China 2.3 Flashcards
(152 cards)
1
Q
What did Mao refer to Deng Xioaping and Liu Shaoai as?
A
‘Capitalist Roaders’
2
Q
What did the Cultural Revolution reflect?
A
It reflected Mao’s determination constantly to renew the revolution by involving each generation in defending and extending it.
3
Q
What was Mao?
A
Mao was an ideologue and was uncomfortable with the new measures because it meant admitting that his vision of a revolution in the countryside, through mass mobilisation and the Communes, had failed.
4
Q
To Mao, what were Deng and Liu’s reforms?
A
To Mao the measures were a form of revisionism and began to see advocates of the pragmatic approach as ‘capitalist roaders’.
5
Q
Where did the divide become more apparent?
What did Liu argue in 1964?
A
The divide between ideologues and pragmatists had become more apparent after the 7000-cadre conference. In 1964 Liu argued for a reduction in the power of the Party cadres in the countryside.
6
Q
What was Deng’s view on economic policy?
A
Deng - it did not matter if a cat was black or white; as long as it caught the mouse, it was a good cat.
7
Q
What view did the pragmatists take?
A
They were critical of mass mobilisation and argued that China should pursue a more conciliatory foreign policy, with both the USA and the USSR considering the state of the economy.
8
Q
What did Mao launch in 1963 and why?
A
Mao launched the Socialist Education Movement in 1963 - preached the virtues of a collective economic approach and aimed to root out corruption among the rural cadres - Mao wanted this to be a mass mobilisation campaign.
9
Q
What did Mao draft in February 1963?
A
In February 1963 Mao drafted the ‘Early Ten Points’ that proposed that the masses should be mobilised to criticise corrupt Party cadres.
10
Q
In Autumn 1963 how did Deng Xiaoping go against Mao?
A
In autumn 1963 Deng Xiaoping revised this plan in a document called the ‘Later Ten Points’ that ruled that any disruption should be kept to a minimum and that middle-class peasants should not be attacked.
11
Q
How did Liu disrupt Mao’s campaign?
A
Under Liu’s direction the campaign however became centrally controlled and discipline was restored by Party work teams who dealt with corrupt elements themselves. Thousands were executed for economic crimes.
12
Q
Why was Mao unhappy with this?
A
Mao was unhappy as the methods used lacked the ideological element of class struggle.
13
Q
What did a report by the Party’s Propaganda department in March 1960 say?
A
Report by the Party’s Propaganda department in March 1960 warned against the use of Mao’s writings to explain various achievements like medical breakthroughs.
14
Q
What did Liu say about the ‘Thought of the Mao’. And publicly what did Party leaders say about Mao Zedong Thought?
A
Liu, ‘Thought of Mao’ should not be used in propaganda that targeted foreign audiences. Party leaders publicly stated that Mao Zedong Thought should not be said to surpass Marxism-Leninism.
15
Q
How did Mao feel?
A
Mao complained he was ‘treated as a dead ancestor’ - shown respect but fundamentally ignored.
16
Q
How was Liu’s cult of personality growing and rivalling that of Mao?
A
When Liu was re-appointed President in 1965 there were portraits of Liu hanging in Tiananmen Square on his own, without Mao. Liu’s cult of personality was growing and rivalling Mao’s.
17
Q
Why was the quest for permanent revolution a reason for launching the cultural revolution? Why did Mao see this as the reason the Cultural Revolution targeted the younger generation?
A
Mao was worried that the revolution (the gains made since 1949) should not lose impetus and thus mass mobilisation would directly involve people in campaigns.
Mao was aware the younger members of the Party had not yet been seriously tested and were too young to have taken part in the Long March, Civil War or terror campaigns. They needed to have direct experience of revolutionary struggle in order to make them identify with it, to prepare them for what Mao saw as the inevitable future war with the West and ultimately sustain the gains of the revolution.
18
Q
How was attacks on the bureaucracy a reason for launching the Cultural Revolution?
A
Mao feared that the new bureaucracy was becoming a self-satisfied elite, motivated only by the privileges of power whilst exploiting the masses. They had to be purged for a permanent revolution and before they lost touch with the masses.
But it was these urban intellectuals who had been most critical of the Great Leap Forward, and so the Cultural Revolution is partly an act of vengeance against them as well as an attempt to restore purity to the revolution.
