Communist China Why Communists Gained Control 1949 Mao

Communist China

Why Communists Gained Control 1949 • Mao Zedong won support of China’s peasants b/c of his plan for land redistribution • Women backed Mao b/c he said everyone was equal • His army was able to outfight Jiang’s armies • Nationalists lost popularity

Mao in Power • Nationalized all businessesgovernment controlled all of them • Drew up 5 year plans to develop agriculture and heavy industry • Built hydroelectric plants, railroads, and canals • Created a totalitarian societygovernment controls everyone and everything; many cases of people being tortured and/or killed for many different reasons

Collectivization • Pooling of peasant land labor in an attempt to increase efficiency • Did not work • No incentive to work harder

Great Leap Forward • 1958 plan to increase farm and industrial output • Created communesthousands of acres with up to 25, 000 people; had to meet production quotas or entire commune would be punished • Created low quality goods • Led to a famine that 30 million people died between 1959 and 1961

Cultural Revolution - 1966 • Plan to purge China of nonrevolutionary tendencies (people who wanted freedom) • Created Red Guard who attacked and killed anyone who might have been against Mao

Life after Mao • Mao died in 1976 • Deng Xiaoping took over • Reformed economyallowed more capitalism • Standard of living increased • Government, laws, and punishment still harsh

Tiananmen Square • 1989 - tens of thousands of protestors demanded democracy and freedom • When demonstrators refused to leave, government sent in troops and tanks • Thousands were killed or wounded • Many others were arrested and tortured or executed

China Today • China is still Communist • No freedom of speech, religion, or the press • No right to a fair trial or a jury trial • Many people arrested each year and tortured or executed • Business is more open and capitalistic