M-26+To+describe+how+Mao's+Marxist+regime+transformed+China

=**Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-Tung) **= Mao Zedong was born in 1893 and died in 1976(Palmer 540). When his name is translated, it means "To shine on the East"("Mao Tse-Tung Killer File"). He was the first Communist Leader of China(Axelrod, "Mao Zedong"). He helped with the finding of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921(Axelrod, "Mao Zedong"). He was also the founder of the People's Republic of China in 1949 along with Karl Marx and Joseph Stalin(Axelrod, "Mao Zedong"). Zedong is well known with names such as Stalin and Hitler, but is said to be responsible for more deaths than either of them( “Political Figures”). http://www.biography.com/video.do?name=politicalfigures&bcpid=1740037438&bclid=1774292646&bctid=1731352871

= Zedong's Early Life = Zedong was born on December 26th, 1893. He was born to a family of land owning Hunan prosperous peasants. He received classical Chinese education at the elementary school he attended. The education included liberal teaching of Confucian philosophy (the teachings of Confucius emphasizing love for humanity; high value given to learning and to devotion to family (including ancestors); peace; justice; influenced the traditional culture of China) and literature(Axelrod, "Mao Zedong").

= Mao Wants Change = Mao wanted to change the economy of China by reforming it based off of Marxist socialism. 80% of the population lived in rural areas and many of them didn't own any land. 10% of the 80% of the rural population had control of 70% of the farmland. Using the Agrarian Reform Law of 1950, Zedong had been able to seize the landlords land. He killed any landlords who resisted this. Over a million landlords were killed. He gave the farmland to the peasants. Later, the peasants were forced to move to collective farms where there were 200-300 houses on the farm(Palmer 540).

= "The Great Leap Forward" = In 1953, Zedong launched a five-year plan which was full of goals for high production in industry. China's production of coal, cement, steel and electricity had greatly increased. To build on the success of the five-year plan, Mao proclaimed the "Great Leap Forward" in 1958. This was a plan to expand the size of the collective farms, which changed the name of collective farms to communes. Once 1958 was over, there were more than 26,000 communes created. A normal commune was around 15,000 acres and could support over 25,000 people. All people living in a commune worked on the farm together, ate in a shared dining room, slept in a shared room and raised children in shared nurseries. The Great Leap Forward ended up hurting China more than helping. Poor planning hurt industrial growth. The program was abolished in 1961 after crop failures left 20 million people in the communes dead(Palmer 540).

= Mao's Changes and China's New Policies = China had many problems inside and outside the country. China and the Soviet Union had began to lost its friendship with one another. Each country wanted to be the leader of of the worldwide Communist movement. After the past failures and the new loss of the friendship of the Soviet Union, Zedong elected to reduce his role in China's government. Other leaders started to separate themselves from Zedong and his socialist ideas. Zedong felt China's economy had become weaker and he was determined to bring new life to the revolution. In 1966, Zedong told young people to begin to join the revolution. In his own words, "learn revolution by making revolution"(Palmer 540 and 541). Millions of teenagers and college students responded by forming the Red Guards (militia units formed by the young Chinese people in 1966 in response to Zedong's call for social and cultural reform(Palmer R84)).







__Mao's Brand of Marxist Socialism__

~When Mao took property from landowners, who did he give it to? //**To the peasants**//


 * ~**To increase production, what did the Chinese government seize?
 * //The government seized private companies/ They also launched a 5 year plan//**


 * __"The Great Leap Forward"__**

~What were Communes:
 * //A collective farm where a great number of people worked and lived together//**

~Program is ended after inefficiency leads to?
 * //Crop failures caused a famine which lead 20 million people to die//**

__**The Communists Transform China: New Policies and Mao's Response**__

~China and __//**The Soviet Union**//__ clash over leadership of Communist movement.

~ Who were the Red Guards? //**Militia units formed by young Chinese people in 1966 in response to Mao Zedong's call for social and cultural revolution.**//

~Strict socialist ideas are moderated, Mao reduces his role in __//**government**//__.

= China's Cultural Revolution =

The Red Guards lead the Cultural Revolution. The goal of the Cultural Revolution was to establish a society were peasants and workers were equal. The Red Guards had shut down colleges and schools. They looked for anybody who resisted their movement. The way to show you were in support of them was to "purify" themselves by doing hard work in remote villages. Thousands of people were killed or thrown in prison. Factories were shut down and the food production was being threatened. In 1968, Zedong had to put an end to the Cultural Revolution. He ordered the army to put down the Red Guards. China now struggled to find stability(Palmer 541).

= Mao's Death = Mao died between an earthquake and solar eclipse in 1976.

http://tsquare.tv/media/qt/28_56k.mov

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/9/newsid_3020000/3020374.stm

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