influence on the
CCP and continuously tried to gain back his power. During the 1960’s many more
moderate socialists like Deng Xiaoping took over the CCP and were stabilizing the
economy. But Mao fought hard to keep his power and by 1962 he denounced Russia
as a right winged trader who turned capitalist and betrayed China. He also starts
the Socialist Education Movement to attempt to stop what he saw as the movement
towards capitalism. He also wrote a book called Quotations From Chairman Mao,
which everyone was supposed to have a copy of and have read it.[2]
In
1966 many young radicals gathered in Tiananmen Square to see Mao, Zhou, Lin Biao
and to celebrate the Cultural Revolution. This is where the Red Guard made
their first appearance. These rallies went on for three months; Chinese universities
were closed and did not reopen until 1970. Speeches were given by famous CCP leaders and
Mao always came with his red armband on supporting the young radicals as they
praised him.[1]
The Cultural Revolution Guard or Red Guard
was formed. The Red Guard was made up of mostly young radicals who would follow
Mao to their death. They would go around vandalizing and damaging anything that
had to do with the Western world including instruments, bookstores, libraries,
and religious buildings. They would even go around beating up and killing people
they believed had to do with capitalists or the Western world. About 20 million
students and intellectuals were taken to labor camps and forced to re-learn
their ways.[3]
The Red Guards began fighting with each other and China was on the verge of
Anarchy. In 1967 Zhou Enlai was holding China together while the Red Guard criticized
him immensely. Mao than openly criticized the Red Guards use of violence and
the most radical part of the Cultural Revolution was over but it did not really
end until the death of Mao in 1976.
[1] Perkins, Dorothy. "Cultural
Revolution in China." Encyclopedia of China: The Essential Reference to
China, Its History and Culture. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2000. Modern
World History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/
[1] "On
Coalition Government" (April 24, 1945), Selected Works, Vol. III, pp.
296-97.
[2] Perkins, Dorothy. "Cultural
Revolution in China." Encyclopedia of China: The Essential Reference to
China, Its History and Culture. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2000. Modern
World History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/
[3]
Ibid
