The Rise and Rule of
Mao Zedong
{
IB 20th Century Topics

Referred to as Chairman Mao
Chinese communist revolutionary
 guerrilla warfare strategist
 author
 political theorist
 and leader of the Chinese Revolution.
 He was the architect of the People's Republic of China
(PRC) from its establishment in 1949, and held
authoritarian control over the nation until his death in
1976.
 His theoretical contribution to Marxism-Leninism,
along with his military strategies and brand of
political policies, are now collectively known as
Maoism.

Born in 1893
 His father was a poor
peasant who was able to
become a landowner and
businessman
 Received a basic
education and learned a
lot about political and
economic problems in
China (e.g. widespread
famines)

China As Mao Was Growing Up:
Problems With the Manchu Dynasty
The emperors were not strong leaders, which
trickled down to other government officials, who
were incompetent
 Heavy taxes were put on the people
 Large disparity between the rich and poor
 Widespread poverty
 Gov’t officials accepted money and gifts for
political appointments
 Foreign countries had spheres of influence where
they dominated

Moved to City 1918 Quickly became a strong believer in
Communism and edited radical magazines, organized
trade unions, and started schools of his own.
 Became one of the 50 founding members of the Chinese
Communist Party
 Failed in his early attempts to be a leader in the Party and
his role in Party activities was decreased dramatically
 Inspired by Communist revolution in Russia

Mao went back to Rural China
 He learned peasants financial
situation and the ways they were
being abused by the landowning class
 Rose again as a leader in the Party,
where he advocated that peasants
should lead the revolution

Mao Zedong forms
Communist Party
 New Nationalist leader
Jiang Kai-Shek
 1927 Northern
Expedition eliminate
Communist
 This essentially starts
the war
Was a military retreat of Mao
and his Red army to avoid
Nationalist
 Retreat to rural Northern
Areas
 In these territories they gain
peasant support and rebuild
red Army
 Long March helped place
Mao in a position of Power
 After he would become
leader of Communist

The Long March 1934-1935
Mao Zedong- becomes leader of Chinese Communists during the
“Long March”
-advocated land reform & tax reform = gained peasant support
Result: - peasants joined Communists
- many join Red Army (Communist Army)
- could resist Nationalists
“[A] great many so-called intellectuals are
actually exceedingly unlearned . . . The
knowledge of workers and peasants is
sometimes greater than theirs.”
 “Books cannot walk, and you can open and close
a book at will; this is the easiest thing in the
world to do, a great deal easier than it is for the
cook to prepare a meal . . . [or] for him to
slaughter a pig.”

The Chinese Civil
War
Chinese Civil War
 Kuomintang or Guomintang
Nationalist vs CCP Communist
 1927-1937 Initial Civil War
 1937-1945 Stop to fight the
Japanese
 1946-1949 Communist Victory

Chinese Civil War
continues after WWII
1945-1949
Communist
 Mao Zedong- Red
Army
 Rural areas Northern
China
 -USSR SUPPORTspread com
 -Rural and poor
supported

Promise land for all
Nationalist
 Jiang Kai Shek Control Cities in southern
China
 -USA SUPPORT- capitalis
 Wealthy supported
Stronger Red Army won
Civil War -2 Chinas
1.Republic of China (Nationalist)- moves to Island
of Taiwan
-US support
2.Peoples Republic of China (communist) -1949
lead by Mao Zedong
Create alliance with USSR
 China expands-1950’s China takes Tibet,
Mongolia, parts of India

Relationship Between Leadership
and the Masses

Mao developed a program of contact
with the masses that became known
as the “mass line”. :
Investigating the conditions of people
 Learning about and participating in
their struggles
 Gathering ideas from them
 Creating a plan of action based on these
ideas and concerns


