The Revolution Part I: 1966-1968¶

Instead of relying on the regular army, Mao Zedong mobilized a large number of youths (mainly high school or college students, though some were as young as elementary schoolers, and workers and soldiers also joined), organized into groups of “Red Guards.” Additionally, he surrounded himself with a cadre of associates to keep the Cultural Revolution going, but that cadre had lots of infighting.

Chinese schools were shut down so Red Guards could focus on eliminating the “Four Olds”: old ideas, old culture, old customs, and ways of thinking. Because of this purge, many intellectuals were either killed, tortured and publicly humiliated in “struggle sessions,” or committed suicide; 1,800 people died in Beijing just in August-September 1966.

Red Guards split into competing factions, all united by Mao’s cult of personality. Through 1967, military-Red Guard and intra-Guard clashes were frequent. Religious houses of worship, sacred texts, and other religious artifacts were destroyed.

The general atmosphere of terror was detrimental to the economy. Industrial production for 1968 was 12% below that of 1966. Multiple high-ranking CCP leaders were purged, including Liu Shaoqi, who was formerly Mao’s designated successor. This was unstable—in 1968, Mao rebuilt the CCP, having soldiers take over factories, government agencies, and schools, while also scattering the militant Red Guards into rural areas.

This was ostensibly to have them learn from farmers in the countryside, but was actually to disperse them to stop fighting. The Cultural Revolution, or at least the open, bloody violence it marked, came to an end in late 1968. However, there was still one question left unanswered: who would be Mao’s successor?