Mao Zedong (1893-1976) - Chinese revolutionary, statesman, political and party leader of the 20th century, the main theorist of Maoism, the founder of the modern Chinese state. From 1943 until the end of his life, he served as chairman of the Chinese Communist Party.
He conducted several high-profile campaigns, the most famous of which were the "Great Leap Forward" and "Cultural Revolution", which claimed the lives of many millions of people. During his reign, China was subjected to repression, which drew criticism from the international community.
There are many interesting facts in the biography of Mao Zedong, which we will talk about in this article.
So, here is a short biography of Zedong.
Biography of Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong was born on December 26, 1893 in the Chinese village of Shaoshan. He grew up in a fairly well-to-do peasant family.
His father, Mao Yichang, was engaged in agriculture, being an adherent of Confucianism. In turn, the mother of the future politician, Wen Qimei, was a Buddhist.
Childhood and youth
Since the head of the family was a very strict and domineering person, Mao spent all the time with his mother, whom he loved very much. Following her example, he also began worshiping the Buddha, although he decided to give up Buddhism as a teenager.
He received his primary education in an ordinary school, in which great attention was devoted to the teachings of Confucius and the study of Chinese classics. An interesting fact is that although Mao Zedong spent all his free time with books, he did not like to read classical philosophical works.
When Zedong was about 13 years old, he dropped out of school, due to the excessive severity of the teacher, who often beat students. This led to the boy returning to his parental home.
The father was overjoyed at the return of his son, as he needed an au pair. However, Mao avoided any physical work. Instead, he read books all the time. After 3 years, the young man had a serious quarrel with his father, not wanting to marry the girl he had chosen. Due to the circumstances, Zedong was forced to run away from home.
The revolutionary movement of 1911, during which the Qing dynasty was overthrown, in a sense influenced Mao's further biography. He spent six months in the army as a signalman.
After the end of the revolution, Zedong continued his education at a private school, and then at a teacher's college. At this time, he was reading the works of famous philosophers and political figures. The knowledge gained influenced the further development of the guy's personality.
Later, Mao founded a movement to renew the life of the people, which was based on the ideas of Confucianism and Kantianism. In 1918, under the patronage of his teacher, he got a job in one of the libraries in Beijing, where he continued to engage in self-education.
Soon, Zedong met with the founder of the Chinese Communist Party Li Dazhao, as a result of which he decided to link his life with communism and Marxism. This led him to research various pro-communist works.
Revolutionary struggle
In subsequent years of his biography, Mao Zedong traveled to many Chinese provinces. He personally witnessed the class injustice and oppression of his compatriots.
It was Mao who came to the conclusion that the only way to change things was through a large-scale revolution. By that time, the famous October Revolution (1917) had already passed in Russia, which delighted the future leader.
Zedong set to work creating resistance cells in China one by one. Soon he was elected secretary of the Chinese Communist Party. Initially, the communists became close to the nationalist Kuomintang party, but after a few years the CCP and the Kuomintang became sworn enemies.
In 1927, within the city of Changsha, Mao Zedong organized the 1st coup and announced the founding of the Communist Republic. He manages to enlist the support of the peasants, as well as give women the right to vote and work.
Mao's authority among colleagues grew rapidly. After 3 years, taking advantage of his high position, he carried out the first purge. The oppositionists of the communists and those who criticized the policies of Joseph Stalin fell under the roller of repression.
After eliminating all dissidents, Mao Zedong was elected head of the 1st Soviet Republic of China. From that moment in his biography, the dictator set himself the goal of establishing Soviet order throughout China.
Great hike
The ensuing changes led to a large-scale civil war that lasted over 10 years until the victory of the communists. The opponents of Mao and his supporters were adherents of nationalism - the Kuomintang party led by Chiang Kai-shek.
There were fierce battles between the enemies, including the battles in Jinggan. But after defeat in 1934, Mao Zedong was forced to leave the region along with a 100,000-strong army of communists.
In the period 1934-1936. a historic march of the troops of the Chinese communists took place, which covered more than 10,000 km! The soldiers had to wade through hard-to-reach mountain regions, facing many trials.
An interesting fact is that during the campaign, over 90% of Zedong's soldiers died. Staying in Shanxi Province, he and his surviving comrades created a new CCP department.
Formation of the PRC and Mao Zedong's reforms
Having survived the military aggression of Japan against China, in the fight against which the troops of the Communists and Kuomintang were forced to unite, the two sworn enemies again continued to fight among themselves. As a result, in the late 40s, Chiang Kai-shek's army was defeated in this struggle.
As a result, in 1949, the People's Republic of China (PRC) was proclaimed throughout China, led by Mao Zedong. In the years that followed, the “Great Helmsman,” as his fellow countrymen called Mao, began an open rapprochement with the Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin.
Thanks to this, the USSR began to provide the Chinese with various assistance in the landlord and military sectors. In the era of Zedong, the ideas of Maoism, of which he was the founder, began to advance.
Maoism was influenced by Marxism-Leninism, Stalinism and traditional Chinese philosophy. Various slogans began to appear in the state that pushed people to accelerate economic development to the level of prosperous countries. The Great Helmsman's regime was based on the nationalization of all private property.