19
Q
Why did Mao have to attack his opponents indirectly?
A
The pragmatic policies that had replaced the Great Leap Forward had been successful and popular and Liu, Deng and Zhou were powerful and popular so Mao had to be subtle.
20
Q
What was ‘Hai Rui Dismissed from Office’?
A
Written by Wu Han, tale of a loyal official during the Ming era who was critical of the Emperor for not preventing the corruption of state officials and was then dismissed.
21
Q
How did Mao possibly perceive it?
A
Play could have been perceived as an attack on Mao with comparisons with the dismissal of Peng Dehuai.
22
Q
How did Mao remove two of Liu and Deng’s key allies as a result?
A
In 1965 he organised a negative review to be published, written by a loyal supporter (Yao Wenyuan). Wu Han was deputy mayor of Beijing, under Mayor Peng Zhen who also was the Politburo member responsible for Culture. Peng Zhen first defended Wu - eventually both were forced to resign (right-wing ‘revisionists’). Mao had successfully got rid of two key allies of Liu and Deng.
23
Q
At the Party Conference of 1964, how did Mao attack Liu and Deng?
A
At the Party Conference of 1964 Mao openly accused Liu of choosing the ‘capitalist road’ and alleged that Deng was trying to run an independent kingdom. Liu and Deng had too much support in the Politburo for Mao to confront them head on so attacked them indirectly, through Wu Han later on (1965).
24
Q
What was the Central Cultural Revolution Group (CCRG)?
A
A seventeen-member sub-committee of the Politburo was given the task of directing the Cultural Revolution. It was dominated by ideologues.
25
Who was in the CCRG?
Chen Boda - Mao’s propaganda chief - a colleague of Mao’s since the Yan’an days and was a key creator of Mao Zedong Thought. He headed the CCRG and collaborated with Lin Biao in putting together The Little Red Book.
Yao Wenyuan (Go4) - the writer of the article attacking Wu Han.
Zhang Chunqiao (Go4) - Party Secretary of Shanghai (both sent to Shanghai during the January Storm, as Mao’s allies)
Jiang Qing (leader of Go4) - Mao’s fourth wife and most influential of the group. Only entered into Politics during the Lushan Conference but became Mao’s ruthless cultural enforcer during the Cultural Revolution, the terrifying ‘Madame Mao’. She bitterly attacked anyone whom she believed was not sufficiently loyal to Mao Zedong Thought.
26
Wall poster campaign.
Who?
Where?
What?
Why?
In May 1966 the Politburo approved the targeting of counter-revolutionaries in the Party, and then Kang Sheng went over the heads of the rest of the Party leadership to begin the wall poster campaign in Beijing University, in order to stir the students into action.
27
What was the result? How did Liu and Deng try to resolve it?
Student protests spread nationwide and Liu and Deng sent out work teams intended to direct students’ criticisms away from the Party in general.
28
How did this further alienate Mao?
It further alienated Mao because it ran counter to his wishes, a rectification campaign from below, and not discipline instilled from above.
29
Who were the CCRG meant to be answerable to?
What was the ‘Red Flag’ and what did it declare?
The CCRG ran the PRC’s cultural policy and was meant to be answerable to the Politburo. Through the control of media and propaganda the Party’s own journal, the Red Flag, declared counter-revolutionaries were ‘the most dangerous and the main enemy’.
30
How did Mao remind the country he was still powerful and influential?
In July 1966 Mao came back to politics with his highly publicised swim in the Yangtze at Wuhan. Propaganda reports claimed that Mao at 72 years old swam nearly 9 miles in 65 minutes - a world record. Not only did this demonstrate he was physically ready for the showdown, but choosing Wuhan (the site of the 1911 uprising) was a reminder of the revolution and the republic’s birth.
31
How did Mao launch the Cultural Revolution?
Mao then returned to Beijing, first time since November 1965, and forced Liu and Deng to make self-criticisms before the Central Committee for their error in sending in the university work teams. Both were accused of being ‘spearheads of the erroneous line’.
32
What did he direct in August 1966?
In August he directed the Central Committee to announce the ‘sixteen-point directive on the Cultural Revolution’.
33
Why did Mao target the younger generation?
Plunging the young generation into revolutionary activity would help ensure the long-term survival of communism in China and Mao had also valued their dynamism during the ‘antis’ campaigns and the Great Leap Forward.
