Sinobabble

In this episode, we look at how Mao reversed the course of the Cultural Revolution, bringing in the army to end the violence and destruction caused by the factionalism between the Red Guards and other mass organisations. We discuss the much vaunted revolutionary committees, temporary governments made up of a triple alliance between the mass organisations, the Cultural Revolution Group, and the People's Liberation Army.

The original aim of the revolution to promote the masses to positions of power in place of corrupt cadres was replaced by the singular quest to restore the country to order. To do this, Mao relied heavily on the PLA, as well as the cadres who not too long ago were seen as public enemy #1.

Music clips are from "Sailing the Seas Depends on the Helmsman" and "The People of the World Will Surely be Victorious"

00:00 Song "Sailing the Seas Depends on the Helmsman"
00:25 Introduction
06:23 January Revolution
11:50 Song "The People of the World Will Surely be Victorious"
12:05 The Triple Alliance
14:10 The February adverse current
23:20 The Wuhan incident
26:24 The 516 purge
29:30 Resitance to demobilisation
38:10 The failure of the revolution

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In this episode we talk about the violence that gripped the Chinese nation at the height of the Cultural Revolution. We discuss the difference between the brutality that took place in the cities, which was mainly perpetrated by Red Guards and affected culture as much as people, and the countryside, which pitted neighbour against neighbour.

Music clips are from "The East is Red" and "We Walk on the Great Road".

Apparently I keep hitting my microphone throughout this episode, which are what that hollow sounding noise is. I need a better set up...

00:00 Clip from the song "The East Is Red" 
00:18 Introduction
4:47 Red guards in the cities
9:10 The revolution in Shanghai
21:14 The revolution in the countryside
35:15 The impact of the violence on China and the Cultural Revolution
40:08 Outro

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The first of many episodes covering the build up, events, and aftermath of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, which took place in China from 1966 to 1976. In this episode we discuss what the Cultural Revolution was supposed to be, recap its principal causes, discuss the events that led to the declaration of the CR, and cover the formation and expansion of the Red Guards, Mao's children of the Revolution.

00:00: Introduction
4:23 - What was the Cultural Revolution?
15:45 - Events leading up to the Cultural Revolution
29:43 - The first stages of the Cultural Revolution
37:06 - The formation of the Red Guards
43:48 - Those of black class background join the Red Guards
46:56 - Outro

Some mispronunciations - I found that I mispronounced LUO Ruiqing as LIU Ruiqing, and HAI Rui as HA Rui a few times. My bad, Luo and Hai are the correct terms!

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In this episode we go over the CCP's attitudes towards religion during the first 15 years of the PRC to 1965. These developments are important for understand why anti-religious sentiment reached such a fever-pitch during the Cultural Revolution, as well as why there has been a resurgence in interest in religion since the country's opening up in the 1980s.

We discuss the five officially recognised religions - Daoism, Buddhism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism - as well as Confucianism, and the local folk religions that were all thrown under the umbrella of 'superstition'. We start by examining the origins of the the anti-religious mood of 20th century China, which actually began as early as the late Qing dynasty. We then discuss the secularisation of China, and the institutionalisation of religions that made them easier to oversee and control. 

There is a sudden change in audio around 15 minutes in because I had to change recording locations. Hopefully it's not too distracting, I tried to get the volumes to be the same!

Timestamps

Intro 0:00
Religion in Republican China 3:30
Marxism and Religion 9:08
CCP Religious Policy - Confucianism 10:45
Daoism 15:07
Christianity 18:12
Buddhism 29:10
Islam 37:20
Folk Religion 42:15
Religious Resurgence post-Mao 45:56

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In this episode we'll be discussing the Third Front, a covert industrialisation campaign that took place between 1964 and 1972 in China's remote, mountainous interior. This little-discussed campaign actually formed a crucial part of China's Cold War policy strategy, and despite its clandestine nature cost billions of yuan in resource and personnel allocation, as well as for construction and transportation. The Third Front was part of China's preparations for war with either the US, the Soviet Union, or their allies in the region, especially after the US joined the Vietnam War in mid-1964. Major industrial and military complexes were built in southwest, central-west, and northwestern provinces, which were also interconnected by new railway lines and powered by grand hydro-electric dams.

In the end, the Third Front fizzled out, especially after the relationship between China and the US improved, Minister of Defence Lin Biao passed away, and particularly after the death of Mao Zedong. Many of the projects remained uncompleted, with others suffering from the pains of rushed construction, rendering them useless in the long-run. Despite its short run however, the Third Front did have have a major impact on China's economics and politics during the 60s and 70s, and deserves our attention as an important factor in China's Cold War policy formation. It also gives us another lens through which to view Chinese history, one which relies less on social history and a Maoist lens, and takes into consideration external factors that caused major shifts in the sentiments of the CCP leadership even during major domestic events such as the Cultural Revolution.

Don't forget to check out "Mao's Third Front: The Militarization of Cold War China" by Covell Meyskens, which you can purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Maos-Third-Front-Militarization-China/dp/1108489559 

NB: About 4 minutes in I accidentally say Gansu twice - I meant to say Guizhou the first time and Gansu the second!

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In this episode we discuss the Socialist Education Movement (SEM), a campaign conducted in the Chinese countryside from 1962-1966 in order to restore socialist values and purge pernicious 'capitalist tendencies' that had reemerged after the Great Leap Forward. The period 1962 to 1965 generally saw Mao attempt to regain control over the cultural and ideological spheres in both the countryside and the cities, but ultimately these attempts failed to make a lasting impact. They were likely instrumental in encouraging Mao to stop relying on the Party cadres and intellectuals to continue as the vanguard of the revolution, and instead launch the Cultural Revolution to reinvigorate socialism in China and boost the prestige of his own cult of personality.

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Now that we understand the Great Leap Forward, we turn to the period just after the leap to see how China began to recover from economic and political disaster.

Two factions emerged in the party's leadership - a moderate group who wanted to allow some market forces to help boost the economy and reduce inflation, and the leftists who still believed in Mao's vision. Instead of ousting Mao when they could, the leadership decided to let the chairman keep his position, while taking all economic powers away from him. Their failure to denounce his role in the Great Leap Forward, however, left him ample space to stage a comeback, which eventually led to the launch of the Cultural Revolution in 1966.

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This is the second of two parts covering the events that led to the breakdown in relations between China and the Soviet Union between 1958 and 1964. 

In this episode we discuss the heating up of tensions, the publication of polemics, and the personal disagreements that served to worsen the situation. We talk about how external events such as the Cuban missile crisis were used by Mao to further his own political agenda, both at home and abroad, while also destabalising Krushchev's position. Finally, we outline the major causes of the downfall of Sino-Soviet relations, which could not be saved even with the introduction of a new government in the Soviet Union.

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This is the first of two parts covering the events that led to the breakdown in relations between China and the Soviet Union between 1958 and 1964. 

This episode covers the years 1958 and 1959, and discusses the major ideological differences between the two nations which led to them disagreeing on how to handle international relations with Taiwan, the US, and India. We also see how China's domestic policies served as a point of contention with the post-Stalin Soviet leadership, who saw Mao's cult of personality and the setting up of communes as a return to the horrors of the 1930s.

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A review of the 50 years of Chinese history we've covered on this podcast.

Find the questions and answers on the Sinobabble website

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