2009

Mao Zedong, Chinese solider

• Early Life o Born 26 December 1893 o In Hunan, Qing Dynasty • Mao enlisted as a soldier in a local regiment and fought on the side of the revolutionaries o Once the Qing Dynasty had been effectively toppled, Mao left the army and returned to school o Graduated from the First Provincial Normal School of Hunan in 1918 • In 1923 was elected as one of the five commissars of the National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Shanghai • In 1927, communist started a revolution in China. o Civil War broke out between the Chaing’s conservative forces and Zedong’s communist forces. • Travled over 6000 miles to north western China o Thus ending in a failure to drive Zedong out of the Country • Zedong and Chaing called a truce to their civil war. • They united forces to defeat the Japanese who were taking over China. • The Japanese invasion began in 1937 o Despite China being united they could not withstand Japan’s full scale invasion. o After WWII Zedong and Chaing returned to their civil war. o Zedong and the communist drove out the nationalist party. o China officially became a Communist country. • After “winning” China o Zedong established a cruel dictatorship in China in 1949 • Launched great crusades to modernize and thoroughly revolutionize China • Planed to establish the ”Great Leap Forward” o plan to improve Chinese agiculture and bring industry up to Western standards • Zedong’s plans failed o wrecked Chinese steel industry and caused famine o many suffered in the hard times • In late 1960’s Mao launched the “Cultural Revolution” o attempt to zeal for racial communism o resulted in civil chaos