long shift resulted in an estimated one-and-a-half million deaths, alongside widespread abuse,

displacement, public humiliation and torture. At the time, little was understood about the

causes and devastating outcomes of the revolution, however newly released archives have shed

light on this dark period of China’s modern history. So, now half a century later, what

do we know about China’s Cultural Revolution?

Well, the movement was predominantly Chairman Mao Zedong’s attempt to establish himself

as the leader of the Communist world by ridding the country of capitalism and its long standing

traditions. After Mao’s Communist Party took power in 1949, the Soviet Union’s new

leader, Nikita Khrushchev, denounced his predecessor, Joseph Stalin, and began to “de-Stalinize”

the USSR. Seeing similarities between himself and Stalin, Mao began to fear a similar fate

for himself. So, in 1958, Mao launched a national campaign to boost China’s economy, called

The Great Leap Forward, which radically redistributed land among China’s rural population and

organized workers into communes. The Great Leap failed miserably, decimating the economy

and diminishing Mao’s role within the ruling party.

To regain control, Mao united with like-minded radicals, including his wife and Defense Minister

Lin Biao, to launch the Cultural Revolution. At a conference in May of 1966, Mao claimed

that bourgeois ideas had crept into society and the government, and that these elements

could only be removed through violent class struggle. In the months that followed, Mao

shut down China’s schools and mobilized students into paramilitary units, called Red

Guards. The groups attacked and killed teachers, intellectuals, and eventually ordinary people

they suspected of undermining the communist system. The movement infiltrated the military,

workers and even the ruling party itself. By the late 1960’s, tens of thousands had

been forced out of cities in an effort to purify urban areas, and millions had suffered

rape, abuse, arbitrary imprisonment or torture. Some of most horrific violence occurred in

rural villages in Southern China, where revolutionaries were known to practice ritualistic cannibalism

in the name of the revolution.

By the the early 1970’s, the revolution began to dissolve. Mao’s chosen successor,

Lin Biao, had recently taken power, and was dealing with widespread opposition over his

decision to put China under martial law. Mao launched a campaign to reduce Lin’s power,

effectively dividing the ruling party. After Lin died in a plane crash in 1971, members

of his military command were purged, and a new leader took power. Lin’s death, alongside

chaos and division within China’s ruling party, left revolutionaries feeling slighted

and disillusioned. The movement officially ended in 1976, when Mao died and his allies

were purged from the ruling party.

The Cultural Revolution was arguably the most horrific and violent period in the history

of modern China. Today, the movement is often characterized by widespread devastation and

death, but experts say its legacy is the uncertainty, fear, and lost sense of humanity it imposed

on those who lived through it. And, although China is still plagued with power struggles

and human rights abuses, the scale and severity of these issues cannot be compared to those

of the Cultural Revolution.

Another watershed event in China’s history was the conflict at Tiananmen Square. Find

out what happened and how it changed world history by watching this video up top. Although,

if you’re in China, you might not be able to. Learn more about how China uses censorship

to control the media by watching the video below. Thanks for checking out Seeker Daily,

don’t forget to like and subscribe and we’ll see you all tomorrow!