Mao was convinced his new government would slip into complacency if the revolution wasn’t made “permanent.”
In his first decade in office, he enacted many reforms, including the following:
Land confiscation and reform (1950), executing million landlords.
Marriage law reform (1950), fundamentally changing the status of women.
Joining the Korean War against the United States (1950).
The “Three-Anti” and “Five-Anti” Campaigns (1951-52).
The agricultural cooperative movement (1952-1953).
The “Hundred Flowers Movement” (1956), a brief period of intellectual freedom.
The “Anti-Rightist Campaign” (1957), persecution for the same intellectuals.
And finally, “The Great Leap Forward” (1958-1961).