Svenja Seiwert
History H1.3
The successes and failures of Mao Zedong (1949-1976)
Mao Zedong is one of the most controversial leaders of the twentieth century. He has been known both as saver but also as a tyrant by the Chinese people.
In his political career he has had many tactical successes such as the Long March but also embarrassing failures like the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution in 1966-1976 which has influenced today’s China.
A great number of successes that Mao has had were during the time when the CCP came to power.
When Mao Zedong was younger he believed that the Chinese way of thinking needed reform therefore focused on younger people and peasants to build up his political career. Mao ruled one quarter of the world’s population for one quarter of a century, and the way in which he was brought up and studied influenced his future decisions greatly.
In 1950, the marriage reform law stated that every man or woman was allowed to choose their marriage partner. However, in the countryside there were only few opportunities to meet potential mates. Often in villages there was little public tolerance for flirting or even extended conversation between unmarried men and women. Introductions and go-betweens continued to play a major role in the arrangement of marriages. In most cases each of the young people, and their parents, had an effective veto over any proposed match. In the past, families united by marriage were expected to be of equivalent status or the man’s family to be of somewhat higher status. The most desirable husbands have been administrative cadres, party members, and employees of large state enterprises. So naturally, men from poor villages have had difficulty finding wives. From the early 1950s to the late 1970s, when hereditary class labels were very significant, anyone previously identified with the landlord or even rich peasant class, was a bad prospect for marriage.
In 1952 Mao put into effect...