as in all people are equal in poverty and slaves to the Communist state.
I added the picture message above to this post I shared with you.
[source: More or Less]
1949 - Mao's communists take Beijing without a fight in January and control the entire country by the end of the year. Chiang and several thousand of his troops flee to the island of Taiwan and proclaim Taipei as the temporary capital of China. Before fleeing Chiang has stripped the national treasury of about US$300 million.
On 1 October, at a ceremony held in Beijing, Mao formally proclaims the People's Republic of China. The CCP now claims a membership of 4.5 million, 90% of who are peasants. Mao is the party chairman and is exalted as the premier hero of the revolution. The government is headed by his right-hand-man, Zhou Enlai.
The CCP begins a program of moderated reform and receives widespread popular support internally and growing international recognition as China's legitimate government. China's high inflation is curbed, the economy is restored, and many war-damaged industrial plants and infrastructure facilities are rebuilt.
Starting from a small base, industrial output soars; the rail network is doubled; irrigation is expanded; the level of illiteracy is lowered; near universal health care is established; life expectancy rises; and women are given the same rights as men.
At the end of the year Mao takes his first journey abroad - to Moscow in the Soviet Union. He meets with Stalin and negotiates for military support and economic aid.
1950 - In May Mao agrees to a plan by the leader of North Korea, Kim Il Sung, to force a reunification with South Korea through a preemptive invasion. The Korean War begins on 25 June. It will last for three years and cost about three million lives but ends with no definitive outcome.
International support for the CCP government begins to falter in October when China becomes directly involved in the Korean War in response to a North Korean request for aid. At the same time, Tibet is invaded, bringing to an end almost 40 years of Tibetan self-rule.
Up to 440,000 Chinese "volunteer" troops will die during the Korean War, including Mao's eldest son from his second marriage. The war also ushers a sharp and prolonged deterioration in relations between China and the US.
1951 - The United Nations (UN) declares China to be an aggressor in Korea and sanctions a global embargo on the shipment of arms and war material to the China. The possibility that the People's Republic might replace Chiang Kai-shek's nationalists at the UN now seems remote.
Inside China the policies of moderation are replaced by a campaign against "enemies of the state" that will affect millions. Foreigners and Christian missionaries are branded as spies. Landlords and wealthy peasants are stripped of their land. Intellectuals, scientists, professionals, artists and writers are forced into "self-criticism" and public confessions of their failings in relation to communist ideals. [They were FORCED INTO HARD LABOR CAMPS at the ROCK MINES to be re-educated/indoctrinated to worship Mao! This writer is a Mao empathizer. (emphasis mine)]
Incompetent and politically unreliable public officials are purged [Those who disagreed with him (emphasis mine). Corrupt businessmen and industrialists are removed from the system [ALL businesses and industries were TAKEN OVER BY FORCE. (emphasis mine)]. The bourgeoisie [middle class (emphasis mine)] are held in suspicion. Reports suggest that from one to three million are executed during the campaign.
1953 - China's "transition to socialism" officially begins with the introduction of the first five-year plan. Emphasis is placed on the development of heavy industry, centralised planning, and the build-up of defence capability, following the model pioneered by the Soviet Union, which provides technical assistance and aid. At the same time, the pace of the collectivisation of the agricultural sector is hastened and banking, industry and trade are nationalised [TAKEN OVER by the STATE (emphasis mine)].
Between 1953 and 1957 the national income of China grows at an average rate of 8.9% a year.
1954 - The First National People's Congress, equivalent to the Chinese parliament, adopts a new constitution and formally elects Mao as chairman (president) of the People's Republic. The CCP now introduces measures to recruit intellectuals into the party apparatus. By 1956 intellectuals constitute nearly 12% of the party's 10.8 million members, while peasant membership has fallen to 69%.
1956 - As part of the ongoing effort to encourage intellectuals to participate in the regime, a new climate of political openness is fostered. Led by Mao, the movement takes the slogan "Let a hundred flowers bloom, let the hundred schools of thought contend." However, when the movement threatens to go out of control, the party pulls back, labelling its most outspoken critics as "bourgeois rightists" and launching the 'Anti-rightist Campaign'. [He says "let a hundred flowers bloom." ONLY when they agree with him. [emphasis mine)]
1957 - In November Mao makes his second trip to Moscow. He returns disillusioned with the Soviet system of development and determined to set China on an independent course. The trip is also distinguished by Mao's controversial declaration that there is no need to fear nuclear war.
Explaining his view he says, "If the worse came to the worst and half of mankind died, the other half would remain, while imperialism would be razed (means burned down. (emphasis mine)] to the ground, and the whole world would become socialist: in a number of years there would be 2.7 billion people again and definitely more." [WTF does he think he is? He was an IMPERIALIST! Helllloooo. He wanted to conquer the world! (emphasis mine)]
1958 - Mao launches the 'Great Leap Forward' to accelerate the development of all sectors of the economy at once. Breaking with the development theories practiced in the Soviet Union and applied to China during the first five year plan, the Great Leap Forward seeks to simultaneously develop industry and agriculture by employing surplus rural labour on either vast infrastructure projects or for small-scale, farm-based industries - the so-called "backyard furnaces."
