The Winding down Flashcards
Describe the ‘Up to the mountains and down to the villages’ campaign.
18 million RG were sent to “cool off” in the rural areas and the countryside
Those RG with connections with senior people within the CCP were quickly taken back to the cities and it slowly dawned on the remaining young people that they were exiled in the countryside permanently. This created a lost generation, disillusioned with politics
Those sent to rural areas were not welcome, peasants resented the RG who had never done manual labour in their lives and now had to share food and shelter.
Propaganda made it out that to be selected for this was a privilege and that it was a chance to learn through serving the people through manual labour
What happened to education during the winding down?
Schools and universities remained closed as young people travelled across the country as part of this ‘rustification campaign’. This was in line with Mao’s negative attitudes to education, he advocated education through practical means and school would only make you “more and more stupid” Those RG with connections with senior people within the CCP were quickly taken back to the cities and it slowly dawned on the remaining young people that they were exiled in the countryside permanently. This created a lost generation, disillusioned
Describe the rise and Fall of Lin Biao.
Mao’s attempts to de-radicalise the CR did not please Lin, he had worked so hard to whip up such violence that slowing down seemed counter-intuitive. He used the PLA and the little red book so effectively to enhance the cult of Mao and was pleased with the removals of Liu and Deng, but noted that Zhou still stood in his way.
Lin was perhaps the winner of the CR, he was named successor however he tried to reinstate the post of head of state. Mao saw this as a threat to his own power and feared a military coop.
Lin tired to escape desperately and his plane crashed and he was denounced, accused of working with the USSR
the death of Lin was troublesome for the regime as Lin was always depicted as Mao’s closest ally, he had done so much to contribute to the cult of Mao but was now a traitor, for the first time, people doubted the regime.
Describe the 1st return of Deng
Mao became very ill and was clear he was on his last legs. All his old friends had either been purged, were sick or dead leaving modern bureaucrats who were self interested. He called on Deng to return and re-establish normality.
In 1975, he was picked to join the standing committee of the politburo and appointed PLA chief of staff.
Deng supported a program named the “Four Modernisations” which focused on agriculture, industry, defence and science. Crucially, this trust in modern technology was the opposite of Mao’s ideas of mass mobilisation however they proved successful and Deng knew that the people longed for pragmatism and normalcy.
What did the Gang of Four do after Deng’s first return?
Mao now supported Deng over any of the other candidates loyal to Jiang. In a desperate attempt to seize power in 1973 she launched the criticise Lin, criticise Confucius campaign. Intellectuals were forced to find links between Lin and Confucius but clearly the targets were in-fact Deng and Liu who posed the most direct threat to Jiang’s power. The campaign failed the people saw through her self interested political motives.
Deng was then removed from power despite the failure of Jiang’s campaign, she still had enough influence at the top to brand him a counter - revolutionary and a rightist. He was banished to a pig farm in the south.
What happened post Mao?
Mao died on the 9th of September 1976 and named Hua Guofeng as his successor. A little known bureaucrat, he was chosen as he made an enemy of neither the pragmatists or the ideologues.
Jiang resented Hua and was rumoured to be planning a coop. Hua had her and the gang of four arrested and subjected to Nuremberg like trials.
Deng returned to Beijing and quickly undermined Hua, becoming Chinas Paramount leader. Deng proclaimed to “be rich is glorious” and took China down the capitalist road that Mao had fought so hard against.
