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Setting the stage for the Cultural Revolution
Mao and his wife, Jian Qing starts to write pieces of literature that support them and they start to replace people in key government positions with people they trust. -
Unofficial beginning of the Cultural Revolution
Mao calls out students to attend political meetings and hunt for revisionists. Schools would be canceled and many Red Guards groups were formed. -
First dazibao
A young teach at Beijing University writes the first Marxist dazibao (big character poster against university's professors and administrators) Many more dazibaos were made and are one of the most popular revolutionary activities. -
Red Guards form at Beijing University
The first group of red guards were formed at the Beijing University. They had the goal to eliminate anti-revolutionary intellectuals and Mao's enemies. -
Mao writes a dazibao
Mao writes a dazibao called "bombard the headquarters." It was made to encourage others to criticize and purge the CCP leaders. -
Sixteen Points Directive
An official statement from the Chinese government was released. The statement supported Mao's economic policies and the formation of the Red Guards as Mao's main weapon. This would mark the official start of the Cultural Revolution. -
First Red Guard rally in Beijing
Mao would greet the Red Guards at Tiananmen Square to give them his blessing to rebel. He would order the police and the army to allow the Red Guards to destroy the "Four Olds." -
Chaos Escalates
The Red Guards adopted their new role as Mao's "greatest weapon," they would ransack homes, destroy or confiscate anything related to the "Four Olds" and "Seven Kinds of Black." Factions of students would struggle against each other, creating more and greater chaos. -
Campaign to promote Mao's cult of personality
Lin Biao and Jian Qing would begin aggressively promoting Mao's cult of personality. Mao would be portrayed as a god-like figure. Mao's propaganda would be placed everywhere and people were required to carry Mao's "Little Red Book." with them at all times. -
Red Guards dismantled
In order to avoid descent into anarchy. Mao would dismantle the Red Guards, open schools and businesses, and restore order in the cities. Thus ending the most chaotic phase of the Cultural Revolution. -
"Down to the Countryside" Movement
Mao would initiate this movement. Which would be sending former Red Guards to the countryside for them to be re-educated by peasants or sent to the military. This would eliminate the threat of Chinese youth organizing against the CCP. Short Term effect: Eliminated the threat of young people organizing against the CCP
Long Term Effect: Stopped one generation from improving the country. And helped show how the cultural revolution’s downsides. -
Ninth Congress of the CCP
Mao declares the end of the Cultural Revolution at this meeting. The new phased of the movement focuses on rebuilding the Party and stabilizing China in all aspects. Instead of focusing on attacking class enemies, the party promotes Mao's works instead. -
"The Lin Biao Affair"
Tensions grow between many groups. Lin's reputation was completely destroyed as the Chinese Government said that Lin tried to assassinate Mao in early September 1971. Lin would short die in a plane accident on September 13. 1971. -
"Criticize Lin Biao, Criticize Confucius" Campaign
After Lin's death, the party undergoes a great deal of change. A campaign to blame Lin for all the mistakes of the revolution was created. However, the Chinese people have seen many similar campaigns come and go and were not swayed by this one. Thus, the campaigns failed. Short Term Effect: The public opinion did not change.
Long Term Effect: Increased distrust within the government and campaigns. Thus weakening the power within the CCP and other political parties. -
Tiananmen Incident
After Zhou Enlai's death. There would be a memorial for him in Tiananmen Square. However, many attendees use the occasion to criticize Jian Qing and her allies. A riot happens when Jian Qing and her supporters attempt to remove memorials To Zhou. Short Term Effect: The riots would stop and the chaos in Tiananmen would also stop.
Long Term Effect: Many blames would be shifted to Jiang Qing and her supporters. Because of the violence during the Tiananmen Incident. -
Events leading to the end of the Cultural Revolution
After Mao's death and Jian Qing' arrested. Hua Guofeng becomes the new leader of the CCP. This would mark the end of the Cultural Revolution. Mao would be nearly blameless and Lin Biao and the "Gang of Four" would be to blame. The decade from 1966 to 1976 would later be referred to as the "ten lost years" or the "ten years of turmoil." -
Thesis Statement
Although the cultural revolution helped revolutionize China’s culture and benefited the CCP and the Chinese government. The cruel and harsh methods made by the CCP during the cultural revolution have created distrust within the people and also created a “lost generation.”