Mao’s China, 1945–76

What Mao’s China, 1945–76 covers

Mao’s China, 1945–76 is examined in Paper 3, Modern depth study. It covers the Civil War, 1945–49, communist rule, 1945–59, Consolidating the CCP’s hold on power, 1951–52, the Hundred Flowers campaign, 1956–57, early changes in agriculture, 1949–57, industry and the Five-Year Plan, 1953–57, the Great Leap Forward, economic reform, 1962–65, reasons for the Cultural Revolution, the Red Guards and the Red Terror, the effects of the Cultural Revolution, the end of the Cultural Revolution, 1968–76, communist control, 1949–76, family life and the role of women, education and health, 1949–76 and cultural change, 1949–76.

The 16 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• The Civil War, 1945–49The Guomindang's advantages in 1946, American support, its territory, corruption and inflation, communist strength at Yan'an, guerrilla warfare, the rules of conduct, peasant support, city discontent, and where the communists got their weapons.Open →
• Communist rule, 1945–59Mao's peasant version of Marxism, continuous revolution, Mao Zedong Thought, his two positions after 1949, why he could not be challenged, democratic centralism, party growth, cadres, the six regions and party control of the state.Open →
• Consolidating the CCP’s hold on power, 1951–52The campaign against counter-revolutionaries, struggle meetings, executions and labour camps, what the terror achieved, the 'three antis' and its targets, the 'five antis' and the capitalists, and the results of both.Open →
• The Hundred Flowers campaign, 1956–57The slogan of 1956, why Mao invited criticism from educated people and of his own officials, the influence of events in Europe, the opening of the campaign in 1957, who spoke out and what they said, Mao's response, the Anti-Rightist purge and its lasting effect of silencing educated people.Open →
• Early changes in agriculture, 1949–57The Agrarian Reform Law, why landlords were destroyed and how, their fate, mutual aid teams, cooperatives, the case for farming together, Mao's impatience in 1955 and full collectives by 1957.Open →
• Industry and the Five-Year Plan, 1953–57Why heavy industry came first, the Soviet model and its help, the cost of Soviet loans, the industries that grew, the Wuhan bridge, neglected consumer goods, farming left behind and Mao's dislike of the planners.Open →
• The Great Leap ForwardThe second Five-Year Plan of 1958–62, Mao's faith in China's population, walking on two legs, the break from Soviet dependence, the backyard furnaces and their failure, what the campaign achieved, false figures, the Lushan Conference and Peng Dehuai, the communes and communal living, Lysenkoism, and the causes, death toll and effects of the Great Famine.Open →
• Economic reform, 1962–65Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping in charge, the return of private plots and markets, the black cat remark, grain recovery by 1965, factory bonuses and managers, smaller communes and Mao's suspicion of it all.Open →
• Reasons for the Cultural RevolutionMao's loss of standing, Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping as capitalist roaders, Lin Biao and Jiang Qing as allies, the Socialist Education Movement, and Mao's views on schools and red over expert.Open →
• The Red Guards and the Red TerrorWho the Red Guards were and why they answered Mao, the Tiananmen rallies, bombard the headquarters, Jiang Qing's part, the 'four olds', the treatment of teachers, the destruction, factional fighting and denunciations.Open →
• The effects of the Cultural RevolutionThe purge of officials, the fates of Liu Shaoqi, Deng Xiaoping and Lin Biao, closed schools, the lost generation, families and religion, falling output, lost managers, city youth in the villages and Dazhai.Open →
• The end of the Cultural Revolution, 1968–76Why Mao stopped the Red Guards, the army under Lin Biao, young people sent to the villages, the 1969 congress, Zhou Enlai, Deng's return, the Gang of Four, Tiananmen 1976, Mao's death and the arrests.Open →
• Communist control, 1949–76Communist propaganda and censorship, the cult of Mao and its political use, the Little Red Book, thought reform and self-criticism, Reform Through Labour and who was sent to the camps, and how the work unit controlled daily life in the towns.Open →
• Family life and the role of womenThe traditional family, what the communes did to home life, why the party wanted family loyalty weakened, foot binding, the Marriage Law of 1950, why women's position changed, half the sky and unequal work points.Open →
• Education and health, 1949–76Schooling before 1949, why education was spread, literacy classes for adults, Pinyin and simplified characters, education after 1966, healthcare before communist rule, the patriotic health campaigns, the barefoot doctors and their work, and the successes and failures of health policy under Mao.Open →
• Cultural change, 1949–76Why the party attacked traditional culture, what was condemned in the cities and destroyed in the countryside, the purpose of art and literature, Jiang Qing and the model works, the attack on religion, and the treatment of Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Confucianism and ancestor worship.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Mao’s China, 1945–76 further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Three antis vs Five antis

  Three antis: the 1951 campaign against corruption, waste and bureaucracy among officials. Five antis: the 1952 campaign against bribery and tax evasion by private businessmen.

• Mutual aid team vs Cooperative

  Mutual aid team: about ten households sharing tools and labour while keeping their own land. Cooperative: thirty to fifty families pooling land and sharing the crop by land and labour put in.

• Commune vs Production team

  Commune: a unit of around five thousand households running farms, factories and local government. Production team: twenty or thirty families doing the actual farming after the reforms of 1962.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What advantage in soldiers and equipment did the Guomindang hold when fighting resumed in 1946?

   Model answer

   It had roughly three times as many troops as the communists, along with aircraft, tanks and modern artillery.

2. 2

   Which foreign country supplied Jiang Jieshi with money and weapons?

   Model answer

   The United States, which gave his government large loans and huge quantities of surplus military equipment.

3. 3

   Which parts of China did Jiang Jieshi's government control in 1946?

   Model answer

   Most of the big cities, the railways and the industrial areas of the south and east.

4. 4

   Give two weaknesses that damaged the Guomindang in 1946.

   Model answer

   Corruption among its officers and officials, and an economy wrecked by runaway inflation.

5. 5

   How strong were the communists when the fighting restarted, and where were they based?

   Model answer

   They had about a million lightly armed troops and controlled poor rural areas of the north, with their headquarters at Yan'an.

6. 6

   What kind of fighting did Mao rely on before risking large battles?

   Model answer

   Guerrilla warfare, using surprise raids and retreat rather than pitched battles until the communists outnumbered their enemy.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Mao’s China, 1945–76 revision questions

What does Mao’s China, 1945–76 cover in Edexcel GCSE History?

16 subtopics: the civil war, 1945–49, communist rule, 1945–59, consolidating the ccp’s hold on power, 1951–52, the hundred flowers campaign, 1956–57, early changes in agriculture, 1949–57, industry and the five-year plan, 1953–57, the great leap forward, economic reform, 1962–65, reasons for the cultural revolution, the red guards and the red terror, the effects of the cultural revolution, the end of the cultural revolution, 1968–76, communist control, 1949–76, family life and the role of women, education and health, 1949–76 and cultural change, 1949–76. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Mao’s China, 1945–76 organised?

By the Edexcel 1HI0 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.