Mao Zedong (1893–1976)

Mao Zedong, the leader of China’s communist revolution, was born in 1893. He lived in a small village in the province of Hunan, China. His father was a peasant farmer who became prosperous. Mao studied at a school in his village for five years. When he was 13 years old, his father took him out of school and forced him to work full time on the family farm.
Mao wanted to continue his education, however, so when he was 16 years old, he left home to study. At first, he studied in a neighboring county and then later, in his province’s capital city, Changsha. At that time, China was in upheaval. Mao read a lot of history. He admired earlier strong Chinese emperors and also strong western leaders, such as George Washington. At this time, he was also exposed to revolutionary ideas and concepts, such as communism.
Mao graduated in 1918. For the next three years, he lived in several cities, including China’s capital, Beijing. He worked a variety of odd jobs and continued to think about revolution. In July 1921, Mao helped to found the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
From the 1920s to the 1940s, China was beset by conflict within and without. The ruling party, the Nationalists, struggled for power with the Communists. Although the two parties united to fight Japan, which had invaded China in 1937, the two groups eventually fought a civil war, which the communists won. In 1943, Mao became the chairman of the Communist Party of China, and the People's Republic of China was established in 1949.
Mao directed many changes in China, including land reform. At first, Mao followed the example of the communist Soviet Union, which provided crucial support to its new communist neighbor. However, the Soviet model of industrialization did not work in China, largely because China had much less of an industrial base.
In 1958, Mao started the Great Leap Forward, an unsuccessful campaign to develop rural China. It led to a terrible famine during which millions of Chinese peasants starved to death. Mao was blamed for the failure. He remained head of the Communist Party but lost the presidency of China.
However, in 1966, Mao retaliated against his political enemies by launching the Cultural Revolution. He shut down schools, encouraged efforts to destroy traditional art and intellectualism, and silenced his critics. Many were either killed or sent to work camps to be “reeducated.”
Mao died in 1976. After his death, more moderate reformers took control of China.

Summarizing What role did Mao Zedong play in the rise of communism in China?