Chapter 12 – The East is Red: China under Communism
had to be compelled and coerced to work.
were naturally revolutionary in spirit.
were like a blank piece of paper, ready for the words “socialism” and “communism” to be written upon it.
could be peacefully persuaded regarding the benefits of collectivization.
would work hard for a few years in order to achieve happiness for a thousand years.
50. The Great Leap Forward
was a great success, producing both agricultural and industrial surpluses.
lasted until the death of Mao Zedong in 1976.
was immediately followed by the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.
was a disaster, costing as many as 15 million lives due to starvation.
was opposed by Mao, but he was outvoted by his idealistic colleagues.
51. By 1966, Mao believed
the peasants would never be revolutionaries.
that too many Chinese functionaries were “taking the capitalist road.“
further reform must come from the top down.
the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution was a failure.
that his wife, Jiang Qing, was a “capitalist roader.”
52. By 1966, Mao differed with many of his colleagues over his belief in
nationalization of the means of production.
the validity of Marxism and Leninism.
uninterrupted revolution.
53. The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution was similar to the
French Revolution’s Reign of Terror.
Bolshevik take-over of Russia in 1917.
Chinese Civil War, won by the Communists in 1949.