Good Argumentative Essay About The Leadership Of Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong was a Chinese states man and revolutionary leader of the ruling Communist Party. He was an influential leader who is both loved and hated by the Chinese people on equal measures. His contribution to the history of the country is great because as the leader of the communist party he foresaw the formation of the People’s Republic of China. Chairman Mao as he was referred to was a visionary political leader who championed for the welfare of the poor citizens. He is remembered not only for leading the red army that triumphed over the nationalist forces but for the many programs that he designed to improve the lives of the poor Chinese citizens. While his leadership was characterized by numerous programs which were aimed at improving the livelihood of the citizens, Mao is criticized for being over ambitious, dictatorial and power hungry with most of initiatives seen as mere avenues of achieving his goal of clinging onto power for his own gains. An analysis of the major events that characterized his political career depicts this side of him.
Mao was a firm believer in the liberation of the Chinese people and particularly peasants who comprised of over eighty percent of the population. Coming from a poor background himself gave him the zeal to champion for the rights of the common people in his quest to protect them from the rising federalism, imperialism as well as bureaucratic capitalism. In his work titled, a critical introduction to Mao, Timothy Cheek describes him as a strong believer in the power of the peasants in driving the revolution agenda. Mao had analyzed past revolutions in context of the role played by the poor farmers in changing the leadership of the country. He therefore, dedicated his life to the interest of the communist party which led to his rise to the helm of leadership. In terms of the role of the peasants in the revolution, Mao asserted that “without the poor peasants there would be no revolution and that to deny their role in the important event was denying the revolution altogether.” His understanding was that the poor people had never being wrong in matters concerning them and therefore, he warned that a direct attack on them was a direct attack on the revolution.
Chairman Mao calculated his moves accurately and ensured that he kept the best allies that would be beneficial to him. Immediately after the formation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, he embarked on a mission to rebuild the liberated country and kept a close relationship with Stalin. One of his first challenge as the leader of communist china was the Korean War that came barely one year after his victory over the nationalist. The United States had pushed the North Korean troops which had invaded the south until they crossed the 38th parallel a move that was viewed as a threat to communism by China. Mao could not allow any threat to his leadership and therefore sent a large contingent of troops that made a surprise appearance in the battlefield forcing the American troops to retreat back South Korea earning him great admiration among the communist followers. As stated by Ebrey and Walthall, “the war had given the communist party legitimacy in China as the country had stood up and beaten back imperialists.”
One of Mao’s priorities was making China an industrial country within the shortest time possible. With the help of the Soviet Union, he oversaw the setting up of many industries driven by experts from their northern neighbors and allies. Apart from these he wanted to make China a leading producer of steel. This led to many citizens getting to the business of smelting this metal in makeshift furnaces set up in their backyards. However, the idea did not work well because most of them were inexperienced in the trade and hence the steel produced was not of the best quality and could not fetch much to the economy. Many of the projects launched during the great leap forward campaign failed due to the haste in which they were completed and the lack of expertise as many experts and intellectuals had been demoted and condemned to the rural areas in reeducation camps. Many government projects were run by cadre who were mainly concerned with pleasing the leadership of the party by propelling the ideologies of Mao to the people.
The low quality steel was used in rail roads and other government projects that led to the production of low standards infrastructure. Apart from the industries, agriculture was greatly affected during the great leap forward campaign as people moved to other industries. The Mao administration banned private farming among the peasants and advocated for communal production. Grain tax was introduced and since there were no experts to oversee the production, party cadre was responsible for reporting to the government. Mao was informed of a looming crisis by his minister for defense who pointed out in a letter that it was marred with exaggerations that hindered its success. He ignored this and dismissed the minister. However, the exaggeration of reports on harvests by the village cadre and natural disasters led to a crisis in the agriculture sector that culminated to the worst famine in the history of the country.
The triumph of the communist party over the nationalists and the establishment of the republic brought a new wake in the politics of the country. Many intellectuals who had always contributed to the ideas of the party were glad that China finally had a government that will drive the interests of the people. They became more interested to be involved in development as the country really depended on them. However, Mao did not trust them and saw them as a threat to his leadership. He changed his attitude towards the people who had helped him through pushing the agendas of the party, became harsh and his leadership was characterized by firm handedness. He forced people to pledge allegiance to him and blocked independence of the intellectual through controlling most channels of expression and the media. There were mixed reactions among the people regarding his actions with some especially the intellect developing hatred towards him.
In 1956, he surprised many when he invited people to criticize his leadership in an attempt to gain the dwindling support. His assertion was that “as long as criticism was not antagonistic and counter revolutionary, it would help strengthen the party.” At first people were reluctant but later they started sending letters with messages that criticized his regime. The leader was surprised by this overwhelming criticism and vowed to take action towards the growing threat to his regime. What followed was the rounding up of thousands of intellects and university students who were sent to detention camps which were termed as reeducation camps. They were fed with pro Mao teachings and forced to confess to accusations they had not committed as was the case of an economist who shared his views on the party’s leadership with his girlfriend only for her to turn him in making him arrested and lose his job and blossoming career. This was Mao’s strategy to silence the opposition and prevent a possible revolution that could result from enlightenment of the people.
In another move to cement his grip to the leadership mantle, Mao started the socialist education movement that was aimed at doing away with the old traditions and cultures that were a threat to his leadership. He taught young people new ideologies that were aimed at preventing a possible revolution. In a rally held at the monumental Tiananmen Square in Beijing, Mao stated that for a young person, being a rebel is good. Young people were often taught to follow his teachings that were written in the little red book and go against any other authority especially that of elders. He was even quoted saying that “it was good to bombard the headquarters.” Basically what he was doing was disintegrating the family bond which is the primary unit that binds people together. What followed was a confused population that literally immortalized him.
Mao is among the greatest figures in the history of People’s Republic of China. He played a significant role in the triumph of the communist forces in the civil war and the formation of the republic. While he is termed as a person who had the interest of the poor people at heart, he was hungry for power and was overwhelmed by the desire to rule forever leading to events that painted a dark image of his leadership. His quest for power is depicted in all events that characterized his life and all activities seem to revolve around his own selfish gains.

Bibliography

Cheek, Timothy. A Critical Introduction to Mao. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010
Ebrey, Patricia and Walthall, Anne. East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History, Volume II: From 1600, 3rd Edition. Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2014.
The one whose girlfriend turned him in