China Under Mao

More about the book

China's Communist Party took power in 1949 after a prolonged guerrilla insurgency and war, marking the beginning of the Chinese revolution. The narrative covers the rise and fall of the Maoist revolutionary state from 1949 to 1976, highlighting both remarkable achievements and catastrophic failures, primarily influenced by Mao Zedong. The author argues that Mao's China was characterized by two key institutions established in the early years of Communist rule: a disciplined Party apparatus and a socialist economy modeled on the Soviet system. Despite a large national bureaucracy overseeing this authoritarian structure, Mao frequently intervened. The same doctrines and political organization that led to significant successes—such as victory in the civil war and the establishment of a unified modern state—also resulted in severe failures, including the Great Leap Forward's industrial depression and famine, as well as the Cultural Revolution's chaos and stagnation. Misinterpreting China's challenges as capitalist restoration, Mao's insistence on ongoing class struggle against perceived enemies ultimately undermined his achievements, leaving China in a state of backwardness and division at his death.