Essay
How accurate is it to say that the Cultural Revolution was a success for chairman Mao?
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An A* that received 18/20, evaluating the outcomes of the Cultural Revolution
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How accurate is it to say that the Cultural Revolution was a success for Mao? (20 marks)The Cultural Revolution was an internal party purge that broadened into a mass national
campaign to attack anything or anyone seen to oppose Mao. For Mao, success was asserting
his power and authority and continuing the Revolution, which in my opinion, he did greatly. I
will be assessing his success through the use of criteria: how well and how long in time his
ideology was spreaded and supported, any long-term impacts that followed his success, as
well as the people who were affected by his success, and the type of impact.
One reason why I believe that the Cultural Revolution was a success for Mao was because he
managed to spread his power and assert his authority from 1966 onwards. Such ways he did
this was by ordering everyone to carry the “Little Red Book” which was essentially a book
that contained his teachings and things he said. This was a sign that you followed Mao and
his teachings, and those who didn’t carry it were assumed to be a threat to communism. This
helped Mao spread his power as people would be carrying his beliefs everywhere and it
helped remind people that Mao was in charge and they must follow him. Despite some saying
that his wife, Jiang Qing, who was part of the Gang of Four, was technically in charge of the
acts carried out during the revolution, Mao would order them around and tell them what type
of punishments to carry out and who their targets are, so overall, Mao was still greatly in
charge. Another huge part of the Cultural Revolution was the Red Guards, who were the
younger generation, and they would worship Mao, and they carried out 8 mass rallies during
August 1966. For example, over 1 million Red Guards arrived at Tiananmen Square in
Beijing for the rally, and this demonstrates Mao’s god-like personality, and how people
would worship and adore him. The Red Guards also participated in the attack on the “four
olds” - old habits, customs, ideas and culture. Lin Bao, who was leader of the PLA at the
time, ordered the Red Guards to attack anyone who showed any of these. For instance, street
names were changed to reflect new values - the British Embassy in Beijing became Anti-
Imperialist street, and those wearing “western” clothing, such as high heels and “Hong Kong
style” were targeted and correction stations were set up and offenders had their heads shaved.
This was one of Mao’s aims to prevent capitalism, so preventing Western ideas from
spreading his got rid of anything that symbolizes them. This was a huge success for Mao as
his main aims during the Cultural Revolution were spreading his ideology, which he did
through the use of the Little Red Book and attacking the four olds, and continuing the
revolution - part of Mao Zedong Thought - which he did using the younger generation. Thus,
all of these reasons are why he socially succeeded in the Cultural Revolution.
In addition to this, Mao used purges within the Party to assert his power and control. This is
shown through the purges of Lin Bao, Deng and Liu Shaoqi, as well as a purge in CCP
membership. Only 9 out of 23 Politburo members kept their position after the CR, which
infers how Mao felt there was a huge group of opposition and traitors in the Party. Liu Shaoqi
and Deng Xiaoping were dismissed from their posts for ideological reasons. They were both
accused of being “capitalist roaders”, due to their pragmatic approach during the Third Five-
Year Plan. Liu and his wife were dragged from their house and beaten by a mob. Liu was
forced to undergo struggle sessions, before being imprisoned, and Liu contracted pneumonia
and diabetes, but refused permission to go to the hospital and he died in 1969. This was a
brutal success for Mao, as he got rid of one of his main rivals for good, and this horrendous
act also highlighted the length Mao would go to keep his power and control. The purge of
Deng was subjected to public humiliation too, and was sent to a tractor factory as part of his
sentence. The fact Deng was sent away meant Mao had no more people in the Party who
were seen as a capitalist and right-wing threat, and this was a clear success for Mao. To
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