NSWModern History

Section III (Personalities): Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Republic of China

14 dot points across 14 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

What was Mao Zedong's background, and how did he rise to political prominence within the Chinese Communist Party?

Mao's background and rise to prominence, including his peasant upbringing in Hunan, his exposure to the New Culture and May Fourth Movements, his role as a founding member of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921, and his ascent within the CCP through the late 1920s and early 1930s
A focused answer to the HSC Modern History Personality dot point on Mao Zedong's background. The Shaoshan peasant origins, the Hunan First Normal School, the 1919 May Fourth Movement, the 1921 founding congress of the CCP at Shanghai, the Hunan peasant report of 1927, and the path through the Autumn Harvest Uprising to the Jiangxi Soviet.
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How did the cult of personality around Mao Zedong develop, and what role did it play in his exercise of power?

The development of the Mao cult of personality, including the formation of Mao Zedong Thought at the Seventh Congress in 1945, the role of Lin Biao and the Little Red Book, the cult's peak in the Cultural Revolution, and the eventual repudiation in the 1981 Resolution
A focused answer to the HSC Modern History Personality dot point on the Mao cult of personality. Mao Zedong Thought enshrined at the Seventh Congress in 1945, the Lin Biao promotion through Quotations from Chairman Mao (the Little Red Book, 1964), the Cultural Revolution apotheosis at the eight Tiananmen rallies, and the 1981 Resolution finding Mao 70 percent correct.
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Why did Mao Zedong launch the Cultural Revolution, and what role did he play in its conduct from 1966 to 1976?

Mao's Cultural Revolution of 1966 to 1976, including the May 16 Notice, the Red Guards, the persecution of Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping, the rise of Lin Biao and the Gang of Four, the Down to the Countryside Movement, and the long political and human consequences
A focused answer to the HSC Modern History Personality dot point on Mao's Cultural Revolution. The May 16 Notice of 1966, the Red Guard movement and the eight Tiananmen rallies, the persecution of Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping, the 1971 Lin Biao incident, the Gang of Four, the Down to the Countryside Movement, and 1.5 to 3 million deaths.
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What was the legacy of Mao Zedong's leadership of China, in his death and after?

Mao's death on 9 September 1976, the Hua Guofeng interregnum, the rise of Deng Xiaoping and the reform settlement, the 1981 Resolution's verdict that Mao was 70 percent correct and 30 percent in error, the continuing place of Mao in PRC public space, and his contested place in modern Chinese history
A focused answer to the HSC Modern History Personality dot point on Mao's death and legacy. The 9 September 1976 death, the Mao Mausoleum opened in September 1977, Hua Guofeng's Two Whatevers, the 1978 Third Plenum and Deng Xiaoping's reform turn, the 1981 Resolution finding Mao 70 percent correct, and Mao's continuing presence at Tiananmen and on the renminbi.
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How did Mao Zedong establish and consolidate the People's Republic of China between 1949 and 1953?

Mao's establishment of the People's Republic of China from 1949 to 1953, including the consolidation of CCP power, the Common Program of 1949, land reform, the campaigns against counter-revolutionaries, the Three-Anti and Five-Anti campaigns, the 1950 Sino-Soviet Treaty, and the First Five-Year Plan from 1953
A focused answer to the HSC Modern History Personality dot point on Mao's establishment of the PRC. The 1949 proclamation, the Common Program, the 1950 to 1952 nationwide land reform, the Campaign to Suppress Counter-Revolutionaries (1950 to 1951), the Three-Anti and Five-Anti campaigns of 1951 to 1952, the February 1950 Sino-Soviet Treaty, and the First Five-Year Plan.
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How did Mao Zedong conduct PRC foreign policy, and what was his role in the Sino-Soviet split and the opening to the United States?

Mao's conduct of foreign policy, including the lean to one side and the Sino-Soviet alliance, the Sino-Soviet split of 1960, the Sino-Indian War of 1962, the development of nuclear weapons in 1964, the Zhenbao Island clashes of 1969, and the opening to the United States and Nixon's visit in February 1972
A focused answer to the HSC Modern History Personality dot point on Mao's foreign policy. The 1949 lean to one side, the 1950 Sino-Soviet Treaty, the Sino-Soviet split from 1956 to 1960, the Sino-Indian War of 1962, the 1964 atomic bomb at Lop Nur, the 1969 Zhenbao Island clashes, and the February 1972 Nixon visit.
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Why did Mao Zedong launch the Great Leap Forward, and what were its consequences?

Mao's Great Leap Forward of 1958 to 1962, including the People's Communes, the Backyard Furnaces, the Lushan Conference of 1959, the dismissal of Peng Dehuai, and the Great Famine in which an estimated 15 to 45 million people died
A focused answer to the HSC Modern History Personality dot point on Mao's Great Leap Forward. The May 1958 Eighth Congress Second Session, the People's Communes, the Backyard Furnaces, the Lushan Conference of 1959 and the purge of Peng Dehuai, the Great Famine of 1959 to 1962 with $15$ to $45$ million deaths, and the 1962 Seven Thousand Cadres Conference.
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How have historians interpreted Mao Zedong, and how have those interpretations changed?

