2. Chairman Mao
• Mao Zedong, leader of the Chinese
communists won the civil war in 1945
– People’s Republic of China
• Chaing Kai-shek and 2 million Nationalists fled
to Taiwan and declared it the Republic of
China
• Mao began the Red Guard to destroy old
culture and pushed to build a socialist society
3. The Great Leap Forward
• Combined collective farms into vast
communes
– 30,000 lived and worked cooperatively
– Hoped it would create a classless society
• Bad planning and bad weather drove food
production down
– 16 million starved to death
4. The Cultural Revolution
• 1966 Mao launched the Great Proletarian
Cultural Revolution
– Wanted to create a permanent revolution
– Wrote the Little Red Book-became their “bible”
– Used the red guard to eliminate the “four olds”
5. China After Mao
• Mao died 1976 and Deng Xiaoping seized
power and brought the cultural revolution to
an end.
• Called for 4 modernizations
– Industry, agriculture, technology, and national
defense.
• Agriculture and industry increased
dramatically and China now has the worlds
fastest growing economy
6. Movement for Democracy
• More and more students were studying
abroad and learning the ways of the West
• Began protests like the one in Tiananmen
Square
– Protests began again in 1999
7. Chinese Society Under Communism
• Women were now allowed to participate in
politics and had equal rights with men in
marriage
• Children were encouraged to report on their
parents
• After Mao’s death more clothing choices were
available
• One-child policy began in 1979