The need to address Mao’s interests in the rivalry with his opponents was disguised in the fight for the preservation of socialism in China through the Cultural Revolution. Mao saw this as an opportunity to make a comeback into power after the immense loss he suffered in the Great Leap Forward (Lu, 2004). He had considerably lost in terms of his influence within the Chinese Communist Party leadership.
He exploited the fact that his shortcomings exhibited through this event remained unpublicized to launch the Cultural Revolution. They used the notion of capitalism eroding the socialism upon which China thrived to mollify the people to support their cause. The misdirection of the youth by the Mao faction adversely affected their psychological well being as well as the genuine prospects of socialism.
The youths were considerably disillusioned because of the negative experiences they encountered during the revolution. This underlines the fundamental objective of the revolution as depicted by Mao. The education sector in China suffered considerably during the era of the revolution. Mao factionists paraded and humiliated academic administrators in the streets labeling them as rightists (Lu, 2004).
Mao’s perception that academicians supported his opponents solely fueled the harassment that he bestowed upon them. This in itself illustrates the personal insecurities that drove Mao in his advocacy for the revolution. He did not want his authority questioned, and thus any elements that might have had the audacity to question his policies had to be suppressed.
The use of the public humiliation in this regard, amounted to the suppression of free political discussion. Most of the followers of Mao’s cause in the Revolution never realized that he shared in the undertakings of the Communist Party. At one point, when the students that Mao had mobilized unleash terror on his rivals turned uncontrollable, he compromised with his opponents an illustration that his motives were personally driven.
He further demonstrated his opportunism by entering into a deal with the US imperialism, which he claimed to oppose. Mao used his political resources to secure the dismissal of selected officials within the armed forces, the cultural establishment, Peking municipal government, and the Politburo itself (Lu, 2004).
The revolution, which Mao hoped to be his most significant contribution to China to Marxism-Leninism, instead became the monumental error of his later years. Because of his influence, his tragedy became the tragedy of the whole nation.
The costs of this revolution were largely the consequences of Mao’s perception that China was on the brink of the restoration of capitalism, and his prescription that the youth mobilization was the best option to prevent it (Jiang, 2007).
The crisis is comparable to a crisis of political modernization in a developing country in the 20th century where there are high levels of protest due to widespread dissatisfaction with a variety of social, economic, and organizational policies. The Chinese Communist party was unable to either suppress the dissidents or accommodate them. The results, just like elsewhere, was chaos and anarchy.
However, what is unique about the Cultural Revolution is that the leader of the regime itself deliberately induced the crisis (Jiang, 2007). Mao called into question the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party and mobilized the social forces that would undermine the government. He provided the political and ideological vocabulary for the protest and dissidents.
The fact that the Revolution ended with Mao’s death depicts a revolution whose ideologies were only the making a few individuals. Mao used his influence to attain his objectives by exploiting the ignorant and dissatisfied elements in the society.
The aftermath of Cultural Revolution is best described in terms of the trails of destruction left behind. It was a ruthless power struggle between Mao’s group and his conservative opponents. The Cultural Revolution was a chaotic era that witnessed the victimization of helpless intellectuals, loyal party members, and innocent civilians (MacFarquhar, 1991). During this episode, democracy and the law were disregarded.
The people, whose opinions were the supposed cause for the Revolution, were left with a sense abandonment and isolation. The Cultural Revolution witnessed a lot of bloodshed with anyone perceived as an enemy of the revolution being the target. Institutions of learning literally ceased to function, as the youth were key participants in the revolution since Mao managed convinced them that the school system was oppressive.
The leaders in the Revolution disregarded the freedom of thought and of academic inquiry that they ought to have promoted as genuine Marxists. Nothing illustrates better the Revolution’s impact on China’s education system than the fact that the education ministry was abolished in 1966 and remained that way until 1975 (MacFarquhar, 1991).
The youth, especially the students who abandoned their formal study to engage in factional fights as Red guards, which was one of Mao’s major instruments in his undertakings, ended up disillusioned and felt betrayed at the end of the war.
Although they sacrificed a lot to the cause of restoring socialism in their country, there were no substantial benefits derived from the Revolution. Furthermore, China’s economy suffered greatly during the era of the Cultural Revolution.
References
Jiang, J. (2007). Burden or legacy: from the Chinese Cultural Revolution to contemporary art. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press ;.
Lu, X. (2004). Rhetoric of the Chinese Cultural Revolution: the impact on Chinese thought, culture, and communication. Columbia, S.C.: University of South Carolina Press.
MacFarquhar, R. (1991). The Cambridge history of China. Cambridge [u.a.: Cambridge Univ. Press.