The historiography of Mao Zedong, including the early Western journalism of Edgar Snow, the Cold War sinology of Stuart Schram, the New Left sympathetic accounts, the official PRC 70 to 30 verdict of 1981, the post-archive revisionism of Jung Chang and Frank Dikoetter, and the sociological and institutional approaches of Andrew Walder and Roderick MacFarquhar
A focused answer to the HSC Modern History Personality dot point on Mao historiography. Edgar Snow's Red Star Over China (1937), Stuart Schram's biography (1966), Mark Selden's New Left Yan'an Way, the 1981 CCP Resolution, Maurice Meisner's standard synthesis, Jung Chang and Halliday's Mao: The Unknown Story (2005), Frank Dikoetter's People's Trilogy, and Andrew Walder's institutional sociology.
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Why did Mao Zedong launch the Hundred Flowers Campaign, and what was the relationship between it and the Anti-Rightist Campaign?

Mao's Hundred Flowers Campaign of 1956 to 1957, the subsequent Anti-Rightist Campaign of 1957 to 1958 led by Deng Xiaoping, the destruction of the intellectual class, and the consequences for the trajectory of CCP policy
A focused answer to the HSC Modern History Personality dot point on the Hundred Flowers and Anti-Rightist Campaigns. The May 1956 Lu Dingyi speech, Mao's February 1957 On the Correct Handling of Contradictions, the May 1957 criticism eruption, the 8 June 1957 reversal, Deng Xiaoping's Anti-Rightist Campaign, and 552,877 to 1.2 million Rightists labelled.
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What role did Mao Zedong play in the Korean War, and what were its consequences for his leadership and the PRC?

Mao's decision to intervene in the Korean War in October 1950, the conduct of the war by the Chinese People's Volunteer Army under Peng Dehuai, the Panmunjom Armistice of 1953, and the consequences for Sino-Soviet relations and PRC domestic politics
A focused answer to the HSC Modern History Personality dot point on Mao and the Korean War. The Inchon landing of September 1950, Mao's October 1950 decision to intervene over Politburo opposition, Peng Dehuai's command of the Chinese People's Volunteers, the death of Mao Anying, the Panmunjom Armistice of 27 July 1953, and the consolidation of PRC power.
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What role did Mao Zedong play in the Long March, and how did the experience consolidate his position in the Chinese Communist Party?

Mao's role in the Long March of 1934 to 1935, including the breakout from the Jiangxi Soviet, the Zunyi Conference of January 1935, the trek to Shaanxi, and the consolidation of Mao's authority within the CCP leadership
A focused answer to the HSC Modern History Personality dot point on Mao Zedong's role in the Long March. The October 1934 breakout from Ruijin, the disaster at the Xiang River, the Zunyi Conference of January 1935 that elevated Mao, the Luding Bridge crossing, the trek over the Great Snowy Mountains and Grasslands, and the arrival at Yan'an in October 1935.
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What was the succession crisis under Mao Zedong, and how did it culminate in his death and the post-1976 settlement?

The succession crisis of Mao's last decade, including the rise and fall of Lin Biao, the rise of Deng Xiaoping and the moderates, the rise of the Gang of Four, the death of Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong in 1976, and the arrest of the Gang of Four
A focused answer to the HSC Modern History Personality dot point on Mao's succession crisis. The 1969 elevation of Lin Biao, the September 13 1971 incident, the 1973 rehabilitation of Deng Xiaoping, the Gang of Four, Zhou Enlai's death on 8 January 1976, Mao's death on 9 September 1976, and the arrest of the Gang of Four on 6 October 1976.
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How and why did Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party defeat the Nationalists in the Chinese Civil War of 1946 to 1949?

Mao's leadership in the Chinese Civil War of 1946 to 1949, including the failure of the Marshall Mission, the decisive campaigns of 1948 to 1949 (Liaoshen, Huaihai, Pingjin), the role of land reform, and the proclamation of the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949
A focused answer to the HSC Modern History Personality dot point on Mao's victory in the Chinese Civil War. The 1946 collapse of the Marshall Mission, Lin Biao's Manchurian base, the three decisive campaigns of 1948 to 1949 (Liaoshen, Huaihai, Pingjin), the Outline Land Law of 1947, and the proclamation of the PRC on 1 October 1949.
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How did the Yan'an period shape Mao Zedong's leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and his political doctrine?

Mao at Yan'an from 1936 to 1948, including the development of the Yan'an Way, the Rectification Campaign of 1942 to 1944, the elaboration of Mao Zedong Thought, and the elevation to Chairman of the Central Committee at the Seventh Congress in 1945
A focused answer to the HSC Modern History Personality dot point on Mao's Yan'an period. The 1936 move to Yan'an in Shaanxi, the Sinification of Marxism, the Yan'an Way of self-reliance and mass-line politics, the Rectification Campaign of 1942 to 1944, the Kang Sheng terror against Wang Shiwei, the Seventh Congress of 1945, and the elaboration of Mao Zedong Thought.
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