Mao Tse-tung

How far did Mao Tse-tung solve the political, economic and social problems that faced him? Mao was faced with a variety of problems. Firstly her had to deal with the aftermath of the Kuomintang. He tried to maintain peace and unity, and he also realised this could only be achieved by a strong central government. The communist party provided this for the first time in China in the twentieth century. They laid emphasis on persuasion rather than force. The communists under Mao aimed for what they called " democracy for the people and dictatorship for the reactionaries" and Mao understood that in order to stay in power he must oppose all opposition. He did so by the elimination of offices in the party leadership, e.g. the minister of defence and The minister of Finance were removed from office on charges of corruption whereby they were expelled from the party and sent to re- education camps, were given prison sentences which were followed by death. He encouraged the redistri bution of land; but he also understood that the upheaval caused by this could encourage reactionary forces to attempt a counter-revolution. To combat this the Communist government began a reign of terror. This resulted in no major opposition till 1957. Mao understood that the reason for the defeat of the Kuomintang was their failure to support the intellectuals. Therefore in 1957 he decided to allow candid and free expression of opinion. This episode is known as the " Hundred Flowers". Maos slogan had been " Let a hundred flowers bloom, let diverse schools of thought contend". However this plan backfired as it gathered momentum. This plan did have on a good point, it offered people the chance to be critical, BUT this was exploited by Mao since it enabled him to find out those people, and parties that were against him and thus eliminate them, and so get rid of opposition. In the mid 1960s China was convulsed by a movement ...