Captivating History - The Cultural Revolution: A Captivating Guide to a Decade-Long Upheaval in China Unleashed by Mao Zedong to Preserve Chinese Communism

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The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was begun by Mao Zedong, the chairman of the Communist Party of China, as a means of quashing capitalism in China. He wanted to ensure that the desire for a communist government would remain strong in the country long after his death. Like other previous leaders who attempted to continue to rule after their death, his attempt did not work out quite the way he had planned.

Over the course of a decade, from the summer of 1966 to 1976, Mao Zedong implemented a number of changes that have led him to be known as one of the most brutal tyrants of the modern age. It is estimated that between 500,000 to two million Chinese people, although numbers can go as high as twenty million, died as a direct result of Zedongs Cultural Revolution. It also resulted in millions of people being imprisoned, displaced, and tortured in an attempt to cement Mao Zedongs reputation as the leader of the communist world.

By 1966, the enthusiasm for the new form of government that had helped Mao Zedong rise to power had begun to wane. People had become disillusioned, as the economy was in bad shape and the promises that had been made had not come to fruition. Much like communism in Russia under Joseph Stalin, only a few people at the top had actually benefited from the changes.

Mao Zedong had hoped to recapture the enthusiasm that had been lost and to consolidate his own power as the head of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Accusing an unseen group of capitalists as being the problem within the nation, he began to persecute anyone who he believed held capitalist ideals or anyone who stood against him. This included people within his own party who were attempting to help the economy recover. The declaration for the Cultural Revolution was made on May 16 th , 1966, and it formally began in August of the same year.

What was really unique about Mao Zedongs method of suppression was that he used the youth of the country to remove his opposition, similar to the way the members of the National-Socialist German Workers Party, better known as the Nazi Party, had risen in power in Germany several decades earlier. Through the formation of a group called the Red Guards, Mao Zedong attracted the young to his cause, particularly those who lived in cities. Not only were the young people meant to find anyone who showed signs of being bourgeois, but they were also tasked with finding anyone who did not show adequate support for Maos Cultural Revolution. With little oversight and little evidence required to condemn the people they brought forward, this led to the torture, persecution, and execution of millions who had done nothing wrong. Essentially, the Red Guards caused anarchy around the country, particularly in the cities where many of them operated.

When the Red Guards were finally brought under control, the terror did not stop as officials now continued the reign of fear. As panic gripped the people and Mao Zedong became ever more fearful of losing power, other top Chinese officials rose and fell from power.

The Cultural Revolution probably would have continued beyond a decade if not for the death of Mao Zedong in September of 1976. As he had been the primary leader behind the revolution, once he was removed, the enthusiasm and will to continue the program ceased. Ironically, one of the reasons he had begun the Cultural Revolution was to cement his place in Chinese history and to extend his power beyond the grave. Instead of maintaining his position as he had hoped for, Zedong suffered a similar fate as his Russian counterpart, Joseph Stalin. Following Stalins death, Nikita Khrushchev became the chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union. Khrushchev began condemning Stalin and pushed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, better known as the USSR or simply the Soviet Union, in a different direction. Mao Zedong had hoped to create enough support and fervor that his people would not allow for such a turn against him. He and the other members of the Gang of Four, who had allowed for and encouraged the atrocities of the Cultural Revolution, ceased to control the government. Following Mao Zedongs death, the Cultural Revolution almost entirely ceased. In August of 1977, the Cultural Revolution was officially ended during the 11 th National Congress.

The Cultural Revolution not only caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands to possibly millions of people, but it had also completely disrupted the economy. The economy had been in trouble when the Cultural Revolution began, and following a decade of terror and financial neglect caused by the megalomania of a few officials at the top, China had a long way to go to recover. Millions of people had been displaced from their homes, making recovery particularly difficult. Once the threat was ended, the Chinese leaders who had originally followed Mao Zedong began to embrace capitalism over communism.