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Mao Zedong's Legacy
Mao Zedong was the paramount leader of China from 1949 to 1976. Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party came to power after winning the Chinese Civil War. He was able to galvanize his people through propaganda as he was not only relatable but elevatable. He was well known for promoting woman equality, providing access to health car, and improving the literacy rate. [https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mao-Zedong] -
The Great Leap Forward
The Great Leap Forward was Mao Zedong's attempt to introduce the Communist ideology to China in early 1958. He wanted to target manufacturing and agriculture and matchup with competitors like Soviet Union and the United States. Although the first year showed substantial growth, the revolution ended with a famine as tens of millions died of starvation. The whole campaign ended in 1961 although the famine continued until a year later. -
The Great Leap Famine
The Great Leap Famine was from 1959 to 1961 as a result of the failure of the Great Leap Forward. China suffered from serious flooding and unharvesting. Over 40 million people died from starvation as agriculture and steel production plummeted. Some people went cannibalistic and actually killed and ate each other. as Mao and the Communist Party hid this information from the rest of the world as many deny it even happening to this very day.. -
Mao Takes a Back Seat
After the failure of the Great Leap Forward in 1962, The Nationalist Party takes over China. While being sidelined, a great supporter of his, Lin Biao, compiles all of Mao's quotes into one book as it was labeled the "Little Red Book". This book became a valuable artifact during the Cultural Evolution. -
Cultural Revolution
Starting in 1966 after coming back into power, Mao tries to reestablish his supremacy by starting the Cultural Revolution. His goal was to deter anyone that opposed communism using coercion. Schools were shut down as children were mutated and galvanized into a group called the Red Guards. They beaten and killed intellectuals and anti-communists. They wore red bicep bands and got their ideologies from "The Little Red Book". This continued for 10 years until Mao Zedong died on September 9, 1976. -
Mao Zedong dies
Mao Zedong dies of Parkinson's disease at the age of 82. This led to the end of the Cultural Revolution as he was known as one of the most influential leaders of 20th century China. [http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/chairman-mao-dies] -
Deng Xiaoping and the Four Moderns
After Mao died, Deng Xiaoping became leader of the People's Republic of China. He was known for starting an economic revolution that contradicted communism and enstating the One Child per Couple Policy to stabilize the population. In order to do that, he established the Four Moderns which targeted the four biggest industries which were Agriculture, Industrial, National Defense, and
Science and Technology. He died from Parkinson's disease in 1997. [http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/deng.htm] -
Tienanmen Square Massacre
On the night of June 4, there were serious student-led protests in Beijing at the Tiananmen Square as protesters wanted more of political and economic reforms. They specifically had protests on price inflation, government corruption, and called for any communist leaders to resign for being over-repressive. Chinese troops opened fire as hundreds to thousands of people died overnight. [http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/tiananmen-square-massacre-takes-place]
