Edexcel A-Level History 9HI0
The Crusades, c1095–1204Paper 1
England, 1509–1603: Authority, Nation and ReligionPaper 1
Britain, 1625–1701: Conflict, Revolution and SettlementPaper 1
Britain, c1785–c1870: Democracy, Protest and ReformPaper 1
Russia, 1917–91: From Lenin to YeltsinPaper 1
In Search of the American Dream: The USA, c1917–96Paper 1
Germany and West Germany, 1918–89Paper 1
Britain Transformed, 1918–97Paper 1
Anglo-Saxon England and the Anglo-Norman Kingdom, c1053–1106Paper 2
England and the Angevin Empire in the Reign of Henry II, 1154–89Paper 2
Luther and the German Reformation, c1515–55Paper 2
The Dutch Revolt, c1563–1609Paper 2
France in Revolution, 1774–99Paper 2
Russia in Revolution, 1894–1924Paper 2
The Unification of Italy, c1830–70Paper 2
The Unification of Germany, c1840–71Paper 2
Mao’s China, 1949–76Paper 2
The German Democratic Republic, 1949–90Paper 2
India, c1914–48: The Road to IndependencePaper 2
South Africa, 1948–94: From Apartheid State to ‘Rainbow Nation’Paper 2
The Rise and Fall of Fascism in Italy, c1911–46Paper 2
Spain, 1930–78: Republicanism, Francoism and the Re-Establishment of DemocracyPaper 2
The USA, c1920–55: Boom, Bust and RecoveryPaper 2
The USA, 1955–92: Conformity and ChallengePaper 2
Lancastrians, Yorkists and Henry VII, 1399–1509Paper 3
Rebellion and Disorder Under the Tudors, 1485–1603Paper 3
The Golden Age of Spain, 1474–1598Paper 3
The Witch Craze in Britain, Europe and North America, c1580–c1750Paper 3
Industrialisation and Social Change in Britain, 1759–1928: Forging a New SocietyPaper 3
Poverty, Public Health and the State in Britain, c1780–1939Paper 3
Britain: Losing and Gaining an Empire, 1763–1914Paper 3
The British Experience of Warfare, c1790–1918Paper 3
Protest, Agitation and Parliamentary Reform in Britain, c1780–1928Paper 3
Ireland and the Union, c1774–1923Paper 3
The Changing Nature of Warfare, 1859–1991: Perception and RealityPaper 3
Germany, 1871–1990: United, Divided and ReunitedPaper 3
The Making of Modern Russia, 1855–1991Paper 3
The Making of Modern China, 1860–1997Paper 3
Civil Rights and Race Relations in the USA, 1850–2009Paper 3
Mass Media and Social Change in Britain, 1882–2004Paper 3
Mao’s China, 1949–76
- 16 subtopics
- 47 things to know
- Paper 2
- Paper 2 depth option, chosen from sixteen
What Mao’s China, 1949–76 covers
A Paper 2 depth study of the People's Republic under Mao, covering the establishment of party control and the destruction of opposition, the transformation of agriculture and industry from the First Five-Year Plan to the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and the changes to the position of women, education, culture and religion.
Where it is assessed
Paper 2
Depth study with sources, one option of sixteen.
Check the Pearson Edexcel specification ↗The 16 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- China in 1949Recall questions on the state of the country after the civil war, hyperinflation, the flight to Taiwan, why many welcomed the CCP, and its relations with Moscow.Open →
- The new power structureRecall questions on how party, state and army related, democratic centralism, the role of the cadres, and the danwei and hukou systems.Open →
- Defeating the CCP’s opponentsRecall questions on the three antis and five antis, struggle sessions, the Laogai, the reunification of Tibet, and the Hundred Flowers and its aftermath.Open →
- China and the Korean WarRecall questions on why China intervened, how it performed, how the war strengthened control at home, and its effect on relations with America and the USSR.Open →
- Early changes in agriculture, 1949–57Recall questions on the Agrarian Reform Law and land redistribution, mutual aid teams, the cooperatives, and why Mao accelerated collectivisation in 1955.Open →
- The communes and their organisationRecall questions on communal living and the abolition of private plots, Lysenkoism and the Four Pests, the scale of the famine, and why there was no relief.Open →
- The First Five-Year Plan, 1952–56Recall questions on its targets and Soviet assistance, its successes and weaknesses, how private industry was absorbed, and why Mao turned against the model.Open →
- The Great Leap Forward, 1958-62Recall questions on why Mao launched it, backyard steel, the Lushan Conference and the fall of Peng Dehuai, and how Liu and Deng reversed it.Open →
- Mao’s reasons for launching the Cultural RevolutionRecall questions on the split between ideologues and pragmatists, the Socialist Education Movement, the Sino-Soviet split, and the use of the personality cult.Open →
- The Red Guards and Red TerrorRecall questions on how the young were mobilised, the mass rallies of 1966, the four olds, who was targeted, and the factional fighting that followed.Open →
- Attacks on Mao’s political and class enemiesRecall questions on the fates of Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping, the rise and death of Lin Biao, the scale of the party purge, and the cadre schools.Open →
- Winding down the Cultural Revolution, 1968–76Recall questions on the restoration of order by the PLA, the rustication of urban youth, the Gang of Four, the Tiananmen Incident of 1976, and Mao's death.Open →
- The changing status of womenRecall questions on foot binding, the Marriage Law of 1950 and its reception, the effect of collectivisation, and how far equality was actually achieved.Open →
- Education and health provisionRecall questions on the growth of literacy, Pinyin, the closure of schools after 1966, the barefoot doctors, and the rise in life expectancy.Open →
- Cultural changeRecall questions on the attack on traditional culture, Jiang Qing and the model operas, socialist realism, the treatment of writers, and the use of the media.Open →
- Religion under MaoRecall questions on the attacks on Buddhism, Confucianism, Christianity and Islam, the patriotic associations, ancestor worship, and the effect in the minority regions.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
How were opponents destroyed in the early 1950s?
