Chairman Mao Zedong aka Freedom Fighter, Great Leader, Visionary, Hero, Legend, God. Whilst all this is true the period that Chairman Mao reigned from 1949 to 1976 as the undisputed leader of China was a time of immense upheaval, turmoil, great suffering and an unprecedented loss of lives. The reign of Chairman Mao will perpetually be remembered under three key events; 1) Class Warfare, 2) The Great Leap Forward and the Great Famine, 3) The Cultural Revolution and this is where we will focus our attention.
1) Class Warfare (Early 1950s)
The working class must rule everything
Thoroughly criticize the landlord and capitalist classes
Resolutely smash capitalism
Liberate Taiwan, annihilate the remnants of the bandit Chiang Kai-shek
2) The Great Leap Forward and the Great Famine (1958-61, 1959-61)
Long live the Great Leap Forward
Long live the General Line!
Long live the Great Leap Forward!
Long live the People's Communes!
Peasant comrades! Temper your bodies well, fight for high production and bumper harvests!
Excellent commune member
Speed up the mechanization of agriculture
The Great Famine was estimated to have caused from 20 to 50 million Chinese deaths. Photo from www.laogai.org
Due to the controversy of this subject I have simply reflected on these past events through a series of pictures in commemoration of these difficult and changing times. If you are a student of history and would like to learn more about these historical events I would recommend conducting your own research. Good places to start are Wikipedia, YouTube and Google.
Please note: It is my impression that most if not all historical accounts and records have a degree of biased and uncertainty by way of which side provides the account and especially concerning estimated numbers. It is important to hear both sides of the story to get a balanced picture. Please bear this in mind.