Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong was born on December 26, 1893, in Chaochan, Hunan province. He was born into a farmer family.

In 1911, Mao Zedong enlisted in a unit of the revolutionary army in Hunan and spent six months as a soldier. This brief military experience confirmed his admiration of military leaders and exploits.

In the spring of 1912, the new Chinese republic was established, marking the end of the Qing dynasty and the beginning of a new era in Chinese history.

Mao Zedong graduated from the First Provincial Normal School in Changsha in 1918, where he received high-quality instruction in Chinese history, literature, philosophy, and Western ideas.

The May Fourth Movement was a series of student demonstrations protesting the decision to hand over former German concessions in Shandong province to Japan instead of returning them to China. It also marked a period of rapid political and cultural change, leading to the abandonment of Western liberalism for Marxism and Leninism as the answer to China’s problems.

In 1920 Mao Zedong married Yang Kaihui, who was later killed during the Chinese civil war.

In January 1929, Mao and Zhu evacuated the base with their armies and moved south, which led to a drop in morale and disobedience among the troops. This caused concern for Li Lisan and the Central Committee, who saw Mao's army as unable to share in proletariat class consciousness.

After being defeated, Mao and other leaders adopted guerrilla tactics to continue their fight.

In October 1934, the Red Army broke through the KMT line on the Jiangxi Soviet's south-west corner at Xinfeng with 85,000 soldiers and 15,000 party cadres, embarking on the arduous 'Long March' to escape the KMT forces. Mao was elected to a position of leadership during a conference in Zunyi, becoming Chairman of the Politburo and de facto leader of both Party and Red Army. The Long March cemented Mao's status as the dominant figure in the party.

In January 1935, Mao led his troops to Loushan Pass, successfully crossing the river and outmanoeuvring Chiang's armies. The Long March ended with Mao's forces reaching the Shenshi Soviet, solidifying Mao's status as the dominant figure in the party.

Mao's troops arrived at the Yan'an Soviet during October 1935, settling in Bao'an. They developed links with local communities, redistributed and farmed the land, offered medical treatment, and began literacy programs, while Mao commanded 15,000 soldiers.

In November 1935, Mao was named chairman of the Military Commission, marking the point where he became the Communist Party's undisputed leader.

In February 1936, the North West Anti-Japanese Red Army University was established in Yan'an, through which they trained increasing numbers of new recruits.

On 25 December 1937, the Xi'an Incident resulted in the formation of a United Front with concessions on both sides, following the arrest of Chiang Kai-shek by one of his own generals, Zhang Xueliang.

Mao Zedong organized a seminar on Clausewitz for the Party leadership in Yan'an after reading On War in 1938. The 'Clausewitzian' content in Mao's writings was not just a repetition of Lenin's ideas but reflected Mao's own study and interpretation.

In August 1938, the Red Army formed the New Fourth Army and the Eighth Route Army, which were nominally under the command of Chiang's National Revolutionary Army.

In 1939 Mao Zedong divorced He Zizhen and married the movie star Jiang Qing, who later wielded a sizable amount of power during the Cultural Revolution.

In August 1940, the Red Army initiated the Hundred Regiments Offensive, a military success that resulted in the death of 20,000 Japanese, the disruption of railways, and the loss of a coal mine.

In March 1943, Mao achieved for the first time formal supremacy over the party, becoming chairman of the Secretariat and of the Political Bureau (Politburo).

During the anti-Japanese war, the communists broke up a substantial portion of their army into small units and sent them behind the enemy lines to serve as nuclei for guerrilla forces that effectively controlled vast areas of the countryside, expanding their military forces and establishing effective grassroots political control over a population.

Mao Zedong proclaimed the foundation of the People's Republic of China, establishing a Marxist–Leninist single-party state controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

In 1952, the basic land reform was completed after a five-year campaign in the People's Republic of China. All land deeds were destroyed and land was redistributed, resulting in the execution of roughly two million landlords.

The Hungarian Revolution influenced Mao's decision to soften his stance on Chinese intelligentsia and allow them to express their social dissatisfaction and criticisms of the government. However, following the Hundred Flowers Campaign, Mao cracked down on the movement he initiated.

On June 13, 1957, Mao Zedong's prominence and influence in China continued to rise, solidifying his position as a key figure in the Communist Party and the country's leadership.

In 1958, Mao Zedong initiated the Great Leap Forward, a campaign aimed at rapidly transforming China from an agrarian society into a socialist society through rapid industrialization and collectivization. The campaign led to widespread famine and economic devastation.

At a large Communist Party conference in Beijing, State Chairman Liu Shaoqi denounced the Great Leap Forward, attributing it to widespread famine in China. This led to a brief period of liberalization and the disbanding of people's communes to rescue the economy.

The Great Chinese Famine resulted in approximately 40 million deaths due to a widespread famine caused by the economic policies of the Great Leap Forward revolution.

After the Gulf of Tonkin incident in August 1964, Mao's proposal for the development of basic and national defense industry in protected locations in China's interior gained support. This initiative, known as the Third Front, involved massive projects including railroad infrastructure, aerospace industry, and steel production.

Mao Zedong initiated the Cultural Revolution, a sociopolitical movement in China, aiming to preserve true communist ideology and remove capitalist and traditional elements from society.

Efforts to influence and control the youth were believed to be the driving force behind the Peking Purge in 1966.

The 'Red Guards' were seen to be engaging in violent and aggressive behavior in Peking in August 1966.

Project 523 was a secret military project of the People's Republic of China to find antimalarial medications. It was launched in response to the important threat of malaria in the Vietnam War and resulted in the development of new antimalarial drugs called artemisinins.

Mao Zedong purges a host of Party veterans, including Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping, leading to disorder and the intervention of the army.

Chou and the U.S. agree to renew contacts, with the U.S. planning to gradually withdraw from Taiwan.

The CCP's Tenth Congress issues a new Party Constitution, which includes the elimination of a clause naming Lin Biao as Mao's successor.

A massive earthquake hits the northern city of Tangshan, resulting in the death of nearly a million people.

Mao Zedong, the influential Chinese leader, passes away on September 9th.

On September 10, 1976, Mao Zedong was recognized as the father of the Chinese Revolution.

Hua Guofeng leads the arrest of influential radicals, including Jiang Qing, Zhang Chunqiao, Wang Hongwen, and Yao Wenyuan.

The Deng Xiaoping reforms were regarded as a betrayal of Maoism by many outside of China, aligning with Mao's view of 'capitalist roaders' within the Communist Party. This event marked a significant shift in China's economic and political direction.

The communist party's Central Committee adopted the Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party since the Founding of the People's Republic of China, which assessed the legacy of the Mao era and the party's priorities going forward. The Resolution describes setbacks and major mistakes during Mao's era, while concluding that Mao's contributions to the Chinese Revolution far outweigh his mistakes.