Young people were also the most likely to believe in the cult of Mao and they were able to be indoctrinated by the education system he controlled.
They also had little recollection of his failures during the Great Leap Forward, nor did they blame him for the famine.
34
What did Mao specifically say to students in May 1965?
‘Dare to rebel against authority.’
35
Why did young people join the Red Guards?
Having been regaled by their parents with stories of revolutionary heroism, Mao offered them a chance at glory.
Pragmatic careerism played a role - students whose employment opportunities were hindered by a lack of Party connections or were children of ‘Black Elements’ took the chance to remove senior communists from the hierarchy and prove their loyalty to Mao.
Anyone wearing a red guard armband could board a train for free. Some used this as an opportunity to cheer on Mao at Beijing whilst others took the chance to travel across the country, moved by curiosity.
36
How did Mao successfully manipulate young people?
Mao’s successes in manipulating the young owes much to the efforts in developing his cult of personality and to his understanding of mass psychology.
37
What did Lin Biao commission in 1964 and who was made to read and adhere to it?
In 1964, Lin Biao commissioned the publication of a collection of Mao’s famous statements and ordered every soldier to read it and adhere to it.
38
By when had carrying the Little Red Book become a social necessity?
By 1966
39
How many Little Red Books were in circulation?
750 million
40
What did one disabled person claim about Mao Zedong Thought?
One disabled person declared that learning Mao Zedong Thought had enabled him to walk again.
41
How and when did the groundwork for the cult begin?
Groundwork for the cult began in 1963 through the publication of ‘The Diary of Lei Feng’ (fabricated by the government’s propaganda department) which emphasised the loyalty towards Mao of the ordinary man, as opposed to the selfish careerism of the bureaucrats who ran the Party and state.
42
What did passengers at train stations have to do before boarding a train? What did office workers need to do each morning?
The regime urged total commitment to Maoist thought. Passengers at train stations had to perform a bizarre ‘loyalty dance’ before they could board their trains. At workplaces each morning people would bow to Mao’s portrait.
43
What became the unofficial anthem?
‘The East is Red’
44
What did the cult allow people to see Mao and the Party as?
The cult allowed young people to view Mao as the heroic figure who freed China and the Party as being infiltrated by counter-revolutionaries who had a different agenda and would be a threat to Mao’s achievements.
45
What is the difference in his support before and now?
Before his cult was genuine through support of popular policies (Korean War, Land reform, etc.) yet now it was a state-sponsored and fabricated one.
46
What happened in July 1966 and how did Mao respond?
July 1966, Red Guards from Tsinghua University, Beijing, sent Mao a ‘big character poster’ (easy and quick to make, could be anonymous and were quick and cheap) to which Mao replied to them personally, writing ‘You say that is is right to rebel against reactionaries: I enthusiastically support you’.
47
What did Mao publish on 5 August 1966?
5 August 1966 - Mao published his own big character poster (Beijing) urging the people to ‘Bombard the Headquarters’ - encouragement to attack leaders of the CCP who, in Mao’s words, had ‘enforced a bourgeois dictatorship’.
48
What happened on 18 August 1966?
On 18 August, Mao’s propaganda chief Chen Boda invited students to attend one of the eight massive rallies, where over one million were packed tightly into Tiananmen Square and were whipped into revolutionary fervour by Mao.
49
What did Lin Biao refer to Mao as and how were the PLA used in the mass rallies?
Lin Biao exalted Mao as ‘our great teacher, great leader, great supreme commander’. He also helped ensure Mao could always rely on the PLA to do his bidding. The PLA transported young people from across the country to Beijing. They arrived wearing ‘Mao badges’ and clutching their Little Red Books.
Ultimately, the army’s logistical support made the rallies possible (transporting in and out of Beijing). Free rail passess also made it easier to attend rallies and indulge in ‘revolutionary tourism’ - the chance to see more of China.
50
What happened in the following days?
In the following days schools and universities remained closed and chaos and violence spread across China.
51
Who was Song BinBin and what happened after?
At the first rally, one of the student leaders, Song Binbin, was allowed to place a Red Guard armband on Mao. The exchange represented to the Red Guards Mao’s personal legitimisation of their radical movement. The first rally also reassured the students that they would have official approval for whatever actions they took.
