Question

How did mao zedong affect the political landscape of china

Answer 1

Mao Zedong was a dictator in China. He affected the political landscape of China with the introduction of Communism. He used the Chinese army to force the introduction of Communism in the country in 1949. Mao promised the end of many years of oppression by landlords with the introduction of Communism.

The intent of Mao Zedong with the cultural revolution was to eliminate the Western influence in China, as well as intellectuals and the bureaucracy. Chinese citizens were forced to forget its cultural traditions such as art and religion.

In 1966, Mao Zedong started the so-called “Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution”. He closed most of the schools for its lack of support to Communism, and the young students became part of the Red Guard.

Answer 2

Mao's legacy is subject to great controversy. Many Chinese consider Mao as a great revolutionary, a great leader. They claim their figure, although they admit that they made serious mistakes at the end of their government.

Critics of Mao, however, claim that he achieved successes of great importance. For example, before 1949, the illiteracy rate was 80% and the average life of the population was merely 44 years. At his death, the illiteracy rate had dropped to 20% and the average life increased to 65 years.

Mao argued that socialism was the only answer for China, due, among other arguments, to the fact that Western powers and particularly the United States, would never allow China to advance under a capitalist regime. In fact, this theory was not far from reality, because the United States maintained a trade embargo against the People's Republic of China that lasted until 1972, when Richard Nixon decided that China was a power that should be considered favorably in the Cold War with the Soviet Union.

At present, Mao's follow-up has been drastically reduced in China. In fact, some of his works have been much criticized later. The book Mao: The Unknown History, written by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday, points out that Mao created many myths regarding his achievements and his youth, in order to show himself as the hero of the people. They even claim that some incidents of the Long March, particularly the battle of the Luding Bridge, were totally false.