Mao and communist china' did maos failures outweigh his successes?

Question

I was doing 'did maos failures outwiegh his successes' but there is very little argument at all from what i have read. apart from the dubious concepts of 'reducing corruption & disparity, evenly distributing wealth and reducing social tensions'.

Are there any other examples of mao being successful. I have only read books that push the case of him being a failure so does anyone know of any texts where they push his successes?

thanks for all the answers. but does anyone know any GOOD things.

Answer 1

success? there was no success. the man was an evil despot
A long time in office or leaving a form of government are not the criteria on which success is measured, this was because of fear & terror.

Answer 2

Dubious is right. The only good things Mao ever did (and it heavily depends on your point of view) was to establish the People's Republic of China (basically, he wrestled the scepter of power from the KMT and enthralled everyone with his everyman image, thereby gaining their loyalty) and expound on the various facets of Communism, especially focusing on revolutionary ideology and guerrilla warfare. Which helped no one, really, except the Third World countries where everyone's fighting everyone else, guerrilla-style. "Reduce corruption and disparity?" I should think NOT, unless it was meant to be
"reduce the people to the same level of dirt-poor impoverishment."

The only texts where you'll find Mao's "successes" glorified would likely reside in Communist propaganda and heavily censored history books. Honestly, the man did more harm than good. I would've started ranting about his disastrous Great Leap Forward (which was, in all objectivity, an 180-degree turnaround from the named intent) and the Cultural Revolution by now, except I think you've probably studied the topics thoroughly for history class already. If not, the source I've put down for your benefit will help you.

EDIT: Mao united China, that's about right, but only the face of things. The KMT loosely united China before Mao, and before that - over 3000 years ago, in fact - China was a consolidated entity already, experiencing occasional bouts of disunity (and one relatively major one around 500 BC, which ended with Qinshihuang's reign). China was pretty much ALWAYS united. So really, Mao had the preliminary groundwork laid out before him already.

Answer 3

Have to agree with all the above but another commentator (please don't feel I agree!) believes that Mao's greatest achievements were the unification of China through the destruction of the Kuomintang National Party, the construction of a united people's republic, and the leadership of the greatest social revolution in human history.

However as someone responsible for the deaths of over 50 million people I don't think he's standing in line for any prizes.

Answer 4

The reason his successes are hard to find is because he had relatively few.

He starved most of his population. He had absolutely no grasp on economic theory. He did things like put the schools and farmers to work making steel.

He destroyed the educational system.

He forced families to live apart and destroyed all the freedoms, even down to where one could live.

You will probably find books written at the time they proclaim his successes in Chinese. Because news to the outside world was so limited and controlled, there was little to it that wasn't propaganda or flat out lies. Years later, those that defected supported the notion that Mao destroyed the once great China.

I highly recommend "Wild Swans".

Answer 5

He personally was of formidable intellect and wrote good poetry type literature, if the goal was to control a country then he succeeded and was a good thing in terms of political science, and in terms of just getting the job done by whatever means necessary.
In terms of ethics and the concept of universal goodness by which actions of statesmen and successful people are measured by via international organisations and publications such as who's who international, then values such as tolerance for other political views, human existence as such and benevolence are self-descriptive. Think you're looking for the words to describe a process within a place and time that went beyond ordinary means of calculation.
In a round about way he ended the opium addiction and gambling that was rife under the previous administration/dynasty. China was all about one dynasty overthrowing another only to be overthrown itself by another wave of change, Mao put an end to all this via the elimination of the right to assemble and create organisations, for organisations or a gathering of people marks the beginning of new change which means the end of power for the ruling elite etc.

Answer 6

The Stalinist movement in China, like that of Russia, was actually the counter-revolution to socialism. It provided a way for an elite to take state power and gain certain privileges. Trotsky wrote extensively about Stalinism in his essay, The Revolution Betrayed, where he stated that Stalinism would have to be overthrown by the working class or it would revert to capitalism.

It is appropriate to note how quickly and easily the so-called communist leadership reverted to capitalism and divided up state assets to a new elite when the opportune moment presented itself.

Answer 7

He overthrew an otherwise respectable government, replacing it with a dictatorship. During the course of his rule his regime killed more people than Hitler and Stalin combined all in the name workers revolution. China is quickly returning to a capitalist state and never had an even distribution of wealth because the party elites look out for themselves first.

His legacy is a nation quickly growing economically, slave labor camps, re-educational facilites for dissidents. No right to free speech, religion, family. Speaking out against government corruption will get you arrested or killed, the Chinese legal system is basically made of kangaroo courts. I'm sorry, but his actions made China into one of the most murderous regimes in world history.

Answer 8

He replaced right into a monster. there's a undemanding case to assert that of the twentieth Century's 3 enormous psychopathic leaders (Hitler, Stalin, Mao) Mao replaced into the worst. what's worse nevertheless is that the legacy of Mao lives on and his portrait nevertheless hangs in Tiannamen sq.... Beijing Olympics every physique? ... by ability of ways he on no account "industrialised China and modernised it" - the "cultural revolution", inspired by ability of Mao, set China back by ability of many years...

Answer 9

Mao represented 4% of thee total population when he took power by fear, persecution and extermination of more than 20 million of human beings.
Mao used lies and half lies as a means to achieve power.
Members of the Comunist party used extreme violence in all villages, towns and cities to gain control over all resources.
Properties was confiscated. Nothing belonged to individuals.
For example: Farms and livestock was confiscated and purposly missmanaged to create hunger and famine.
No one was permited to move freely inside the country and even lees abroad.
People with education and professionals were arrested, tortured and send to labor camps, with hardly any food.
Mao provoqued secterian violence to divide and conquer.
All people of China had to attend idiological meetings after a long day of work in order to brainwash individuals and bring fears through public accusations and asevere sentences.
Religion was practicly eliminated from China. Pastors of all religions were executed or hang on public places. A fierce campain to erradicate God from the mind of children was established. Children were alloud to acusse parents that latter will be sentenced.
A wast forced reeducation of the mases was established. Memorization of Mao books were part of the curriculum. The application of his teachings was applied to all spheres of social, economical and scientific life.
People had to produce over the amount that was normaly expected. Quality was not allways important, as long as it looked good on paper.
A periodical program of regular purges inside the party was established to control any oposition. Fanatical brigades were
encharged to eliminate, with no due process, anybody that they felt was responsable for short falls, even if they were due to weather.
Now lets talk about the successes...

Answer 10

If you think of Mao mainly in terms of being a failure, then I claim that you very little depth of understanding of history. Why not read a book on how to understand history better than from a shallow self-centered viewpoint?