52
What did Mao launch in August 1966?
August 1966, Mao launched the ‘Four Olds Campaign’ - intention to destroy ‘old ideas’, ‘old culture’, ‘old customs’ and ‘old habits’.
53
Why were the categories kept vague?
These categories were impossible to separate and were kept vague, so that they could be stretched to any element that suited Mao.
54
What were the Red Guards told to do?
The Red Guards had been told to ‘boldly arouse the masses’ but their actions went far beyond that expected by the pragmatic Party leaders (Liu, Deng and Zhou). The Red Guards ignored the orders to allow the chance to ‘turn over a new leaf’.
55
What and who was attacked?
Places and objects representing old-fashioned ideas were attacked. Also attacked Western influences and ‘Hong Kong style’ clothing and hairstyles. Correction stations were set up on street corners and offenders had their heads shaved there.
Houses were ransacked in search of bourgeois possessions, which were dragged out and destroyed. Books considered to have been written by bourgeois authors were burned in street bonfires.
56
What happened to religion during the Cultural Revolution?
Religion fell into an ‘old’ category - attacked to the extent public worship and ceremonies were banned. Clergy who had survived earlier persecutions were rounded up and imprisoned.
57
Who were the Red Guards expected to treat as their new parents?
Young people were urged to treat Mao and the newly cleansed CCP as their true parents, to whom they owed obedience. It was expected children would inform the Red Guards of relatives or parents who clung on to old attitudes.
58
What were children’s names changed to?
Children’s names were changed to Red Glory or Face the East.
59
What road did the British Embassy now stand on?
The British embassy now stood on ‘Anti-Imperialism Road’.
60
What radical moves did Zhou Enlai stop?
The Red Guards even changed the meaning of the traffic lights so that red meant ‘Go’ until, fearing chaos, Zhou Enlai stopped them. He also prevented a move by one Red Guard to rename Beijing ‘East is Red City’.
61
By the end of the Cultural Revolution, how many of China’s 1100 libraries had been closed? How many library books had been lost, stolen or destroyed in 5 provinces alone?
1/3
More than 7 million.
62
Who attacked the Confucius Temple in Shandong?
What was the result?
A priceless cultural relic and the resting place of Confucius himself, was attacked by 200 teachers and students from Beijing Normal University. Personally encouraged by Chen Boda.
Supporters of Confucius were ‘monsters and freaks’.
During their four-week stay, they joined with local activists to destroy 6618 registered cultural artefacts. 2000 graves were defaced. Even then, other Red Guards attacked them for not being efficient in their destruction.
63
Who was Wu Xun and what happened to him?
19th century cultural hero Wu Xun was denounced as a ‘propagator of feudal culture’. His corpse was exhumed from his Beijing grave by middle school students who then broke the corpse into little pieces and burned it.
64
What did one group of Red Guards do to Buddhist statues outside Beijing?
One group of Red Guards took a film crew to record their destruction of Buddhist statues in a monastery in the hills outside Beijing.
65
How was Tibet attacked during the Cultural Revolution?
Every aspect of Tibetan culture was targeted. Long hair was damned as an ‘old custom’ and ordered to be cut.
Local peasants were forced to help attack monasteries and shrines, most were looted or destroyed. Buddhist scriptures were ripped up by the Chinese to use as toilet paper. Before the Red Guards could attack Tibetan culture, Chinese soldiers were ordered to empty the contents of many monasteries of all valuables. They were looted by corrupt officials who later sold them on the international art market.
The Cultural Revolution in Tibet was little more than a greedy attempt to eradicate their entire way of life.
66
Why did intimidation and denunciation of the Red Guards give way to brutality?
What started as intimidation and denunciation gave way to brutality as Red Guards became desperate to prove their ideological commitment. ‘Class enemies’ were sent for ‘re-education’ through physical labour in prison camps.
67
What happened to Lao She?
Renowned playwright Lao She had his house burned down by middle school Red Guards and he was then denounced at struggle meetings. To escape the constant harassment he drowned himself in Taiping Lake in late August 1966.
68
What did Mao describe as more virtuous than order?
Chaos - Red Guards had few restrictions on what they could do.
69
How many bodies did the BaBaoshan crematorium in Beijing have to dispose of in a two-week period in 1966?
2000 bodies.
