Mao Zedong

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More murderous than Hitler, more powerful than Stalin, in the battle of the Communist leaders Mao Zedong trumps all. Born into a comfortable peasant family, Mao would rise up to become China’s great leader. After leading the communists away from Kuomintang rule, he set out to modernize China, but the results of this audacious move were horrific. He rebounded from his failures time and again, and used his influence to eliminate his enemies and to purge China of its old ways. Mao saw a brighter future for China, but it was not within his grasp; his Cultural Revolution was not as successful as he had wanted it to be. Liberator, oppressor, revolutionary, Mao Zedong was the greatest emancipator in China’s history, as his reforms…show more content…
Mao had devised a plan; he needed to remove his political rivals as well as high officials in the communist party who were not sufficiently zealous. In a move of pure genius, Mao recruited his most loyal followers: the young people who had grown up under his reign who were eager to stir up trouble, and launched The Cultural Revolution. They were called the Red Guards and they were told to “smash up the four olds – defined as old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits.” Heeding the call, the revolutionary teenagers vandalised and destroyed antiques, paintings, and books, and burned historic buildings and temples to the ground. The Red Guards raided houses and severely beat the people living there, and long hair, jewelry, high heeled shoes, and tight fitting pants were not allowed. Artists, writers, and scholars were abused and attacked under the law for being bourgeois authorities and teachers were punished and even tortured by their students. These once revered adults were forced to bow and beg for their life at “denunciation meetings” where they were attack verbally and physically for hours in front of large crowds. But soon, enough was enough. The urban young people had run out of revolutionary activities to occupy themselves with, and were causing trouble, so something radical had to be done. These youth needed to be re-educated through hard labor in the countryside. “Mao advocated “thought reform through labour”

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