This was mostly carried out as an attempt to further instill fear within the Party, and to remove anyone that Mao considered to be a potential rival. Mao used the Red Army as his tool for the 'Cultural Revolution' relying on the ideologies of the young members to drive them on (Rogaski, 2007).
Through 'The Cultural Revolution', members of the Red Army were given the permission to create chaos and lawlessness across the country. In effect this created a similar situation to that which had been the case with governments under the Qing Dynasty, which brought China around full-circle. In the end it can be seen, therefore that Mao did not succeed in removing the corruption which he had aimed to rid the country of, but in fact created huge losses of life in his attempts to do so.
During 'The Cultural Revolution' Mao elevated himself to the status of a demi-god, with the 'Little Red Book' containing all of Mao's thoughts on Communism forming a type of Holy book. Despite no longer being the chairman of the official party of the country he was still the supreme leader of the country by 1970 due to the tactics of violence which he employed in removing all adversaries ("Mao Zedong: Hero and Villain, 2005).
Although Mao managed to remain in power through a great deal of adversity within the country, the vast majority of this was through Mao's own design (Spence, 1998). Even the periods for which Mao had not planned, such as the periods of famine, were a direct result of Mao's controversial policies and should have been obvious if Mao had thoroughly thought through his actions. A book by Chang and Halliday (2005) was written regarding extensive interviews which were conducted with those who had met Mao, and involved a large number of people from 35 different countries. The book reports that Mao's intentions to his actions were completely egoistic, and that the pretence of acting on behalf of the peasant's was simply a tactic to gain ultimate power. The book claims that those who knew Mao recognized that he was extremely skillful in recognizing the strategies which would be successful in gaining him power. He recognized at an early stage that the peasants outnumbered the other members of the population in a massive way, and were therefore the key to gaining power,...
Moreover, in the wake of the Shanghai massacre, the more radical idea that Chinese communism should actually pursue its own independent path began to take root. For example, while Mao continued to favor the creation of soviets (councils) and the land redistribution policy, he began to militarize the dialogue by highlighting the need to arm the masses and accelerate the process of change through the creation of a wave-like
China has held within its territorial lines three ways of thinking that aided the Chinese in creating a way of life and culture. The three ways of thinking include: Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. These three philosophies and/or religion promoted peace, balance, hard work, and most importantly, how to lead a good life. Although they promoted positive aspects of society, Confucianism was a way of thinking that held women at a
Active defense is a real defense and passive defense is a spurious defense by Mao Zedong Active defense Active defense can be simply explained as a defense launched with an objective of counter attacking the enemy. Passive defense Passive defense can be defined as defending for the sake of it. Analysis: Mao Zedong, in explaining active defense, referred it to as offensive defense, or defending through resolute engagements (Mao, 1965). In referring to passive defense Mao
Often, he was proven correct in his decisions despite opposition, but his tactics were questionable at the least. The first decade or so of Mao Zedong's rule, as neatly overviewed in the first essay of MacFarquhar's book, paints a picture of Mao that in large measure incorporates both of the extreme visions tat persist about him today. There is the brilliance and wisdom with which many of his decisions are
China Under Communism, Confucian values, considered vestiges of the old feudal system, were supposed to have been completely swept away. Judging from what you have read from the readings, do you believe Confucianism completely disappeared after 1949? Confucianism is the philosophical and ethical system of belief based upon the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius. The core belief of Confucianism was humanism which is the belief that human beings can change, adapt,
During his first few months in Paris, Marx became a communist and put forth his views in a plethora of writings known as the Economic and philosophical Manuscripts, that remained unpublished until the 1930s. It was also in Paris that Marx developed his life long association with Friedrich Engels. (Karl Marx, 1818-1883) At the end of 1844 Marx was debarred from Paris and with Engels migrated to Brussels. In the
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