70
The deaths of how many were the Gang of Four accused of killing during their trial in 1980?
Half a million.
71
Why did rival groups begin to fight and denounce each other?
They were urged on by Maoist indoctrination.
72
What did Mao say about violence within Red Guard groups?
‘Everywhere people were fighting, dividing into two factions’ - Mao. China stood on the edge of a civil war.
73
What did Breslin say about the increased anarchy?
‘What had been unleashed could not easily be re-leashed’ - Breslin.
74
What did Mao propose a toast to at his birthday party in 1966?
‘To the unfolding of nationwide all-round civil war’.
75
Why did the Commune in Shanghai close?
For all Mao’s encouragement, he observed that in Shanghai, ‘There are people who wave the Red Flag to bring down the Red Flag’ - radicals were calling for the abolition of the Party itself and he said, ‘that won’t do’ - he demanded the commune in Shanghai be closed.
76
What denounced Liu and Deng in October 1966 and what did they have to do?
Wall Posters denounced them by name and both were forced to make a self-criticism at the conference.
77
What happened in Shanghai in 1966?
In Shanghai a Workers’ Revolutionary General Headquarters (WRGH) was set up, with the blessing of the CRG, to coordinate radical groups in the city. Supporters of the WRGH were known as ‘revolutionary rebels’. The Shanghai CPC leadership tried to obstruct its development but Mao declared that workers had the right to establish their own organisations and the Shanghai CPC leadership were forced to make public self-criticisms.
They did support the Shanghai Red Detachment, a conservative mass organisation (‘proletarian revolutionaries’), who opposed revolutionary rebels.
78
What led to the collapse of the Party in Shanghai in January 1967?
Strikes across the port and railway network. 3 January 1967 - the revolutionary rebels seized control of the main newspapers in Shanghai. These events resulted in the collapse of the Party leadership in Shanghai.
79
What happened on 5 January in 1967?
5 Jan - the WRGH announced the overthrow of the Shanghai Party Committee and declared the city would be run by revolutionary rebels. With the support of the PLA, the WRGH took over Shanghai.
80
As a result, what occurred during the rest of January?
During the rest of January 1967, rebel groups seized power in seven other provinces, including Beijing.
81
On 23 January 1967, what was created to govern Shanghai?
On 23 Jan it was replaced by the Shanghai Revolutionary Committee, an organisation made up of Party officials, revolutionary rebels and PLA representatives - ‘three in one combination’, Mao.
82
Who was left to create these revolutionary committees throughout the countryside?
This became a prototype for revolutionary committees in other cities. But with the Party in disarray it fell to the PLA to organise and support new revolutionary committees.
83
What was the CRG’s view on the exemption of the PLA from the Cultural Revolution. What did Mao do?
This meant the PLA should remain disciplined and not be subject to struggle meetings.
The CRG believed that no sector of Chinese society should be immune from the Cultural Revolution. Mao issued a directive that prohibited attacks on the PLA.
84
What was the February Crackdown and why did it happen?
In the absence of a clear political leadership, several senior military commanders decide to act on their own initiative against radical groups. February Crackdown - military crackdown in Sichuan and Wuhan used armed forces to suppress radical groups.
85
What was the February adverse Current?
Members of the Politburo began to criticise the Cultural Revolution. This led to a Politburo directive, which imposed limits on the use of force by Red Guards. The PLA was ordered to restore order.
Mao criticised them and dismissed their complaints as ‘the February adverse current’ - they were not flowing against the correct ‘tide’ of revolutionary upheaval. After Feb 1967, the Politburo virtually ceased to function and its powers were exercised by the CRG.
86
What happened in April 1967 and what did Mao say?
In April Mao encouraged further violence when he told the Red Guards, ‘Have no fear of chaos’. This event led the Red Guards into battles with the PLA.
87
What happened in Wuhan in the summer of 1967?
Wuhan summer 1967 - army sided with the local party organisation and was trying to defend itself from the radical Red Guards. The PLA arrested 500 radical Red leaders for attacking the Party.
88
How did the PLA protect military facilites?
The PLA kept Red Guards from seizing the military facilities where scientists were working on China’s hydrogen bomb.
89
What did rebels seize in 1967?
In 1967 rebels seized power over the Foreign Ministry in Beijing for two weeks, claiming ‘proletarian internationalism’ and appointing radical diplomats.
