Attacks on Mao's political and class enemies Flashcards
what key figures where attacked by Mao?
Liu Shaoqi, Deng Xiaoping and Lin Biao
How were Deng and Liu attacked
President Liu secretary Deng were removed from post for ideological reasons due to their pragmatic approach Mao was not convinced the future of the revolution was safe in their hands.
by late 1964 Liu was accused of taking the capitalist road and Deng of acting independently
once the cultural revolution and Mao’s influence had risen by October 1966 they were both formally dismissed and propaganda by wall posters denounced them for betraying the revolution
Liu and was forced out of his home by a mob who beat him and forced him to undergo struggle sessions before being imprisoned as he had diabetes and contracted pneumonia he died November 1969
Deng was also subject to public humiliation and put into a corrective labour camp due to his links to Zhou he was rehabilitated into the party in 1973 but his son was paralysed after being thrown off an upstairs window by red guards
how was Lin Biao attacked?
Lin was the head of the PLA and a loyal supporter of Mao.
Lin had become too popular due to the 1969 amendment to the constitution naming Lin as Mao’s successor
Lin’s support within the party made Mao fearful and Mao thought Lin would combine his political and military power to undermine Mao
firstly Mao undermined Lin’s allies, arresting Chen Boda forcing him to self criticise and reorganising Lin’s allies in the military away from him
(This is where story gets weird) official events state that Lin and his son were planning to assassinate Mao and seize power but the plan was discovered as Lin’s daughter told Zhou Enlai and Lin and his entourage attempted to flee and take refuge in Russia only their plan crashed in Mongolia killing all on board.
strangely the news of Lin was not realised until 1972 a year after the incident jiang Qing accused Lin of being a spy
Statistics on CCP members who were purged?
due to Mao’s campaign to bombard the headquarters
9 of 23 politburo member kept their positions,
4 of 6 regional first secretaries were purged,
around 70% of provincial and regional officers were purged
2/3 of the central committee of 1966 had been purged by 1968
20% of party officials were purged, 3 million cadre sent to cadre school to reform involving torture
when did Mao reconstruct the party
October 1968
how did Mao reconstruct the party?
a new revolutionary committee was then set up comprising of red guard, PLA and existing CCP officials to run shanghai
on October 1968 a central committee meeting was called stating the success of the cultural revolution and expelling Liu from the party
April 1969 declared cultural revolution was over
what were the main 2 changes to the party after the cultural revolution ended in 1969?
increased influence of the PLA, 2/3 of congress 45 of central committee and 1/2 of politburo were all member of the PLA
Mao had more control over the party due to newcomers who were easy to manipulate
how were ‘capitalist roaders’ and foreigners purged in China?
staff of factories, offices, shops and schools were labelled as capitalist roaders and subjected to scrutiny as their way of life was seen as bourgeois
this caused fall in industrial production by 13% in 1967
even after red guard were disbanded capitalist roader pursuit continued extending into the countryside accounting for 100,000 deaths
British embassy in Beijing, staff were attacked
in the Chinese embassy in London staff rolled out with sticks and machetes to stage a demonstration
