The Great Leap Forward 1958
The Great Leap Forward was a movement where Mao Zedong wanted to show the power of his farmers, he moved anybody and everybody down to work in the fields. He set goals for their production which were unreachable. This movement didnt only leave the whole country in famine, but it also left millions dead. People were so hungry that they would eat bark from trees and grass. Once the Great Leap Forward ended in 1961, the whole country was barely holding on, obviously they lost their respect for their leader. People were actually making plays that would dissrespect their leader, so to try to earn the respect, or to fourcefully take it, Mao Zedong needed a new way to so, which then started the Chinese Cultural Revolution.
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The Chinese Cultural Revolution 1966 The Cultural Revolutions aim was to put Mao Zedong back into power of his country, and they were willing to do anything to achieve that goal. It started around May, that's when he insisted that people be removed through violent class struggle. Millions of people were killed in the violent struggles throughout the country. Then people who were not killed, they experienced many types of abuse such as seizure of property, public humiliation, imprisonment and torture. One of the things that really blew my mind was the Down to the countryside Movement that was established in 1968. This movement took young intellectuals from the city and moved them to the countryside. It doesn't sound so bad right now, but this movement moved kids who were just graduating from middle school to the fields to work on farms and in labor camps.
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The End of the Revolution
There isn't a set date to when the revolution ended, Mao Zedong said it was ended in 1969. Some people said that the Revolution never ended until certain military leaders died, but some also say that it didn't really end until Mao Zedong died and the Gang of Four were arrested in 1976. The date of when it all was over is all depending on what you think.