|
From 1949-1953, during the period of consolidation of power after victory in the Chinese civil war, an estimated 8.4 million people were killed by Mao's government. |
|
From 1949-1953, during the period of consolidation of power after victory in the Chinese civil war, an estimated 8.4 million people were killed by Mao's government. However, others point out that even this staggeringly large number of deaths was small compared to the number of death caused by famine, anarchy, war, and foreign invasion in the years before the Communists took power. |
|
Following these events, other members of the Communist Party decided that Mao should be deprived of power. They attempted to marginalize Mao, without denouncing him, allowing him to remain a figurehead, but without any real authority. Mao responded to this by launching the [Cultural Revolution]?, in which the Communist hierarchy was circumvented by giving power directly to the [Red Guards]?, groups of young people, often teenagers, who set up their own tribunals and ruled as a mob. In this period nearly 8 million people were killed. After the Cultural Revolution, Mao was disgraced within the Party, though never officially. He was deprived of any real power and lived the rest of his life as a figurehead, while the Party was actually run by his political opponents. After his death, Chinese leaders rejected Mao's policies openly. |
|
Following these events, other members of the Communist Party including [Liu Shaoqi]? and Deng Xiaoping decided that Mao should be deprived of power. They attempted to marginalize Mao, without denouncing him, allowing him to remain a figurehead, but without any real authority. Mao responded to this by launching the [Cultural Revolution]?, in which the Communist hierarchy was circumvented by giving power directly to the [Red Guards]?, groups of young people, often teenagers, who set up their own tribunals and ruled as a mob. In this period nearly 8 million people were killed. |
|
In 1969 Mao declared the Cultural Revolution to be over, although the official history of the People's Republic of China marks the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976 with Mao's death. In the last years of his life, Mao was faced with declining health due to [Parkinson's disease]? and acted passively as various factions within the Communist Party mobilized for the power struggle that would come after his death. On one side was the [Gang of Four]? who wanted to continue the policy of revolutionary mass mobilization. On the other side were the rightists? led by Deng Xiaoping who wanted to follow more pragmatic policies emphasizing pragmatism and deemphasizing Marxist ideology. |
|
The ideology surrounding Mao's interpretation of Marxism-Leninism, also known as Maoism, had influence around the world among some left-wing radicals in the 1960s, and in various third world revolutionary movements such as Peru's Shining Path. In mainland China many people still considered Mao a hero in the first half of his life, but that he became a monster after he was in power. Many blame all those killings on his failure to control the mobs of the Red Guards instead of accusing of him plotting the deaths of millions of people. Same is true for the deaths due to the famine. |
|
The ideology surrounding Mao's interpretation of Marxism-Leninism?, also known as Maoism?, had influence around the world among some left-wing radicals in the 1960s, and in various third world revolutionary movements such as Peru's Shining Path, most of whom regard the Deng Xiaoping reforms to be a betrayal of Mao's legacy. The official view of the People's Republic of China is that Mao Zedong was a great revolutionary leader who made serious mistakes in his later life. In mainland China many people still considered Mao a hero in the first half of his life, but that he became a monster after he was in power. However, in an era where economic growth has caused corruption to increase in mainland China, there are those who regard Mao as a symbol of moral incorruptiblity and self-sacrific in contrast to the current leadership. |
![[Home]](wikipedia.png)