90
When did Mao bring an end to the anarchy and why?
September 1967 - Mao was concerned the anarchy would lead to a challenge to the legitimacy of the Party itself.
91
What did he call for the creation for?
He called for the creation in provinces of a new form of organisation (the revolutionary committee) - ‘three way alliance’ (Party, state and army). Party remained dominant and radicals were represented but never in control.
Committees were actually run by smaller ‘standing committees’ - many previous personnel who had been purged mere months before had not re-emerged to take control of the committees.
92
Why did Mao attack Liu and Deng?
They chose pragmatism over ideology.
93
Why did Mao attack Liu?
Liu’s pragmatic policies helped rebuild China and so he was popular. When Mao had first encouraged students to rise up, Liu had supported the sending of Party work teams onto campuses to control the violence.
94
What happened to Liu?
Liu was subjected to several struggle meetings where he was abused and beaten. In August 1967, Liu wrote to Mao to resign as Head of State, Mao did not reply. Liu was not allowed to die, Jiang Qing ordered him to be kept alive as a ‘military target’, whilst in solitary confinement in his own home.
95
What happened to Liu’s wife and children?
In April 1967, Wang Guangmei (wife), was paraded before a crowd of 300,000 Red Guards at Qinghua University wearing a necklace of table tennis balls (representing pearls) and a fashionable revealing skirt, which she was accused of having worn on a recent trip to Indonesia in order to seduce President Sukarno. She was then sentenced to years of solitary confinement in prison.
His children were sent to work as peasants in the countryside.
96
What did Jiang Qing do in October 1968 against Liu?
October 1968 - she presented evidence to the Central Committee of Liu’s treachery - charged him with betraying the Party and giving information to the CIA in Hong Kong. Evidence was flimsy and dating back to the 1920s. Jiang Qing and Kang Sheng (Security chief) personally interrogated 28,000 people for the information. He was denounced and replaced as successor to Mao by Lin Biao in 1969.
97
How did Liu die? When did he die?
Torture and neglect meant he could no longer speak. Mao had exiled him to Kaifeng, to an empty, unheated building. He developed pneumonia, Mao refused his hospital treatment. He died on 12 November 1968 and was buried in an unmarked grave.
98
How did Mao attack Deng Xiaoping?
His saying about the irrelevance of the ‘colour’ of a policy was a direct affront to Mao’s belief that it was better to be communist than practical. Mao accused him of trying to establish his own ‘Independent Kingdom’.
He was sent to a tractor factory in rural Jiangxi to work.
99
How was Deng’s son attacked?
Deng’s son attempted to escape torture by jumping out of a window, som say he was pushed by Red Guards, leaving him paralysed from the waist down.
100
How did Lin rise to power?
He was just often swept with the tide of events. With reluctance he had agreed to take over as defence minister in 1959, and he was forced to accept elevation in 1966 because the decision was passed by the Central Committee.
101
What was his main role?
Endorsing whatever Mao said. He allowed the radical overthrowing of the PLA and failed to support the PLA crackdowns of the Red Guards in February 1957 just by listening to Mao.
102
How did Mao ending the radicalisation of the Cultural Revolution affect Lin Biao?
Mao’s attempt to de-radicalise the Cultural Revolution brought him into conflict with his most loyal supporter, Lin Biao. He was a key figure in the radicalisation of the movement (Little Red Book and PLA transporting Red Guards). Arguably, Lin did not want the radicalisation to end, he hoped to take power when Mao died.
103
Why was Mao scared of Lin’s power?
Mao also began to be concerned about the power and independence of the army, that Lin might become a Chinese Bonaparte (military dictator). Of the 29 provincial revolutionary committees set up in 1967, 21 were headed by PLA officers. Mao reversed earlier slogans and now declared: ‘Let the PLA learn from the People’ - fearing a military coup.
104
When did Lin realise his position was unstable?
By early 1971 Lin was aware his position was unstable. Lin offended Mao by arriving after him for the May Day celebrations and leaving without speaking to him.
105
What triggered a panic reaction from Lin?
In the second week of September, Mao unexpectedly returned to Beijing, triggering a panic reaction from Lin Biao.
106
What happened subsequently?
Lin and his family reached the jet during refuelling, took off hitting a vehicle realising there was not enough fuel to head South so made for the USSR but crashed in the Mongolian desert, killing all on board.
