communism in china
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Communism in China. The Chinese Civil War. Dates: 1927-1937 and 1946-1950 (with a pause to fight the Japanese) Two sides Communists (CCP), led by Mao Zedong Nationalists (KMT), led by Chiang Kai-shek October 1, 1949: Mao declares the People’s Republic of China. Maoism. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Communism in China
The Chinese Civil War
Dates: 1927-1937 and 1946-1950 (with a pause to fight the Japanese)
Two sides Communists (CCP), led by Mao Zedong Nationalists (KMT), led by Chiang Kai-shek
October 1, 1949: Mao declares the People’s Republic of China
Maoism
Version of Marxism adapted to Chinese conditions
Rural peasants as revolutionary class
“Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun”
The Great Leap Forward
Date: 1958-1961 Ambitious plan to modernize and
industrialize China’s economy Organized villages as communes –
everything was collectively owned Move towards industrializing the
countryside – “backyard furnaces”
“Strike the battle drum of the Great Leap Forward ever louder” (1959)
“The grain belongs to the granary. Don’t waste even one piece of food!”
“The vegetables are green, the cucumbers plump, the yield is abundant”
“The future of the rural village”
“More pigs, more fertilizer, higher grain production”
In your notebook: Based on these posters, what do you think was the result of the Great Leap Forward?
Results of the Great Leap Forward Quotas were completely unrealistic Commune leaders overstated production
numbers, for fear of punishment Prioritizing industry over farming led to
massive famine Estimated to cause between 20 million and 45
million deaths Communist Party abandoned the Great Leap
Forward in late 1960
The Cultural Revolution
Date: 1966-1976 Attempt to restore
Mao’s control over China and the Communist Party
Targeted intellectuals, political opponents, anyone with wealth…
Ended with Mao’s death in 1976
Results of the Cultural Revolution
Terror induced by overzealous “Red Guards”
Millions of people forced into hard labor
Tens of thousands of executions
Removed most of Mao’s political enemies from power