The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution was Mao’s last and arguably greatest attempt to bring a spirit of destructiveness and permanent revolution to the party. Beginning as a mass movement among students inspired by Mao’s rhetoric and Lin Biao’s “Little Red Book” of quotations, the Cultural Revolution spread quickly through Chinese society, leading to the persecution… Read more »
After the catastrophic failure of the Great Leap Forward, Mao is forced briefly to the sidelines and more moderate voices–Deng Xiaoping, Zhou Enlai and Liu Shaoqi– take over. While not directly involved in day-to-day party affairs, Mao’s influence remained. He found a new ally, a fellow Hunanese General, Lin Biao, who became his sidekick for… Read more »
Zhou Enlai’s death, in January 1976, sparked a massive public outpouring of grief. Mao failed to make an appearance at the funeral, leaving Deng to give the eulogy: Deng considered Zhou his “elder brother” from their time together in France. Deng had been running the country since his return from the countryside in 1973, brutally… Read more »