Notes 2/26/09

7th period notes:

¯ After the Communists realize how much of a flop the Great Leap Forward turned out to be, they re-analyzed the structure of their actions. Their moves to change included the return of private farms, and communal farms either diminished in size or were taken away.
¯ Mao, who had been demoted from his position as head of the Communist party, gets the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on his side and launches an attack in 1965. This attack is called the “Cultural Revolution.”
Factors that contributed to this Cultural Revolution included:
¯ Mao’s hostility to the growing power of the moderates. He allowed two of his followers, Liu Shaoqi and Dang Xiaoping to try market-oriented policies. Dang Xiaoping also was important in the move to return land to the peasants. They revived the economy, and though they were successful, Mao was upset because it did not follow Communist principles.
¯ Policy disputes within the leaders at the top of the Communist party. The leadership is diverse and argues much about policy; not everyone listens to Mao.
¯ Concern among older Maoist followers that the young generation did not understand the principles of Communism and are losing passion for Communist China.
¯ Mao’s wanting to take control.
The characteristics of the Cultural Revolution included:
¯ Attempts to glorify Mao and his ideas
§ The little red book of his sayings was popular with the peasants
¯ In the media, they claimed that he was vigorous in spite of his age and swam six miles in one hour per day.
¯ The purge of moderate and bureaucratic leaders, including Shaoqui (the person who replaced Mao) and Xiaoping
§ Thousands of people are arrested and killed
¯ Effort to mobilize mass actions and get enthusiasm for the old revolution.
§ Jiang Qing forms the Gang of Four in Shanghai; they take control of the Western influences in Shanghai and cleans the media of anything other than Mao.
¯ Manipulation of public opinion
¯ The Cultural Revolution began in 1965 with media attacks on Communist leaders who opposed Mao. It emphasizes service to society and struggle.
§ A band of thugs called the Red Guard create violence in the streets and are puppets to Mao and the Gang of Four; they allow the Red Guards to use weapons and kill.
¯ In late 1967, Mao realizes the Cultural Revolution has gone too far and attempts to gain control of the Red Guards. He is unable to, so he calls in the PLA to restore order and shut down the Red guards. It takes them around three years to completely settle the violence.
¯ 1969 brings the Cultural Revolution to a close, it brings an end to violence and dirty politics
¯ Prior to 1970, a coalition of three major groups forms the leaders of the Communist party. By 1970, they all compete to be in the lead and the Communist party tries to decide
§ One group is Mao, the gang of Four, and his followers
§ Another group is the military, PLA (people’s liberation army
§ The last group is the small number of remaining moderate administrators and bureaucrats
· This is led by Xhou Enlai, who emphasizes the need for economic development and promoted limited Western influence
· In 1973 he announces the Four Modernizations to improve the economy and sets development programs to modernize agriculture, industry, national defense, science, and technology.
¯ This coalition proves to be unstable and a coup is led against Mao
¯ Lin Biao, Defense Minister, tried to escape to the USSR but his plane crashes; this takes the military out of Communist leadership
¯ Mao dies in 1976, which takes him out of the scene; the Gang of Four, however, still remains.
¯ Hua Guofeng took over for Mao as head of the Communist party and purges the Gang of Four.

¯ After the Cultural Revolution, the coalition broke up.
¯ China has to overcome the effects of no intellectual development of a decade; everything gets put on hold for the Cultural Revolution. There is a new emphasis on achievement over ideological purity in the Communist party; those who are technically competent have the primary qualifications for running the country.
¯ The economy take top priority, and Xiou Enlai becomes important.
¯ He dies in 1977, which clears the way for Dang to emerge as a strong advocate for modernization and the breaking of Maoism; he was an outspoken critic of the Cultural Revolution.
¯ In Dec. 1978 decisions are made in the Communist party that repudiated Mao’s ideas; there is a clean break from Maoism and the Communist party removes Goufeng from leadership, allowing Dang to come to power.
¯ In China, one can be the real leader and not hold a role as head of the party or government.
¯ The use of material incentives, market forces and de-centralization results in the greatest economic boom in China’s history.
¯ Agriculture takes off first, and farmers are given discretion; the result is a grain surplus, which is an unusual problem.
¯ There are similar results in industry, which begins to boom; there is tremendous growth in the economy. Private businesses are allowed to develop, and foreign investors are allowed too, which is very different from the old Communist rule.
¯ By 1990, over 400,000 private businesses have developed
¯ Back in the 80s, the economy was opened to foreign investment before Mao died
¯ When they realized how beneficial foreign investment was, they allowed it and used SEZ to control it; by 1979 four had been set up. These were special economic zones that were cut off to Chinese businesses and had their own special taxes. By the mid 1990s the market and foreign investment had spread to most of urban China. The relations between foreign and Chinese investors take off and the new slogan is born: GET RICH.
¯ This refers to the mixing state/government planning with independent planning in the market economy; there are still some government owned industries, it is not completely privatized.
¯ Four main indications of Dang’s impact on China:
¯ Under Dang’s influences, the higher education system is re-vitalized; the best and brightest students used to be sent to other countries.
¯ Another important aspect of Dang’s influence is that he decentralizes the economy.
¯ Dang tolerated limited private enterprises.
¯ Dang encouraged talented technicians to join the Communist party; as long as they were talented, they were welcomed. He attempted to recruit these people.An important cleavage can be recognized in the people’s reaction to the reforms. One group wants more reforms, another wants to put an end to the reforms. The latter group is made up of old Communists.