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China is forced into unequal treaties by Western states which wrecks their economy. It had also recently become clear that the Qing dynasty was no longer suitable to protect China.

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He is born into a peasant family in Hunan where he sees violence between rival republican factions and convinces himself that violence and obedience are the only ways to obtain power.

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When the Qing were overthrown, many revolutionaries were unsatisfied with the results.

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1912: Yuan Shikai becomes president of the newly established Republican China

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1912: Yuan Shikai becomes president of the newly established Republican China

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Beating out progressive Sun Yatsen, the conservative military commander takes power.

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1916: Shikai leaves office after unsuccessful defense of China

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1916: Shikai leaves office after unsuccessful defense of China

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Frustrated about warlordism, failure of the Republic, land loss to Japan, and humiliation at the Paris Peace Conference, China protests for days.

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1921: Mao creates the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)

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1921: Mao creates the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)

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This follows Mao's exposure to Marxism in Bejing and believed, due to his strong nationalism, that communism would save China.

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1924-27: Communists and Nationalists become allies

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1924-27: Communists and Nationalists become allies

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This allows them to defeat the war lords and establish peace.

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Chiang Kaishek, leader of the nationalist party, attacks the Communists and forces them into the mountains of Jiangxi.

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During the first feud with the nationalists, Mao found himself imagining a Soviet China whilst using guerilla warfare against the nationalists, eventually defeating them.

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This is the beginning to the Japanese occupation in China which Mao fought so hard against.

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Mao begins to enforce more ruthless tactics which included the execution of 4,000 of his own men in order to prevent treason or betrayal.

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Under Nationalist attack, the Communists fled in 1934 and walked for a year across the country. Mao argued against Pro-Moscow members to go West which ended up being the wiser choice.

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Communists, under the leadership of Mao, turned to caves in order to have CCP meetings safely. Along with his own upbringings, Mao knew how to get the peasantry on his side for the revolution; he did this by "liberating" towns by killing land owners and reallocating the land to the peasants. They also provided education, literacy, medical, and public service booths which were all controlled by the CCP.

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1937: War between Japan and China breaks out

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1937: War between Japan and China breaks out

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This is caused by the land occupation in China by Japan.

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1942-4: "Rectification of Conduct" Campaign

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1942-4: "Rectification of Conduct" Campaign

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Mao's want for better behavior results in a series of party members being forced to self-humiliate themselves, forced readings of Mao's work, torture to prevent betrayal, and even suicides. Mao refused to understand that his policy was too harsh.

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China wins the war, btw

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Following the defeat of Japan in WWII, hostilities reopened between the Communists and the Nationalists. The war cost 6,000,000,000 lives. Despite early wins in the North for the Nationalists, they lacked the tactics and morale of the Communists.

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1949: Chiang and Nationalists flee to Taiwan

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1949: Chiang and Nationalists flee to Taiwan

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1949: The People's Republic of China is introduced by Mao

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1949: The People's Republic of China is introduced by Mao

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Throughout the 50s, Mao would execute landlords and redistribute land to the peasantry. There was later found evidence that revealed as many as 1,000,000,000 people were killed.

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Troops were sent to Tibet, Xinjiang, and Guangdong to impose martial law and suppress opposition to Mao under the ruse that they were doing road construction.

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This outlawed concubinage, marriage for economic gain, and arranged marriages. While this was a very progressive law that allowed women to become more equal with men and create a social sphere for them, Mao only did this so that they could work and benefit the revolution.

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This treaty was heavily biased in favor of the USSR and when Mao realized, his dislike of them increased by tenfold.

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Mao did not believe that the Chinese people needed the escapism of religion and feared that it would fracture the country. Because he understood that religion was deeply-rooted in China's culture, he allowed a few "patriotic" churches to remain open. These churches were state-controlled and were left open to make it seem as though there was not a total war on religion. Propaganda and loud speakers broadcasted anti-religion and Muslim messages.

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In fear the appearing weak to the US, Mao was persuaded by Stalin to enter on North Korea's side against US-backed South Korea.

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Mao gathered CCP members and allowed them to criticize the government. Turning harsher than he had intended, he soon called for the arrests of many of those who attended. Many historians are confused about the true intentions of Mao's reasoning for the campaign (see "Key Debate" in Chapter 4 Section 2?).

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Tired of the Soviet grip on the nation, Mao released his five-year plan which relied on rapid industrial growth. This would be achieved by farmers giving up surplus food to be sold and to encourage mass production of steel. Because of the loyalty of his followers, citizens worked night and day in order to try and turn their rural economy into an urban one. Facing little opposition within the party, Mao encouraged collectivization of farming which led to a large famine and many deaths. After this failure, Mao retreated from the political stage.

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This war actually fueled Mao's dislike towards the USSR because, even though they declared that they were neutral, they provided India with fighter planes and diplomatic support.

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One of the most famous forms of propaganda released by the Mao administration was "The Little Red Book", which contained a series of Mao's thoughts and instructions. The Chinese population carried this book everywhere and looked to it to settle arguments and receive guidance.

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Mao returned after four years and was determined to make big progress; he believed that if all opposition was removed from his own party and others, he would be able to achieve his goals. To gain popularity again, Mao created chaos in China and made it seem like his leadership was the only pure thing holding the country together. Reasoning for this revolution includes paranoia of opposition, greed for recognition, fear of mortality, and severe nationalism.

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At this assembling of youths, Mao called out for them to destroy the four olds (old thoughts, habits, culture, and customs). Growing up only knowing Mao's regime, youths were eager to answer the call and they began to torture teachers and those who were revisionists. Later on, thousands enrolled in the Red Guard to show their support.

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The widespread disruption caused by the uncontrolled Red Guards was too much for Mao and their duties were handed over to the PLA.

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1967-72: "Up to the mountains and down to the villages" campaign

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1967-72: "Up to the mountains and down to the villages" campaign

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The youths' energy that Mao had tried to direct at the revolution had become too disruptive and he sent them to go live in peasant villages so that they could help farm and learn the "dignity of labor". Over 12,000,000 people ventured into the harsh village conditions and many faced homelessness and starvation. This made some question Mao's methods and propaganda.

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1968-71: "Cleansing the class ranks" campaign

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1968-71: "Cleansing the class ranks" campaign

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This was a campaign started because of the CCRG's and Gang of Four's desire to hunt down revisionists within the CCP. Committees were established to eradicate all signs of capitalism which led to a surplus of killing and chaos.

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After being caught in an assassination plot planned for Mao, Biao tried to flee the PRC only to die in a plane crash.

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1972: The parting of the "Bamboo Curtain"

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1972: The parting of the "Bamboo Curtain"

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Mao and Nixon meets which becomes known as the parting of the bamboo curtain that had been drawn between China and the US.

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This marked the unofficial end of the Cultural Revolution, though it had lost steam throughout the 70s.