Mao Zedong Red Guards

Words: 540

Pages: 3

Open Document

Mao Zedong was the founder of the People’s Republic of China, the ruling Chinese communist party. He ruled from the day he founded the party in 1949, until his death in 1976. Late in his rule, during 1966, Mao began the Cultural Revolution in China. This revolution was started in order to “purge the nation of the "Four Olds": old customs, old culture, old habits and old ideas.”(asianhistory.about.com) The start of the revolution consisted mainly of students. Students in elementary school and older joined the revolution and organized groups called the “Red Guards.” These groups focused on destroying everything from the pre-revolution China. Buddhist temples, churches, mosques, texts, statues and many other things the represented the pre revolution were destroyed. The Red Guards gathered up people who were …show more content…
These students were told to fight people who opposed the revolution, and the People’s Republic of China. These students were striving for the China that Mao was advertising, a classless society. He preached of a China where all people would work together to better the country, and everyone would be equal. Mao was so convincing that each separate group of Red Guards truly believed that they were the ones who were going to save China and create a better society. This ended up with Red Guard groups fighting each other and attacking foreigners. The British Embassy was burned down during one of these attacks. Mao began to lose control of the revolution that he had started. Zhou Enlai, the foreign minister of the People’s Republic of China, was seen as the figure that brought the revolution under control. He urged the students and other revolutionaries to return to the normal state that they were in before the revolution. His removal from the party in 1968 was seen as enough to calm down Mao, and allowed things to return to

Gang Of Four Analysis

China was to make better Mao Zedong’s political career and to reassert his authority over the Chinese government. One thing they did in order to accomplish this was to launch a social political movement called the Cultural Revolution. This movement helped Mao’s political career because one of the things it did was destroy the belief system which by doing this the Chinese people were without a belief system and were more easily swayed to…

Words 849 - Pages 4

Mao Zedong Case Study

Citation Lynch, Michael. "Mao Zedong: Liberator or Oppressor of China? (Cover Story)." History Review, no. 43, Sept. 2002, p. 10. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ulh&AN=7245819&site=ehost-live. Date September 1, 2002 Research Notes Quotations: “The worship of Chairman Mao Zedong was extreme, but it was not wholly irrational. It was a recognition of what he had achieved for China. Those many millions of Chinese who ritualistically intoned 'Mao, Mao, Mao Zedong' saw him as the supreme…

Words 1644 - Pages 7

How Did Mao Zedong Affect China

Mao Zedong said, “Communism is not love. Communism is a hammer which we use to crush the enemy.” Mao Zedong was the leader of the communist party in China for forty-one years. He began to rise to power in 1921, not officially recognized as the leader of the Communist party until 1935. Although he wasn’t officially in power during World War Two, he still had an impact on it. Mao had many political campaigns, things he did well, as well as a lasting effect on modern day China. However, many people…

Words 1473 - Pages 6

How Did Mao Zedong Rule

Under Mao Zedong’s rule a total of 45 million people had died, being the most amount of deaths ever caused by a single individual. A dictatorship is a form of rule as a supreme figurehead that involves the complete installation of the dictator’s thought and rule within the country. This definition applies to the dictator Mao Zedong, as he was the supreme socialist leader of China whose rule had beneficial and consequential effects, solely based on his individual choosing over the implementation of…

Words 2113 - Pages 9

Analysis: Dimensions Of The Romania

|Dimensions of the |Romania – Mr. Ceausescu |China – Mao Zedong | |Dictator's Dilemma | | | |Installation of Fear |- Fear of the secret police- the Securitate |- fear of repression and hunger | | |(arbitrary arrest…

Words 348 - Pages 2

Mao Zedong and the Chinese Revolution Essay

In 1949 a powerful communist leader by the name of Mao Zedong came to power based on his idea for a, “Great Leap Forward.” This idea was meant to bring China’s economy into the twentieth century. He had assembled a revolutionary government using traditional Chinese ideals of filial piety, harmony, and order. Mao's cult of personality, party purges, and political policies reflect Mao's esteem of these traditional Chinese ideals and history. However, the product of this revolution created a massive…

Words 1579 - Pages 7

Essay on Revolution: Chairman Mao Zedong

by Mao Zedong. Mao alleged that bourgeois elements were infiltrating the government and society at large, aiming to restore capitalism. He insisted that these "revisionists" would be removed through violent class struggle. During that time, people was arrested and killed by various stupid reasons such as reading forbidden books and disrespect the Chairman Mao (although it was actually a reason which does not exist), and the only book they can read is the book Quotations from the Chairman Mao Zedong…

Words 1181 - Pages 5

The Red Guards Film Analysis

In 1966, a social-political movement was started in the Republic of China by Mao Zedong, the leader of the Chinese Communist party at that time (“Introduction to the Cultural Revolution”). Mao Zedong became motivated to start this revolution because he strongly feared that the Party officials were starting to forget about the Communism values (“Introduction to the Cultural Revolution”). Due to his ideological thinking, he always believed that whatever ideas that he came up with were the real truth…

Words 1401 - Pages 6

Gangs Of Four Influence

for the barbarous Cultural Revolution that occurred in the late 1960s by the Red Guards. In 1969, Jiang became a member of the Politburo, the highest level of government in China. As Mao grew sicker, his wife, Jiang Qing became more influential at the forefront of the Gang of Four. Jiang Qing’s increasing control over…

Words 740 - Pages 3

Mao's Red Guards Chapter Summary

Mao rallied the peasant class behind him and his communist cause. Peasants were tired of being marginalized by the government that they decided to fight under Mao. Mao promised them freedom and real, but as time progressed change came at a cost. Many Chinese starved when Mao enacted the Great Leap Forward, although it was meant to do good for the Chinese people it did the opposite. Following the Great Leap Forward Mao’s Cultural Revolution began. Mao’s Red Guards harassed the people and the…

Words 1238 - Pages 5