Transcript Mao Zedong mao 2016

Mao Zedong or
Mao Tse-tung
 Founder of the
People’s
Republic of
China
 1893-1976
Background
 Born in 1893 in Hunan
Province to peasants
 Joined 1911 Revolution
against Qing Dynasty
emperors
 Believed that revolution
had to start with peasants
 Studied Marxism. One of
original members of
Chinese Communist party
Early Battle for Power
 Communists fought against Nationalists
(Kuomintang) led by Chiang Kai-shek
 Nationalists purged and executed Communists in
1927 and continued to try and get rid of
Communists through the early 1930s
 Mao and his group had escaped first purge and
settled in Jiangxi province
1927
 “The force of the peasantry is like that of the raging
winds and driving rain. It is rapidly increasing in
violence. No force can stand in its way. The
peasantry will tear apart all nets which bind it and
hasten along the road to liberation. They will bury
beneath them all forces of imperialism, militarism,
corrupt officialdom, village bosses and evil gentry.”
-Mao Zedong
Early Battle for Power
 Because of Nationalist
pressure, Communists had
to flee.
 Long March. 100,000 fled
Nationalists going over
6000 miles and 18
mountain ranges. Under
10,000 finished. Mao
emerged as leader.
WWII
 Communists
united with
Nationalists against
their common
enemy, Japan,
between 1937 and
1945
Mao’s strategies
 Tried to win the respect of peasants.
Introduced program of land and tax reforms.
Listened to problems of peasants and got
support of peasants.
 Tried to pay for food, respected women and
helped repair war damage
Mao takes power
 Eventually, Communists win this civil war against
the Nationalists
 Nationalists, still led by Chiang Kai-shek, flee to
Taiwan and establish a government, the Republic of
China, there. 13,000 square miles.
 Mao proclaims the People’s Republic of China in
1949. Mainland China. 3.5 million square miles
 United States refuses to recognize the Communist
government on the mainland
Early years
 Brings education and health care to peasants
 Redistributes land. 10% of rural population
owned 70% of farmland. Mao seized this
land and killed about a million landlords
who resisted. Gave land to peasants.
 For many, life economically improved
Early years
 Millions executed or imprisoned who disagreed
with the revolution or who were landlords or seen
as exploiting peasants
 1950-51 took control of Tibet.
 Rigid controls on the press and educators
U.S. view
 Strong anti-Communist feelings in the
United States
 Saw Communist government of China
as another step in Communist desire to
take over the world
Five Year Plan
 Focused on economic growth, modernizing
quickly, rapid buildup of industry and land
reform
 Nationalized private companies
 Achieved some economic success
 Output more than doubled in heavy
industry and agriculture production
increased.
Great Leap Forward
Begins in 1958
 Moved people from
small farms to huge
communes. By end of
1958, 26,000
communes. Average
commune had 25,000
people. Communal
dining, dormitories
and childcare.
 Demanded huge grain
production increases
Great Leap Forward
Great Leap Forward
 Crop failures
caused famine
 From 1959-1961 as
many as 20-30
million Chinese
died as a direct or
indirect result of
the Great Leap
Forward
Source
 "Mao Zedong." World History: The Modern Era. ABCCLIO, 2014. Web. 5 June 2014.
 Mazour, Anatole Gregory, and John M. Peoples.
World History: People and Nations. Austin: Holt,
Rinehart and Winston, 1993. Print.