The Cultural Revolution, 1966
- All Mao’s idea
- Wanted to have a ‘pure’ form of Communism
- Red Guards began openly criticizing the gov’t officials
- Some people were upset about the following and were seen as targets:
- Those who wanted to return to capitalism
- ‘Specialists’ - anyone who did not do manual labour were forced to work
- Anyone who disobeyed “Little Red Book”
- Became Prime Minister in 1958 (Mao’s second in command)
- Avoided disaster of the Cultural Revolution by ordering the PLA to put down Red Guard
- Under him “Going down” (getting your hands dirty) became a common part of Chinese life
Quote
"To read too many books is harmful."
- Mao
- Mao
Subjunctive Question
What would have happen if they followed Zhou's ideas originally?
Summary
Mao thought that for communism to work there must always be a revolution going on. He targeted the youth to start this and made the little red book which they all must follow. Eventually the revolution got so violent that it had to be ended.