Was killing political enemies within Communist Parties a choice made by Mao?

Answer 1

~The myth that Mao had any awareness of anything that was going on in China after '49 is just that - a myth. He was suffering from severe dementia during the final two months of the Long March and never recovered. He, and his image, was maintained as a figurehead by the party for decades, but he was a drooling doddering imbecile confined to the Forbidden City. His "personal appearances" were performed by a doppelganger and scripted by Ling Tsiao Ping and Chou Enlai until they decided they could allow him to die and still retain control of the government and, more importantly, the peasantry. If you know anything of Mao, you must realize his pacifism and benevolence would have precluded the cultural revolution and political murder. Mao was not a communist, he was a Marxist democrat, and that philosophy would not tolerate the intrigues engaged in by Bejing in the '60's, '70's and '80's.


Edit to Manxminn: Thank you. I like that. We've got to help these people who are too lazy to do their own homework, right?

Answer 2

Oscar’s flair for inventive humor is showing again. Writing a serious answer to this question, while still giggling at his colorful Mao ... well, it’s not easy. But I’ll try.

Caitlin H, you will have to make a decision about which version of the truth about Mao you want to believe.

At one extreme, you can choose the official People’s Republic of China (Communist) version of Mao. In this story, Mao was a brilliant leader. Being human, he made a few little mistakes, but 70% of what he did was right. On occasion he had to be tough, but only to defend the interests of the people of China that he loved so much. If some fellow-Communists suffered while Mao was in power, they had probably betrayed the Revolution, and so they deserved to die.

At the other extreme, you can choose the version of Mao as portrayed in “Mao – the Unknown Story”: a recent sensational book, in which Mao is a relentless, manipulative schemer, consumed with ego and lust for power; and a sadist who enjoyed having his rivals tortured to death.

Those are both extreme views. The real Mao was probably somewhere in between the perfect hero and the evil villain that they portray. But the real Mao, in my opinion, was much more villain than hero, and did indeed kill his rivals within the Communist party. Two examples (from hundreds): -

[1] Peng Dehuai. A tough fighting general from the Long March days, Peng was probably Red China’s greatest soldier. In 1959, he fell out of favor with Mao by trying to tell him that the Great Leap Forward was a disastrous mistake (it was). Mao’s response was to have Peng placed under house arrest. But Mao wanted Peng to suffer much more than that. In 1966, during the Cultural Revolution, Mao handed Peng over to Red Guard torturers, who beat him (literally) into a pulp.

[2] Liu Shaoqi. A sometimes-ally, sometimes-rival of Mao in the Communist party leadership. Like Peng Dehuai, Liu fell out with Mao over the Great Leap Forward. And, like Peng, Liu was targeted for a painful death in the Cultural Revolution. Arrested in 1966, he was then tortured every day by Red Guards, until he died in 1969.

... Or, of course, you can go with Oscar’s drooling, imbecilic, but benign Mao ...