Transcript Document 7350647

Mao Zedong and Communism
in China
WWII
• A large portion of WWII was fought in
Asia.
• Many Asian countries had to be rebuilt
after the war.
• Many countries experienced a change in
government after WWII.
Leaders of China
• Mao Zedong– Leader of the Chinese
Communist Party
(CCP)
• Chiang Kai-shek– Leader of the Chinese
Nationalist Party
(Kuomintang/ KMT)
Mao Zedong and China
Mao Zedong (Before WWII)
• Mao Zedong came from a peasant
background.
• In 1918 he began working at the Beijing
University library, where he studied Marxist
ideas.
• Marxism is a political philosophy that focuses
on class struggle.
• The ultimate goal is to have a classless
society.
• The basic ideas for communism came from
Marxism.
Mao Zedong and the CCP
• In1921, Mao joined the Chinese Communist
Party.
• The CCP was formed because many young
Chinese were unhappy with the Kuomintang,
or the Nationalist Party, which headed the
government.
• The KMT could not control the robbers and
thieves who roamed the countryside.
• Also, the KMT could not improve agriculture
as many Chinese faced famine.
CCP & KMT
Chinese Communist
Party
Kuomintang/ KMT
(Nationalists)
Mao Zedong and Civil War in China
• The formation of the CCP was inspired
by the recent communist revolution in
Russia.
• For a few years the two parties tried to
work together.
• But in 1929, the KMT (Nationalist
Party), led by Chiang Kai-shek,
attempted to wipe out the Communists.
Mao Zedong and Civil War in China
• A civil war began
between Mao and
his communist
followers and the
Nationalist
government.
The Long March
• In 1933, Mao’s 100,000 troop Red Army
faced defeat by the 700,000 troop
Nationalist Army.
• The Red Army retreated towards the
mountains, beginning its dangerous
journey called The Long March.
• The troops marched 6000 miles to avoid
capture.
The Long March
• After about a year, Mao and his 6,0007,000 survivors settled in caves in
northern China.
• Chinese Communists today look at the
Long March as a symbol of Mao’s
dedication to his cause and to the
Chinese people.
The Long March
China and WWII
• In 1937, Japan invaded China.
• The Japanese set up a puppet state- a
Chinese leader would be the head of the
government, but the Japanese government
would make all the decisions.
CCP & KMT
• This invasion
brought the KMT
and CCP together
(Lucknow Pact!!).
• The two parties put
aside their
differences and
worked together
against Japan.
Japanese Occupied Lands During
WWII
China after WWII
• The Japanese surrendered on
September 2, 1945, but peace did not come
to China.
• The KMT and CCP began fighting for control
again in a civil war- CCP won
• October 1, 1949- Mao Zedong, the leader of
the Chinese Communist Party, established
the People’s Republic of China.
The Great Leap Forward
• Mao tried to
reorganize all of
China along
communist lines:
• Factories and farms
would be owned
collectively.
• Private ownership
was eliminated.
The Great Leap Forward
Production Quotas were
set for agriculture and
industry.
Society would be
classless--everyone
would be treated
exactly the same and
no one had more than
anyone else.
• In 1958, Mao instituted
the Great Leap
Forward.
The Great Leap Forward
• This was a series of
policies that Mao
thought would help
China make positive
changes, becoming
equal to the leading
powers of the West.
• Mao believed the
power of the
peasants would
make this work.
Great Leap Forward Propaganda
Great Leap Forward Propaganda
The Great Leap Forward
• He decided to
organize all farms into
large collectives,
where all ownership
and decision-making
would be in the hands
of the government.
• Because they didn’t own
anything themselves,
they had little reason to
work very hard.
The Great Leap Forward
• Several crop failures followed.
• Sometimes peasants even lied about the
amount of grain that had been produced
rather than admit they hadn’t made their
quota.
• A massive famine resulted.
• Millions of people died throughout China.
• The Great Leap Forward was abandoned
in 1960.
How Mao thought China would look
after the Great Leap Forward…
What China actually looked like for
millions of people during the Great
Leap Forward
The Cultural Revolution
• After the Great Leap Forward failed,
farmers and factory workers tried to create
some private ownership again.
• Mao saw his classless society ideal failing.
• Realizing that there was still a large gap
between the educated elite in the cities
and the peasants in the country, Mao’s
response was to begin The Cultural
Revolution in 1966.
The Cultural Revolution
• The Cultural Revolution was Mao’s attempt to rid
China of anything that encouraged class
differences.
• The Cultural Revolution attacked education,
religion, private ownership, and anything from
the west.
• Mao permitted the destruction of books, artwork,
religious temples, and anything that was
connected to China’s past or foreign ideas.
• Mao urged students to leave school and help
“clean up” China.
The Cultural Revolution
• Many of these
students were
organized into a
military group called
the Red Guards.
• It was their job to
find and remove
anyone who was
preventing China
from becoming a
classless society.
The Cultural Revolution
• Schools and universities were closed.
• Mao discouraged old Chinese cultural ideas.
The Cultural Revolution
• Teachers, artists, and writers were sent to
the countryside to do hard labor.
• The Cultural Revolution was a time of
great chaos in China.
The Cultural Revolution
• Many innocent people
were killed or
committed suicide
during it.
• It lasted 10 years and
only ended when Mao
died in 1976.
Buddhist statues and ritual objects in the
Jokhang Temple destroyed by the Red Guards.
Underneath a
portrait of Mao
Zedong, the banner
reads: "Completely
destroy the old world!
We shall be the
master of the new
world."
China After Mao Zedong
• After Mao’s death, Deng Xiaoping was
named China’s new leader.
• Deng had been with Mao since the Long
March, but his ideas about communism in
China were more moderate.
• He allowed farmers to own some of their
own land.
• He allowed some private business.
China After Mao Zedong
• Deng opened China to foreign investment
and technological advancements.
• Deng realized, unfortunately, that foreign
trade opened up China to western
influence.
• Western ideas new to China led to a
series of student protests in 1989.
Tiananmen Square
• The biggest of these protests was led by
10,000 students in Beijing’s Tiananmen
Square.
• The students were protesting corruption in
the Chinese government.
• They called for a move towards democracy.
• The students raised a statue called “Goddess
of Democracy,” modeled after the Statue of
Liberty.
Goddess of Democracy
Tiananmen Square*
• June 4, 1989- The Chinese government
ordered soldiers to break up the
demonstration in Tiananmen Square.
• They opened fire on the students,
destroyed the Goddess of Democracy
statue, and arrested thousands of people.
• The brief pro-democracy movement in
China was ended.
Summarize…
• 1 Paragraph each describing each of the
following:
– Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek
– The Long March
– The Great Leap Forward
– The Cultural Revolution
– Tiananmen Square