107
Who did Lin Biao’s daughter tell about the plan?
Zhou Enlai
108
Why was the news released a year later?
The affair removed a rival and a successor. For years propaganda had described him as Mao’s ‘closest comrade in arms’ and no one had done more to spread the cult of Mao. It would be difficult to package the news of his treachery without casting doubt on the credibility of the whole regime.
109
What campaign did Jiang Qing lead in 1973?
Jiang Qing launched an extensive media campaign accusing Lin of being a Soviet spy. The public was called on to ‘criticise Lin Biao and Confucius’ - implying Lin was a modern day reincarnation of Confucius.
110
What percentage of regional level Party cadres were purged?
70-80%
111
_____ out of six of the regional Party first secretaries and ___ of 29 Provincial Party secretaries were removed.
Four
25
112
How many Politburo members survived the purge?
Only 9 of out of 23 Politburo members survived the purge.
113
Between 1966 and 1968, what proportion of the Central Committee had been purged?
2/3
114
What was the purpose of the May 7th Cadre schools and how many were sent?
3 million cadres were sent to May 7th cadre schools. Official purpose was re-education but in reality it meant back-breaking agricultural labour combined with constant study of Mao’s writing. Living conditions were very harsh. Often the work was pointless.
115
How many were killed through beating and torture?
Over half a million.
116
What happened to Peng Dehuai during the Cultural Revolution?
Peng Dehuai was brought back to Beijing and was subjected to endless struggle meetings and beaten at public rallies. He died of medical neglect in 1974.
117
How many of the 29 first secretaries of the revolutionary committees were PLA officers?
21
118
The PLA made up what proportion of the Congress, the Central Committee and the Politburo?
PLA: two-thirds of the delegates to the Congress were members, 45% of the new Central Committee and half of the Politburo.
119
How did the Cultural Revolution affect Mao’s position?
Mao’s control over the Party greatly increased - many veteran members had been purged and replaced by easily manipulatable and naive newcomers.
120
The disruption to the economy led to how much of a fall in industrial production in 1967?
13% fall.
121
In early 1968, what committees were set up by the CCRG? How many deaths were there?
Given the task of eradicating all signs of Capitalism. 100,000 deaths.
122
Did the Red Guards respect diplomatic immunity?
No. Foreign embassies from both capitalist and communist countries were besieged by angry mobs of Red Guards, including Burma, Indonesia and India.
123
How were staff at the British embassy treated?
Staff at the British Embassy in Beijing were manhandled and beaten. The embassy was set on fire.
124
The fact that Mao finally decided to allow the PLA to clamp down on the Red Guards in August 1967 but nearly did this in February suggests what?
Suggests that Mao had always been in control of events.
125
Why did Mao allow the clampdown?
Mao had no objection to the violence of the Red Guards, but they had begun to undermine the army’s role and were inflicting irreversible damage on China’s economic and educational systems.
126
By when were all the 29 provincial committees in place?
What did this prompt the CCRG to say?
September 1968.
The country is now ‘red’
127
How did Mao respond when Red Guards protested that a ‘black hand’ was seeking to suppress them?
Mao admitted ‘I am the black hand’.
128
During the CCRG’s campaign in 1968 to eradicate capitalism by ‘cleansing the ranks;, how many were arrested for being ‘bad elements’?
1.84 million
129
How many Red Guards were sent to the countryside during the ‘up to the mountains and down to the villages’ campaign?
18 million.
130
According to Party propaganda, why was it a privilege to be chosen?
Because it offered them the chance to learn from the peasants.
131
Why did schools and universities remain closed?
This was entirely in keeping with Mao’s negative attitude to academic education and the value of learning from practical experience.
132
Why was this beneficial?
As well as easing urban unemployment, it dispersed many former Red Guards to areas where they would cause less trouble; it reminded them that China’s revolution was based on the peasantry and reinforced the army’s control over the young, since many of the farms were run by the military.
133
Why did this upset the peasants?
Peasants had little food to spare and resented the fact they were forced to help the youngsters who had never done any manual work in their lives.
134
What impact did this have on the youngsters who took part?
The formerly ideologically committed young people were shocked. The so-called ‘lost generation’ became disillusioned about politics and Mao, especially when it became clear that those with Party connections could quickly return to the cities.
