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COLD WAR. Communist Revolution in China. Civil War. Chinese Nationalists Chiang Kai-shek. Chinese Communists Mao Zedong. 1946-1949 -After WWII , civil war -Communist Mao victorious -Chiang & nationalists fled to Taiwan
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COLD WAR Communist Revolution in China
Civil War • Chinese Nationalists • Chiang Kai-shek • Chinese Communists • Mao Zedong • 1946-1949 • -After WWII, civil war -Communist Mao victorious -Chiang & nationalists fled to Taiwan • Chairman Mao & communists took control of China
Why the Communist Revolution? Think Back to other revolutions we studied. • Uneven distribution of wealth - Peasants oppressed by landlords & high taxes • Chiang’s gov’t seen as morally & politically corrupt, ineffective leader • Women treated cruelly and unfairly; communists promised equality for women
Great Leap Forward • With Soviet help, Mao created 5 year plan to rapidly build up socialism and industry • Peasant farmers forced to work in factories • Plan failed, huge economic losses • inexperienced workers • inferior goods "Take steel as the key link, leap forward in all fields"
Collectivization • Land of wealthy redistributed among peasants • Peasants forced to live and work together in communes • Like in Soviet Union, an economic failure
Violence to Maintain Order Purging of the “Bourgeois” • Bourgeois – upper middle class merchants and businessmen • Resisted socialism • RedArmy beat, exiled or killed “bourgeois”
Cultural Revolution • 1966 - Nothing “cultural” about it • Violent movement to get rid of all old traditions and communist resistors in China "Smash the old world, Establish a new world."
Cult of Mao • Glorification of Mao’s image and messages • Youth especially, idolized Mao and his Little Red Book
Red Guards • Brutesquads of Chinese teenagers, beat and killed anyone they believed was a threat to communism • teachers, artists, intellectuals, writers, even their own parents and neighbors! • Chaos ensued, schools and factories closed as violence escalated • Gov’t had to send army to stop violence!
Communism and Religion • Religion - doesn’t mix with communism • Gov’tbanned religions like Confucianism and Buddhism (although practiced quietly) • Violence against Buddhist monks in Tibet
Human Rights Issues • Dissenters sent to prisoncamps or killed • Western nations object to the cruel treatment of political prisoners • China tells west not to interfere