A Brief History of the Cultural Revolution

In August 1966, Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong launched the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution–a movement that rocked China socially, politically, and economically for more than a decade. Fearing that party leaders had grown away from their revolutionary roots and wanting to cement his own legacy, Mao decided to find like-minded successors, foster revolutionary zeal in China's youth, and prevent social and educational stratification.

As a first step, Mao closed China's schools and established the Red Guards–groups of youths who assaulted traditional values and bourgeois culture, attacked intellectuals, and belittled certain party officials. As the revolution escalated, many elderly people and intellectuals died in the violence directed against them. The country's economy also declined steeply amid the chaos. By the following year, armed conflicts were erupting within the Red Guards.

In 1968, Mao directed the military to take control of factories, schools, and government agencies and to forcibly relocate millions of urban Red Guards to the countryside. The next year, Defense Minister Lin Biao was appointed Mao's successor and promptly declared martial law. Mao distrusted Lin, and the party leadership began to crack. In September 1971, Lin died under mysterious circumstances, and most of the military command was purged. Premier Zhou Enlai used this opportunity to restore the educational system, bring back some government officials, and increase trade.

Hoping to find a new successor, Zhou and Mao settled on Deng Xiaoping, the party's former general secretary. Deng espoused more moderate views, favoring stability, educational advancement, economic development, and even some aspects of free enterprise. A power struggle ensued with the radical faction headed by the so-called Gang of Four--a zealous junta led by Mao's wife. Although Deng fell out of favor in April 1976, he returned to power the next year following the death of Mao and the overthrow of the Gang of Four. The Cultural Revolution officially ended in August 1977 at the Eleventh Party Congress.

Although much of the rural population emerged largely unscathed, the movement profoundly affected the nation as a whole. The economy sank, corruption tightened its grip within the government, and people became disillusioned with the party due to the political infighting. Priceless historical artifacts were destroyed for representing the old world of China which the revolution aimed to overthrow. The stigma against education led to persecution, deaths, and a generation of people without career training. Worst of all, untold numbers of people perished in the violence, with estimates for the death toll varying from roughly 35,000 to a million or more.