It was a powerful tool of
propaganda. By 1945, the
communists had reached 100 million
people and the mass line was carried
to the people by 1 million members
Mao became the chairman of the
Communist Central Committee
 All the leaders in the party praised him and
encouraged people to listen to his wisdom
 In 1943, several leaders in the Party began to
rewrite Chinese Party history so that Mao
would be seen as responsible for all the
advances of the Party


“The Chinese Communist Party takes Mao Zedong’s thought –
the thought that unites Marxist-Leninist theory and the practice
of the Chinese revolution – as the guide for all its work, and
opposes all dogmatic or empiricist deviations.” ~Preamble to the
Constitution of the Communist Party
Communist have full control by1949
 Mao’s ideas formed the basis for all
Party activities and government
decisions
 They took control of the media and
the education system and began
taking land away from the wealthy
and distributing it among all people

Mao’s Domestic Policy
{
1. Collectivization
1950’s- gave land to peasants live and work on
together
 Wealthy had land taken
 Private companies were nationalized.
 Those who refused to give land were executed
or sent to work camps
 Communes were created where entire
community would work land together

2. Great Leap Forward
In January of 1958,
five-year plan
 Planned to develop
agriculture and
industry

Attempt to modernize China
 People were forced to grow grain and melt
metals down to produce steel

Given quotas to reach or they would get
punished
 Lied about quotes and actually under
produced food

Led to widespread famine and death
 Damaged Mao’s reputation

Great Leap?
Hoped to catch up to
England and surpass
America
 Unproven and unscientific
new agricultural techniques
were implemented
 Under this plan the economy
nearly collapsed

Great Leap Backward
The entire country were forced to recycle steel,
and food reserves were depleted
 Millions of people died, mainly due to famine

Mao needed a comeback
 He organized students and mobilized them throughout
the country to spread his ideas and wipe out anyone who
tried to contradict him
 He created an extremely effective propaganda campaign
that again brought him back to power.

The Cultural Revolution
1966-1976
 Mao’s tactic to
secure his power
against reforms
 Red Guards
were formed in
1966

The Red Guards

Red Guards were a
mass movement of
civilians, mostly
students and other
young people in China
were mobilized by Mao
Zedong in 1966 and
1967, during the
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution
Red Guards to attack the 'Four
Olds' of Chinese society (old
customs, old culture, old habits
and old ideas).
 Old books and art were
destroyed,
 museums were ransacked,
 streets were renamed with new
revolutionary names
 Many famous temples, shrines,
and other heritage sites in
Beijing were attacked

Cultural Rev Con’t
Forced bureaucrats, professors,
technicians, intellectuals, and
other non-peasants into rural
work
 It is estimated that seven
million were killed during the
decade
 China’s economy suffered



DISCUSS
WHY DID THE CHINESE GOV AND
ECONOMY FAIL DURING THIS PERIOD?
Mao’s Foreign Policy
Supported and funded Communist
Revolutions
 Funded N. Korea in their attack on the
south
 Sent 300,000 troops to fight for N Korea
 Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia

Support of Foreign
Revolutions

1950 Signed Sino-Soviet Treaty of
Friendship and Alliance


Mao trusted respected Stalin
US and USSR
Relations
1953 Stalin Dies USSR under
Khrushchev starts De-Stalinization





China Losses Respect of USSR
Conflict over what form of communism to
spread
China Denounce USSR for Cuba
USSR denounce China for attacking India
1968-69 Border Crisis
Bad Relations Between USSR China
 Shanghai Communiqué 1972 US and
China begin Communications

Mao’s
Opposition
Mao never really
succeeded in destroying
entire opposition
 Mao set up a Chinese
Gulag - an empire of
slave labor camps filled
with poorly fed
"counterrevolutionaries."

Mao’s Death Counts

Under Mao Murdered 40
million or more
The majority of Mao’s
killings were because of
man-made famine
 Mao executed nearly 10
million educated
professionals, and others

Mao’s End
At the age of 82, Mao died
September 9, 1976
 After his death there was a
power struggle in China,
but eventually moderates
came to power and Mao’s
regime came to an end