The Great Leap Forward also aims to further entrench communist principles into the structure and functioning of social systems, a goal that is characterised by the development of people's communes in the countryside and selected urban areas. Between April and September 98% of the farm population is organised into communes. [This is what those twisted utopian Global Warming folks following the UN's Agenda 21 are working on establishing here in the United States. (emphasis mine)]
Everyone, including CCP members, intellectuals, professionals, technical workers and the bourgeoisie [MIDDLE CLASS (emphasis mine)] is required [FORCED. (emphasis mine)] to work in the communes, in factories and mines, and on public works projects in order to gain firsthand experience of manual labour and the conditions faced by the proletariat and peasantry.
It soon becomes apparent that the Great Leap Forward is an ill-considered failure. Rather than boosting production, the Great Leap Forward brings shortages of food and raw materials and the demoralisation and exhaustion of the workforce. The situation is exacerbated by poor harvests caused by bad weather and by Mao's refusal to hear of failures.
In 1959 and 1960 the gross value of agricultural output falls by 14% and 13% respectively. In 1961 output drops a further 2% to reach the lowest point since 1952. Widespread famine results, especially in rural areas.
It is estimated that from 1958 to 1961, 14 to 20 million more people die of starvation than in similar years of poor harvests. The number of reported births is about 23 million less than under normal circumstances.
Other estimates place the number who die because of the famine at between 23 and 45 million.
Mao refuses to recognise or deal with the reality of the situation, saying "When there is not enough to eat, people starve to death. It is better to let half of the people die so that the other half can eat their fill."
Even as the population starves harvests are commandeered for export to communist countries in Eastern Europe. In exchange China receives arms and political support. In 1958-1959 seven million tonnes of grain are exported.
At the same time, while industrial output does leap by 55% in 1958, subsequent years see large falls - 38% in 1961 and a further 16% in 1962.
Meanwhile, China hardens its foreign policies, bombing nationalist-held offshore islands, announcing that Taiwan will be liberated, and launching a propaganda assault on the US. Relations with the Soviet Union also begin to cool. Mao considers the post-Stalin leaders of the Soviet Union to be "revisionists". By the July 1960, the Soviets have recalled all of their technicians and advisers from China and reduced or cancelled economic and technical aid to the country.
1959 - In April the fallout of the Great Leap Forward sees Mao resign as chairman of the People's Republic, although he remains chairman of the CCP. Mao tells the party Central Committee, "The chaos was on a grand scale, and I take responsibility. I am a complete outsider when it comes to economic construction, and I understand nothing about industrial planning." [lol WOW! He admits he was a great community organizer, but a horrible manager/leader with no sense how to run a country. (emphasis mine)]
"Moderates", including State President Liu Shaoqi and Party General Secretary Deng Xiaoping, subsequently take over direction of the republic and begin to restore the economy.
1962 - Mao returns from the "second line" of decision-making and begins a campaign to purify the party of "capitalists" and "counter-revolutionaries", using his enormous status to hold sway. His 'Socialist Education Movement' seeks to restore ideological purity and intensify the class struggle, calling on the population to "to learn from the People's Liberation Army", which in turn is asked to promote 'Mao Tse-Tung Thought' as the guiding principle for a renewal of the revolution.
The school system is reorganised to accommodate the work schedule of communes and factories. Intellectuals and scholars are "reeducated" to accept that their participation in manual labour [HARD LABOR IN THE ROCK MINES to break their spirit. (emphasis mine)] is needed to remove "bourgeois" [Middle class business minded. (emphasis mine)] influences. The education movement will become increasingly militant.
1965 - Mao, who has by now regained some control of the CCP, begins a purge of the party that will develop into the 'Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution' of 1966-76. Mao believes that the integrity of the CCP and its gains need to be defended against the emergence of a new elite of bureaucrats by a process of continuous revolution. Among those to be stripped of their party posts is Deng Xiaoping.
1966 - Millions of school and university students are organised into the 'Red Guards' to publicly criticise those in the party who are considered by Mao and his supporters to be "'Left' in form but 'Right' in essence." The Red Guards receive Mao's backing on 5 August when he publishes his article, 'Bombard the Headquarters', endorsing their revolutionary posters and slogans, then presides over their first mass demonstration, held in Tiananmen Square.
In October the Quotations from Chairman Mao (The Little Red Book) is published. Instilled with revolutionary fervour and guided by 'The Little Red Book', the Red Guards create havoc within the party and widespread social chaos. Under the general leadership of Mao's wife, Jiang Qing, their aim is to root out old customs, habits, and ways of thought.
Schools, colleges and universities are closed. Virtually all engineers, managers, scientists, technicians, and other professionals are "criticised," demoted or "sent down" to the countryside to "participate in labour." [HARD LABOR IN THE ROCK MINES to break their spirit. They must worship Mao or else! (emphasis mine)] Many are jailed. [Political prisoners. (emphasis mine)] Management of factories is placed in the hands of ill-equipped revolutionary committees. As a result, the country experiences a 14% decline in industrial production in 1967.
China's traditional respect for learning and the experience of age is turned on its head. Many cultural artefacts are damaged or destroyed. Cultural expression is severely curtailed. Religious practices are suppressed.
The CCP and government crumbles under the weight of "self-criticism", denunciations and forced confessions. Opposing political factions create their own Red Guards. Thousands die when the factions enter into open armed conflict.
The PLA becomes the only brake on a full-scale descent into anarchy.
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