Mao Zedong - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... Mao was raised as a peasant in a small village called Shaoshan in central China2. As a young man, Mao trained as a teacher; a profession that saw him serves briefly as a librarian in a university in Beijing. Mao was an avid consumer of Marxist literature, which instilled the policies of literature to the young scholar3. Mao would later lead the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as a founder member in 1921. A troubled alliance with Kuomintang Party (KMT) turned problematic when the communists turned against the CCP forcing Mao to flee with many of his supporters to establish an alternative operational base. The second merger between CCP and KMT was primarily based on the need to engage the Chinese who posed a threat on the Chinese territory. Problems would later emerge between the two eventually culminating into a civil war. The outcome of the civil war favored the communists forcing the nationalists to KMT to flee. It was in 1949, after the civil war the Mao Zedong established The People’s Republic of China. Although the Chinese, at first, embraced the party, Zedong would later convert it into an oppressive edifice that was impatient with all forms of rebellion. The communist experimentation included the nationalization of all industry and the forcing of formers into some collective groups. The communist leader then sought to customize his own brand of communism, which he thought would be Chinese in orientation4. Instead, he only succeeded in plunging the country into famine through the retrogressive policy well known as The Great Leap Forward. The failure of his style of politics mark the beginning of his decline in popularity as the people increasingly pulled back their support even as the regime vigilant against oppression. Some of the policies that collapsed during The Great Leap of Labor included his dream for mass mobilization of labor. This led to a decline in food production as the country grappled with the resultant famine. Following the rising death toll that resulted from the drive, the regime was forced to abandon the project. Multiple issues engaged the attention of the regime’s critics. The emerging political reality led to the growth of dissidents who had to flee as the regime became increasingly intolerant to popular opposition. One of the strategies by which Mao sought to quell internal dissent was by the introduction of Cultural Revolution. The ruthlessness that followed, which included the use of the army led to the death of many dissenters. The introduction of the Little Red Book marked the fervor with, which Mao Ze Dong sought to impress communist ideals within his own people5. The book marked an important part in the history of Marxism and the Chinese were forced to internalize the ideals, which were customized, summarized to suit the tastes of Mao Ze Dong as he wanted them. All Chinese were forced to carry the book and normally failure to comply was usually considered as a mark of treason. It is believed that police arrested thousands of Chinese people for non-possession of the book. One of the most notable periods during Mao’s time was the Gang of Four. They comprised of Mao Zedong’s wife, Jiang Qing and some of three most trusted colleagues.These were Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, Wang Hongwen. These four were accused later after Mao’s death of systematically manipulating the structures of the Communist Party and the famous Cultural ...Download file to see next pagesRead More