Key Questions on China

What were Mao's motives for subjecting his people to the Cultural Revolution?
- Reassert his authority over China and the CCP,waging a war against the old and replacing it would the new would help the communist ideology in CCP.

What concerns did Mao have about the younger members of the CCP?
- That they were not strong enough because they had not suffered anything to tremendous in their lives, as Mao's generation had.

How did Mao intend to preserve the peasant character of the revolution?
- By leading the revolution around them, because he favored the peasant class and sought revenge for the other classes that he despised.

Why were Deng and Lui attacked?
- Because Mao saw them as revisionists and losing the Maoist ideologies. So once Mao denounce them, they were constantly and brutally attacked by the CCP.

Why did China's young people prove so willing to follow Mao's lead?
- Mao was able to use psychology in the education to essentially teach the younger people that they held a special role in making the society better and a new world order of socialists would emerge from this.

What methods did the Red Guards use to terrify the population?
- They were trained to insult and abuse their parents and teachers. A lost of respect and were obedient to their new master...MAO. They destroyed Chinese history; irreplaceable artifacts and arts.

What tactics were used to break the will of those arrested?
People were manhandled and humiliated in front of everyone. Red Guards also sent people like doctors and teachers to "struggle sessions".

What statistics illustrate the scale of destruction of China's ancient culture?
4922 of Beijings' 6843 "place of cultural or historical interest"

What role did the PLA play in the cultural revolution?
They encouraged the PLA into having students and workers fighting and revolting. They were also used to keep the people that participated in the revolution in control.

How were the energies of troublesome Red Guards diverted in another direction?
Mao urged them to move into the mountains with peasants and learn the traditions of peasants etc.

How did the experience of the younger people in the countryside affect their altitude towards Mao and the cultural revolution?
They began to doubt Mao and why they were fighting in the revolution.

How was ferocity of the Cultural Revolution maintained after the dispersal of the red Guards?
It was worse because the CCRG and the PLA took over and cleansing began.

How much of the blame attaches to Mao for the horrors of the Cultural Revolution?
It was Mao's idea however the plans and motivates were carried out by Jiang Quing because Mao decided to go underground again.

In what scene was the Lin Biao affair a turning point in the Cultural Revolution?
He gained more support and a bigger influence of the government which caused a threat for Mao which showed that Mao could loose control.

What form did the plot take?
The plot failed because the sister of Lin Biao leaked details about the assassination attempt on Mao which caused Mao to be be guarded and put safety away.

What consequences followed from Lin Biao's disgrace?
After his "disgrace" the people worried about who they could trust and had doubt to all government officials and what they could say.

Why did the intensity of the Cultural Revolution lessen 1972?
- A general uncertainty in the party about the ailings Mao's true intentions
- the effect of the Lin Biao affair which led to a rethink in the CCP about how severe its policies should be.
- An unacknowledged recognition by the party that the points made by critics such as Tu Deyong were an accurate description of the harmful effects of the Cultural Revolution.
- The wish to impress the USA, whose president, Richard Nixon, made an official visit to the PRC in 1972.

How did Lin Biao's fall benefit Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping?
Enlai proved that he could hold the party together through the hardest part of the Cultural Revolution. Also he was a outstanding international statesman in the 1970s. Xiaoping "capitalist roader" helped him, and helped him fight the opposition.

What does the Cultural Revolution indicate about Mao's character and personality?
He couldn't carry it on his own, and caused him a lot of paranoia. Mao had the ideas but couldn't carry out them out on his own without the help of other people and he was forced to drive them with his enthusiasm.