The Cultural Revolution - The Red Guards and Red Terror Flashcards
Mao’s hold on young people
• Younger people where more likely to believe in the cult of Mao
• Indoctrination through education
• ‘Dare to rebel against authority’
Why did young people join the Red Guards?
• Some were children of party cadres
• Offered a chance of glory for revolutionary heroism
• Students could advance their careers
• August 1966 restrictions on ‘black elements’ lifted, gave themselves names such as ‘Protectors of Mao Zedong thought’
• Black element wanted to overcompensate for their family background
Cult of Mao
• Total and unthinking commitment to Maoist thought
• Mao was near- divine and worthy of worship ‘The east is red’ song became an unofficial anthem
The mass rallies of 1966
• Big character poster of Tsinghua University in July 1965 entitled ‘ Long live the proletarian revolutionary spirit of rebellion! ‘
• ‘ Bombard the headquarters ‘ message to attack party HQ in August 1966
• Invited students from around China to come to Beijing with help of the PLA
• Rallies held in Tiananmen Square from August to November
Red Guards attacks on the ‘Four Olds’
• Mao launches four olds campaign in August 1966
• ‘Four olds were being used by exploiting classes to corrupt the masses’
• Red Guards told to ‘ put daring above everything else ‘
• Attacked visitors to restaurants and surgeons, changed the name of roads and signs
• Zhou Enlai had to step to stop extreme change such as renaming of Beijing to ‘ East is Red City ‘
Cultural Destruction
• Temples, sculptures, statues and artefacts were destroyed and defaced
• Confucian texts were burned
• One third of libraries had closed
• Zhou Enlai had to send PLA to protect forbidden city
• Shandong temple attacked by 200 red guard
• Hai Rui burial site was defaced and Wu Xun body was exhumed
Tibet
• Destruction was particularly widespread in Tibet
• All aspects of Tibetan culture was targeted
• Statues were defaced
• Buddhist scriptures used as toilet paper
The use of terror
• Autumn and winter 1966 violence from red guards spread out of control in the ‘ red terror’
• Party members, landlords and businessmen were subject to torment
• ‘class enemies’ sent for ‘re-education’
The growth of anarchy
• Maoist indoctrination forced rival red guards to turn of each other
• Radical groups sprung up in anarchic and uncoordinated attempts to join the violence
January Storm
• Underprivileged red guards destroyed party establishment in Shanghai and created their own commune
• Modelled of Paris commune of 1871
• 30 December 1966 100,00 of these radicals attacked and defeated 20,000 scarlet guards from the local party
February adverse current
• February 1967, Zhu De (PLA commander) and Chen Yi (foreign minister) protested against Mao encouraging chaos
• Mal criticised them and dismissed their complaint as ‘February Adverse current’, flowing against revolutionary tide
Further violence
• Wuhan, summer 1967, army sided with local party and arrested radical red guards
• Led to clashes between red guards and PLA
• Members of the government flew to Wuhan to criticise PLA, but were kidnapped
• In August rebels seized foreign ministry in Beijing
Revolutionary committees
• September 1967, Mao called for creation in provinces of new organisation called revolutionary committees
• Merged role of party, state and army
Restoration of order by the PLA
• 1968, Mao realised only the PLA could curtail the violence
• PLA were ordered to crush red guard and re-establish the control of the central party
• PLA launched a massive wave of violence led by PLA unit 8341
• 1.84 million were arrested for being ‘bad elements’
End to the violence
• Violent phase of CR ended at Ninth party congress in April 1969
• Lin Biao was named as Mao’s successor
