Mao Zedong and China:
Origins and Rise to Power
IB History: Authoritarian and Single-Party States
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About the Unit
Authoritarian/Single-Party State = A government controlled by a single
political party and/or regimes that defend their political or economical
control by keeping all of society passive.
Authoritarian/Single-Party States developed and operated throughout
the 20th Century (1900-2000) and we will study three examples.
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Hitler and Nazi Germany (Fascism)
Mao Zedong and China (Communism)
Stalin and the Soviet Union (Communism)
We will study these examples through four areas:
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Origins (how did they begin)
Ideology and Nature (what beliefs did they promote)
Establishment (how did they get power)
Policies and their impact (what they did and the effects)
Origins and Rise to
Power
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Mao Zedong took advantage of China’s lack of unity, political instability, and
domination by foreign powers to gain support from the people of China
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In the early 1900’s China was not politically unified, was not politically stable, and parts of
it was dominated by foreign powers that controlled rights and privileges to land.
China became a nation with a representative government in 1912, but the government
(Nationalist) was ineffective and regional warlords continued to be powerful and operate
independent of the government until 1928.
The Chinese Communist Party was established in 1921, but Mao and the party were not
powerful. In fact they actually cooperated with the government (Nationalists) on occasion
before they took power in China.
Mao and the Communist Party eventually established their own military (The Red Army),
and established their presence in a region of China where they operated as a
government and implemented policies, such as land reform.
Following World War II (also known as the Second Sino-Japanese War) in 1945 the Mao
and the Communist fought a civil war against the Nationalist Government and won
control of the country in 1949.
Mao Zedong
Communist
Leader
Chiang Kai-Shek
Nationalist
Leader
Logo of Chinese
Flag of the
Communist Party Republic of China (Nationalist)
China and Mao:
Ideology and Nature
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Mao’s communist ideology was shaped by his families experience and the teachings of
Yang Changji, Li Dazhao, and Karl Marx, but when put into practice they were
destructive instead of accomplishing their intended goals
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Mao’s ideology was shaped by his upbringing as a peasant and the scholars Yang
Changji and Li Dazhao who introduced him to ideas about strong leadership and
communism.
Mao joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1921, but he was not the leader or
spokesperson because his ideas differed from others in the party.
Mao’s ideology became more defined as he became more involved in teh Chinese
Communist Party:
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Marxist Beliefs: Revolution lead by lower class people
Chinese Beliefs: Importance of Peasants, 2-Stage Revolution, Mass mobilization
and volunteering, continuous revolution, self-criticism/correction, ruthless
determination, Mao’s thought center of all actions
Once Mao was in power his policies were implemented and they were destructive rather
than strengthening China as a whole and the lives of the Chinese people individually.
Karl Marx
Yang Changji
Li Dazhao
Considered one
of the origins of
communist
ideology
Teacher of Mao
Zedong,
promoted
democracy and
strong leadership.
Teacher of Mao
Zedong and
founder of the
Communist Party
of China
Summary
• Mao Zedong took advantage of China’s
lack of unity, political instability, and
domination by foreign powers to gain
support from the people of China
• Mao’s communist ideology was shaped
by his families experience and the
teachings of Yang Changji, Li Dazhao,
and Karl Marx, but when put into
practice they were destructive instead
of accomplishing their intended goals