During the Cultural Revolution in China, which took place from 1966 to 1976, Mao Zedong mobilized groups of devoted young people who called themselves “Red Guards,” whose goals was to spread the idea of socialism across China or to protest against the democratic society. This gives rise to the question “Who were the Red Guards and what major impacts did they have during the Cultural Revolution?” The Red Guards have affected schools and its students, as well as the economy and its citizens, and dramatically changed China’s policies. They carried out the idea of regular revolution by waging brutal violence and torture against fellow Chinese, the outcomes of which have completely altered China's regulations. Relying on firsthand accounts and
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According to Ma Yuping, the “Demolish the Four Olds” campaign had gained more than 48 million yuan in the amount of property seized, causing hundreds of thousands of people to lose their homes. In 1966, the Red Guards were now confident enough to target the governments and high profile political figures. They were further encouraged by Mao Zedong’s poster urging the Red Guards to “Bombard the Headquarters!” Since then, the number of attack on political figures had increased in the last two months of 1966. Among them were president Liu Shaoqi, his ally Deng Xiaoping and the former Five Man Group spokesman Peng Zhen. Former defence chief Peng Dehuai, who was purged in 1959 for criticising Mao, was now arrested, beaten and subjected to several public ‘struggle sessions’. However, Liu was the most harshly criticised, being denounced as the “biggest capitalist roader in the party” for his economic policies and refusal to fully support the Cultural Revolution. In 1967, Liu Shaoqi and his wife Wang Guangmei, was attacked in their home by trespassing students. Two of their children were convinced to denounced him, after the pressure from local Red Guards and Jian Qing himself. Originally the goal of the Red Guards was to help Mao Zedong gain …show more content…
Mao wanted to dismantle both the party and government control, but that would mean that he had to punish the Red Guards, accusing them of “sectarianism” and “splittism”. In 1969, Liu Shaoqi was largely blamed for suppressing the Red Guards, as Mao’s government had claimed that Shaoqi cruelly repressed the revolutionary movement of the student youth. And by moving away from the issues of the Red Guards, the government’s true purpose was to assert Mao’s control over the government by unifying the ‘true’ enemies of communism. In this way, Mao was able to laid blame on Liu Shaoqi for policies that Mao had placed himself, as well as moving the people’s attention away from the Red Guards. By ignoring the Red Guards completely, Mao was able to consolidate his control of the government, his image and his ideals. In the end, the government’s version of the Red Guards movement was designed only to reinforce the Party, rather than giving an in-depth explanations on why the Red Guards movement occurred, simply laying blame for its failure on Liu
According to Ma Yuping, the “Demolish the Four Olds” campaign had gained more than 48 million yuan in the amount of property seized, causing hundreds of thousands of people to lose their homes. In 1966, the Red Guards were now confident enough to target the governments and high profile political figures. They were further encouraged by Mao Zedong’s poster urging the Red Guards to “Bombard the Headquarters!” Since then, the number of attack on political figures had increased in the last two months of 1966. Among them were president Liu Shaoqi, his ally Deng Xiaoping and the former Five Man Group spokesman Peng Zhen. Former defence chief Peng Dehuai, who was purged in 1959 for criticising Mao, was now arrested, beaten and subjected to several public ‘struggle sessions’. However, Liu was the most harshly criticised, being denounced as the “biggest capitalist roader in the party” for his economic policies and refusal to fully support the Cultural Revolution. In 1967, Liu Shaoqi and his wife Wang Guangmei, was attacked in their home by trespassing students. Two of their children were convinced to denounced him, after the pressure from local Red Guards and Jian Qing himself. Originally the goal of the Red Guards was to help Mao Zedong gain …show more content…
Mao wanted to dismantle both the party and government control, but that would mean that he had to punish the Red Guards, accusing them of “sectarianism” and “splittism”. In 1969, Liu Shaoqi was largely blamed for suppressing the Red Guards, as Mao’s government had claimed that Shaoqi cruelly repressed the revolutionary movement of the student youth. And by moving away from the issues of the Red Guards, the government’s true purpose was to assert Mao’s control over the government by unifying the ‘true’ enemies of communism. In this way, Mao was able to laid blame on Liu Shaoqi for policies that Mao had placed himself, as well as moving the people’s attention away from the Red Guards. By ignoring the Red Guards completely, Mao was able to consolidate his control of the government, his image and his ideals. In the end, the government’s version of the Red Guards movement was designed only to reinforce the Party, rather than giving an in-depth explanations on why the Red Guards movement occurred, simply laying blame for its failure on Liu