By order of Mao Zedong, communes began to be organized in China in which everything was common: clothing, food, property, etc. In an effort to achieve advanced industrialization, the politician has ensured that every Chinese home has a compact blast furnace for smelting steel.
The metal cast under such conditions was of extremely low quality. In addition, agriculture fell into decay, which in turn led to total hunger.
It is worth noting that the true state of affairs in the state was hidden from Mao. The country talked about the great achievements of the Chinese and their leader, while in reality everything was different.
The Great Leap Forward
The Great Leap Forward was an economic and political campaign in China between 1958-1960 aimed at industrialization and economic recovery, with disastrous consequences.
Mao Zedong, who tried to improve the economy through collectivization and popular enthusiasm, led the country to decline. As a result of many mistakes, including wrong decisions in the agricultural sector, 20 million people died in China, and according to other opinions - 40 million people!
The authorities called on the entire population to destroy rodents, flies, mosquitoes and sparrows. Thus, the government wanted to increase the harvest in the fields, not wanting to "share" food with different animals. As a result, large-scale extermination of sparrows led to dire consequences.
The next crop was eaten clean by the caterpillars, resulting in colossal losses. Later, the Great Leap Forward was recognized as the largest social catastrophe of the 20th century, with the exception of World War II (1939-1945).
Cold war
After Stalin's death, relations between the USSR and China deteriorated markedly. Mao openly criticizes the actions of Nikita Khrushchev, accusing the latter of deviating from the course of the communist movement.
In response to this, the Soviet leader recalls all specialists and scientists who worked for the benefit of China's development. At the same time, Khrushchev stopped providing material assistance to the CPC.
Around the same time, Zedong got involved in the Korean conflict, in which he sided with North Korea. This leads to confrontation with the United States for many years.
Nuclear superpower
In 1959, under public pressure, Mao Zedong ceded the post of head of state to Liu Shaoqi and continued to lead the CPC. After that, private property began to be practiced in China, and many of Mao's ideas were abolished.
China continues to wage the Cold War against America and the USSR. In 1964, the Chinese declared the presence of atomic weapons, which caused great concern to Khrushchev and the leaders of other countries. It is worth noting that military clashes periodically took place on the Sino-Russian border.
Over time, the conflict was resolved, but this state of affairs prompted the Soviet government to strengthen its military power along the entire line of demarcation with China.
Cultural revolution
Gradually, the country began to rise to its feet, but Mao Zedong did not share the ideas of his own enemies. He still had a high prestige among his compatriots, and at the end of the 60s he decided on the next step of communist propaganda - the "Cultural Revolution".
It meant a series of ideological and political campaigns (1966-1976), led personally by Mao. Under the pretext of opposing a possible "restoration of capitalism" in the PRC, the goals of discrediting and destroying the political opposition were fulfilled in order to achieve Zedong power and transfer power to his third wife Jiang Qing.
The main reason for the Cultural Revolution was the split that emerged in the CCP after the Great Leap Forward campaign. Many Chinese sided with Mao, whom he acquainted with the theses of the new movement.
During this revolution, several million people were repressed. Detachments of "rebels" smashed everything, destroying paintings, furniture, books and various objects of art.
Soon, Mao Zedong realized the full implications of this movement. As a result, he hastened to shift all responsibility for what happened to his wife. In the early 70s, he approached America and soon met with its leader Richard Nixon.
Personal life
Over the years of his personal biography, Mao Zedong had many love affairs, and was also repeatedly married. The first wife was his second cousin Luo Igu, the same one that his father had chosen for him. Not wanting to live with her, the young man ran away from home on their wedding night, thereby seriously disgracing Law.
Later, Mao married Yang Kaihui, who supported her husband in political and military matters. In this union, the couple had three boys - Anying, Anqing and Anlong. During the war with the army of Chiang Kai-shek, the girl and her sons were captured by the enemies.
After prolonged torture, Yang did not betray or abandon Mao. As a result, she was executed in front of her own children. After the death of his wife, Mao married He Zizhen, who was 17 years older. An interesting fact is that the politician had an affair with He when he was still married to Yang.
Later, the newlyweds had five children, whom they had to give to strangers due to total battles for power. The difficult life affected He's health, and in 1937 Zedong sent her to the USSR for treatment.
There she was kept in a mental hospital for several years. After being discharged from the clinic, the Chinese woman remained in Russia, and after a while she left for Shanghai.
The last wife of Mao was the Shanghai artist Lan Ping, who later changed her name to Jiang Qing. She gave birth to the "Great Helmsman" daughter, always trying to be a loving wife.
Death
Since 1971, Mao was seriously ill and rarely appeared in society. In the following years, he began to develop more and more Parkinson's disease. Mao Zedong died on September 9, 1976 at the age of 82. Shortly before his death, he suffered 2 heart attacks.
The body of the politician was embalmed and placed in the mausoleum. After the death of Zedong, the persecution of his wife and her associates began in the country. Many of Jiang's accomplices were executed, while relief was made for the woman by placing her in a hospital. There she committed suicide a few years later.
During Mao's lifetime, millions of his works were published. By the way, Zedong's quotation book took the 2nd place in the world, after the Bible, for a total circulation of 900,000,000 copies.
Photo by Mao Zedong