Which campaign punished those who spoke out after Hundred Flowers?
What happened to landlords after 1949?
Who restored some private farming after the famine?
Who were the Gang of Four?
What 1950 law improved women's rights?
Who controlled revolutionary art and culture?
What was the state of China after the civil war?
What happened to the Nationalists in 1949?
What was the PLA?
How were party, state and army related?
Which 1950–53 war boosted CCP control and prestige?
What were the costs of the Korean War to China?
How was land redistributed?
What large rural units were created in 1958?
Where did China's first plan of 1953 to 1957 put its investment?
What help did the USSR provide?
What famine resulted from the Great Leap Forward?
What was the Great Leap Forward?
What divided the CCP leadership in the early 1960s?
Who were the Red Guards?
What were the 'four olds' the Red Guards attacked?
Which leaders were purged as 'capitalist roaders'?
What happened to Lin Biao?
What campaign sent urban youth to the countryside?
How far did the position of women actually improve?
What was Pinyin?
What were barefoot doctors?
How was traditional culture attacked?
Which religions and beliefs were attacked?
How was Buddhism treated?
What was the state of Chinese agriculture in 1949?
What organising principle concentrated power at the top?
What were the anti campaigns of 1951 and 1952?
How did the war affect relations with the USSR?
What were mutual aid teams?
Which was the first people's commune in China?
How successful was the First Five-Year Plan?
What 1959 meeting saw Peng Dehuai criticise the Great Leap?
What was the Socialist Education Movement?
What was Nie Yuanzi's big-character poster?
How extensive was the purge of the CCP?
Who helped restore order and returned to power in the 1970s?
What overall trend occurred in literacy?
What was Jiang Qing's role in cultural policy?
How was Confucianism treated?
Take Mao’s China, 1949–76 further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
PLA vs Laogai
PLA: the People's Liberation Army, the CCP's armed forces. Laogai: The system of labour-reform prison camps.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
When did the CCP win the civil war and found the People's Republic?
Model answer
In 1949, with the People's Republic declared on 1 October 1949.
- 2
What was the state of China after the civil war?
Model answer
Devastated by two decades of war: industry at a fraction of pre-war output, transport wrecked, hyperinflation, and millions of refugees and demobilised soldiers.
- 3
What happened to the Nationalists in 1949?
Model answer
Chiang Kai-shek and around two million followers withdrew to Taiwan with the gold reserves, continuing to claim to be China's legitimate government.
- 4
What was the state of Chinese agriculture in 1949?
Model answer
Overwhelmingly small-scale and dominated by landlords and rich peasants; roughly 80 per cent of the population farmed, many as tenants paying high rents.
- 5
How bad was inflation in 1949?
Model answer
Catastrophic under the Nationalists, and restoring a stable currency and controlling prices was one of the CCP's first and most impressive achievements.
- 6
What national identity problems did the new state face?
Model answer
A century of humiliation by foreign powers, loss of territory, foreign concessions, and regions such as Tibet and Xinjiang outside effective central control.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Mao’s China, 1949–76 revision questions
- What does Mao’s China, 1949–76 cover in Edexcel A-Level History?
- 16 subtopics: china in 1949, the new power structure, defeating the ccp’s opponents, china and the korean war, early changes in agriculture, 1949–57, the communes and their organisation, the first five-year plan, 1952–56, the great leap forward, 1958-62, mao’s reasons for launching the cultural revolution, the red guards and red terror, attacks on mao’s political and class enemies, winding down the cultural revolution, 1968–76, the changing status of women, education and health provision, cultural change and religion under mao. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Mao’s China, 1949–76 organised?
- By the Edexcel 9HI0 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Mao’s China, 1949–76, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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