Mao Zedong (commonly referred to as Chairman Mao) was a communist, and a political and military leader in China who led the Chinese people to a Communist revolution after the Japanese invasion during WW2. He was a great public speaker and persuaded many of his followers to come with him way out west in China so he and his followers could not be touched by the Nationalists nor the invading Japanese. After the war was over he and his followers returned to eastern China where they staged a revolution and overthrew the current Nationalist party who soon fled to Thailand where they still remain. Mao was a big fan of Stalin and his ideology and was gravely disappointing when Stalin died. After Stalin died, the relationships between the USSR and Communist China went south, the USSR and its leaders didn't like Mao and offered no support to China whether China wanted it or not. Mao had many reforms that were in fact quite useless because the country was not ready for them or they didn't do anything useful, for example, Mao wanted China to be the world leader in the production of steel, yet most people didn't even know how to make a proper furnace, much less make steel. Another example is the killing of the sparrows, Mao ordered this as a result of the crop failure which was due to his idea of China becoming the worlds leader in steel production. While the people made poor quality steel, the crops died, Mao blamed the crop failure on the sparrows and ordered the people to kill them, this caused even more problems because after the sparrows died, other animals that the sparrows ate came and ate even more crops came than the sparrows. After all of this Mao became really worried that after he died he will receive the criticism that Stalin did after he died, so Mao ordered a revolution that would eliminate all powerful political leaders and educators that would criticize him or be a threat, thus leaving only the generation that viewed him as a hero and a god. This was to a certain degree was successful but still did more harm then good, even to Mao, as for about 10 years there was wide spread chaos and destruction that further ruined the country. Mao died at 82 and still to a certain degree received criticism for what he did indirectly through Deng Xia Ping who undid nearly everything that Mao did along with condemning 4 of Mao's greatest followers to death through a public trial that was aired on television and printed in all newspapers and magazines. The trial was a public statement that what had happened in Mao's time, along with every change that it made, had to go, China needed a change in its government and politics.
Do you think that what Mao did was right, or was he being selfish and was power hungry?
I think that at first Mao really wanted to better his country in the sense that he wanted to make his country stronger and therefore help the people. However his desire for power and to be the ultimate ruler trumped his concern for the people and did anything he could to become more powerful even if that sacrificed the stability of his country.
ReplyDeletePower corrupts, human nature prevents us from having a real leader that could be good and not be corrupted by power and greed.
DeleteMao was definitely corrupt, but all he wanted was for his country to look at him as the God. He wanted to be the new face of communism after Stalin died and he had wanted to be just like Stalin. He originally wanted the best for China and communism but he became too greedy.
ReplyDeleteMao saw himself as Godlike figure. He followed the footsteps of Stalin who was also like this. However despite his greed of power he did want to better his nation and turn it into a world superpower. Mao did fail terribly with the killing of the crows and trying to produce steel. Mao was a good military leader but could not fit the means to run a nation
ReplyDeleteI think he honestly tried to make his country better and he thought that his actions were all in the best interest of his country. Although the power may have gotten to his head, I think he did his best to make the country a better place for everyone.
ReplyDeleteHe wanted everyone to look up to him, just as he and other communists looked up at Stalin. With that drive, he didn't fully pay attention to the harm that his actions were causing and he thought that he was benefitting his nation completely, when in reality he was not fit to run China.
ReplyDeleteI think Mao was a little too extreme when it came to some acts. He did strengthen the power of his country, which was beneficial, but the ways he went about it were unjustified. It's weird to think that these authoritarian governments were able to get away with killing so many people who opposed the leader...especially because in modern America, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget though Mao made some pretty stupid mistakes. For example the the great leap forward was just one mistake after another. The backyard steel production, which had people who had no idea how to make steel try and create it causing it to be practically unusable. Also the mass killing of the sparrows because "they ate the crops" allowed the insects who actually ate crops to go all out. He basically left his entire country starving. Once the power was in his head, he really was no longer an effective leader.
Delete"Absolute power absolutely corrupts," you know? I think Mao did start off with good intentions. He saw a lot of flaws in China and thought he could do a better job governing it, so he took over. Once he was in power, though, he started to slip and become corrupt and eventually insane. What are your thoughts on similarities between Mao and other Communist revolutionary leaders like Castro, Lenin, and Stalin?
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