135
How did Zhou Enlai use the fall of Lin Biao?
Zhou used the opportunity presented by this uncertainty to renew his call for the Four Modernisations, which he had been advocating since 1963, which included advancement in agriculture, industry, defence, and science and technology.
136
What allowed Zhou to embark on a concerted effort to restore economic production and stability?
A fundamental part was closer links with the West to advance technology - Zhou played the key role in facilitating US President Nixon’s visit to China in 1972.
Encouraged by the Nixon visit and Mao’s continued uncertainty over how to interpret Lin’s behaviour, Zhou embarked on a concerted effort to restore economic production and stability. Chen Yun, while too old to resume work, at least appeared in public to endorse Zhou’s policies. University entrance exams did something to raise standards in education.
137
What slowed Zhou’s progress?
In 1973 Mao swung support behind the CCRG, when he eventually decided that Lin had in fact been a rightist pretending to be on the far left.
138
What did Zhou achieve in 1973?
To bring Deng Xiaoping back. Zhou persuaded Mao and he restored Deng by employing him to help train his newly chosen successor, Wang Hongwen.
139
How quickly did Deng rise?
Deng supported the Four Modernisations, understanding that the people wanted a return to pragmatism. He also led China’s delegation to the UN, to which they had been admitted to in 1971 when they gained US support. He was appointed Army Chief of Staff and appointed vice premier in March 1973. In 1974, he regained his old post as Party secretary and by 1975 he was picked to join the Politburo’s Standing Committee.
140
Who exerted influence on the direction of events after 1968 and who really controlled what happened after 1968?
The radical extremists in the Gang of Four continued to exert influence on the direction of events through their domination of the CCRG, but it was the PLA that really controlled what happened after 1968.
141
How many people lined the streets to pay their respects?
1 million.
142
How did the people revive ancestor worship?
In April, just before the traditional Qingming festival where Chinese people pay homage to their dead ancestors, the people of Beijing began laying wreaths honouring Zhou Enlai
143
Why were the Gang of Four outraged?
Jiang Qing and the Gang of Four were angered because mixed with the tributes were thinly disguised attacks on her and her colleagues, whilst calling for moderate policies.
144
What happened as a result?
The government sent trucks to remove the wreaths, causing tens of thousands to arrive in the square and protest. There were violent and bloody confrontations between riot police and demonstrators before order was restored. This became known as the ‘Tiananmen Square Incident’.
145
What happened to Deng as a result?
The Politburo blamed Deng for organising the Incident and dismissed him from his post as Party secretary. Deng went into exile and waited for events to sort themselves out, hoping he was safe at a distance.
146
What did the demonstration show about the influence that radical extremists held?
While the Politburo’s response showed that the radical extremists still had some power, the fact that the demonstration took place at all puts their declining influence into perspective.
147
When did Mao die?
9 September 1976?
148
Why did Mao replace Wang Hongwen as his replacement and who did he replace him with?
In 1973, he had chosen Wang Hongwen, but by 1975 it had become obvious to Mao that Wang was still too much under the influence of Jiang Qing to be a realistic choice.
Mao handpicked a little known bureaucrat, Hua Guofeng, to succeed him, reportedly handing him a note saying, ‘With you in charge, I am at ease’ - not enemies with pragmatists or ideologues.
149
What happened to Mao’s body?
Mao’s body was embalmed and placed in a massive mausoleum in Tiananmen Square, Hua had ignored Mao’s wish to be cremated in Hunan. 300,000 people filed past as it lay in state but there were few signs of genuine grief.
150
What happened to the Gang of Four?
Jiang Qing was now ignored, instead of being treated with respect. After she criticised Hua at a State Council meeting in July 1976, he decided to act on her and the Gang of Four. On 6 October 1976, the PLA helped arrest the Gang of Four, who made the tactical error of remaining in Beijing instead of Shanghai with their armed supporters.
151
What did Jiang Qing say about herself?
‘I was Chairman Mao’s dog. I bit whomever he asked me to bite.’ She hanged herself in 1991.
152
In 1981 what did the Central Committee approve?
In 1981 the CCP Central Committee approved a resolution which affirmed that ‘gross mistakes were made in the Cultural Revolution’ but Mao’s ‘merits are primary and his errors secondary’ in the proportion of seven to three.
