Mao Zedong is undoubtedly the man who has had the most influence on China’s economic, political and foreign issues throughout the 20th century, perhaps the greatest influence of any world leader for any nation during this time frame, outlasting five US Presidents during his tenure. “The Great Helmsman” and founding father of the Communist Party of China (CPC) is still seen as the main asset and reason why the CPC is perceived, by the people of China, to be an instrument of social mobility. The level of reverence and respect Mao is held in is apparent in the way he remains a part of Chinese culture, with his body on public display in Tiananmen Square. Indeed, Mao himself wanted his body to be cremated but after his death, party officials feared the CPC itself could collapse if there was no evidence left of the iconic force that had established and held them together for all this time (The Guardian). The power Mao held in the latter half of the 20th century, even in death, is illustrated by the fact that Chinese officials only felt emboldened to brutally quash demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in 1989 after the portrait of Mao hanging in the square was vandalised (Quan). It is said that true importance is judged not by how you shaped the past, but by how you shape the future. This is the basis on which Mao’s importance will be evaluated.
Before Mao started to assert his influence over history, China was in a sorry state. After the overthrowing of the Imperial system on New Year’s Day of 1912, China broke up into territories dominated by local warlords acting for themselves and foreign powers, over whom the nationalist government had little to no control (Hutton). The economic situation was little better. With one of the least developed economies in the world, dominated by agriculture, and with crippling inequality, China was experiencing the worst inflation ever recorded in modern world history (Revcom). It is in this context that China’s situation and Mao’s influence needs to be appreciated. On the cusp of the second half of the 20th century, he had managed to completely remove the Japanese army from China, defeat Chiang Kai-shek’s nationalists, who then fled to Taiwan, and rid all foreign influence, which had effectively enslaved the country through opium addiction. These achievements would have been sufficient for Mao to occupy a place as one of the most significant people of the century. However, the impact he has had on China since 1949, both positive and negative, truly make him one of the most significant men in history.
On the economic front, Mao instigated great reforms during his time as leader. Of all the sectors, agriculture was the most crucial as had 4 times as many people as the USA to feed, but only 70% of the arable land. The prevailing philosophy was one of collectivisation. This is best illustrated by the “people’s communes” that were set up at the start of The Great Leap Forward (Encyclopedia Britannica). The establishment of these communes is the largest expropriation and redistribution of wealth in world history (Revcom). Initially, the redistribution of land to the peasants drastically improved the lives of the lower classes, and uprooted the feudal economic system of the countryside and the collectivisation of equipment and labour delivered a boost to output. However, over time, the central planning model suffered from poor communication and overstatement of crop yields, which in part led to the largest famine in world history. Despite the CPC maintaining that only 10-15 million people died, it is now accepted that the figure was likely at least 30 million (Banister), and possibly as high as 55 million (Grangereau). It is estimated that this held back China’s economy by at least 10 years. Without the negative impact of Mao’s actions, China’s economy could now conceivably have been on par with that of the USA (Holodny). Even the CPC places “30%” of the blame on Mao for events that unfolded due to his actions, including The Great Leap Forward (Hutton). This shows that, for better or for worse, Mao’s actions were hugely significant for China’s future economic development.
During the latter stages of his premiership, Mao attempted to learn from his economic mistakes, and gave slightly increasing freedom to the communes, but still kept a vice like grip, before most were dismantled after his death as part of a scheme to open China up to market force economics (Encyclopedia Britannica). It could be said that modern day China’s openness to free market economics is an example of a lack of importance attributed to Mao, as this was the polar opposite to his views.
Mao also had great influence over the industrial economic sector of China. During his tenure as leader, China experienced an average industrial economic growth of 10% per year (Revcom), despite the catastrophic back yard steel campaign, which was a major contributing factor to the
famine during the Great Leap Forward, as well as substandard steel. Indeed, Mao himself became obsessed with steel after this failure and, in the latter stages of his premiership, focused production so greatly on steel, that he neglected other resources, such as coal to transport the steel for use. However, despite all this, industrial output, by 1976, was 13 times greater than 1949 (Hutton).The “sick man of Asia” had transformed itself into a major industrial power in just over a quarter of a century, comparable to the greatest surges of growth in history (Revcom). This industrial strength is still hugely important and significant. To this day, China still has the quickest growing industrial sector of any major global economy (The Economist).
Mao’s success in setting up a strong base for China’s industrial sector is aiding its efforts in the 21st century to exert influence over neighbouring countries through industrial support. An example of this is C-PEC, China’s $62 billion industrial investment in Pakistan. As well as exerting significant influence over Pakistan, due to debt incurred, China also obtains direct access to the Arabian Sea, shortening a major trade route (Rafiq). This is just one of many industrial projects China now has on foreign soil.
Mao essentially shaped China’s political stance, and its attitude toward foreign affairs. On immediate attainment of power, he cut off all international relations, other than with the USSR. However, this relationship soon collapsed after Khrushchev became increasingly friendly with the West, much to Mao’s disgust. Consequently, despite being a developing economy in a strategically important location, it received little to no foreign aid or assistance (Revcom). This protectionist stance is considered to have been very beneficial for the Chinese local economy in the short run, given that it was still in its infancy, yet it also dampened its ability to grow in the future.
As Mao’s his time in office passed, he slowly became increasingly open to the world, such as his invitation to President Nixon in 1972. This stance culminated on the 25th of October 1971, when Chiang Kai-shek’s representatives were expelled from the United Nations (UN) and “the place which they unlawfully [occupied]”, and the People’s Republic of China were recognised as “the only legitimate representative of China” (United Nations). This is the single most important action the UN has taken in its history, with China increasing its geopolitical influence through obtaining a coveted security council seat and veto. This allowed Mao to shape global politics, as well as that of China. Additionally, the importance of the One China Policy agreed with the USA cannot be understated either. It is commonly regarded that this agreement allowed the USA to gain China’s support during the Cold War and ultimately laid the foundations for China’s current geopolitical standing (The Economist). Indeed, Mao’s One China Policy is so enshrined that President Trump’s actions to bring US commitment to it in doubt were one of the few actions that he has had to swiftly retract (BBC). The policy led to the first official relationship between China and Taiwan, known as the 1992 Consensus, where both sides agree there is only one China, but leave who this is, open to interpretation (Wikipedia).
The political system in China is still essentially Maoist, with the CPC inseparable from the state itself and no press freedom or free speech. This, in part, stems from Mao’s actions directly after the Hundred Flowers Campaign in 1957, such as the mass persecution of intellectuals and those who criticised him, causing a ‘brain drain’ of experts in their respective fields, which held back China’s industrial progress, as well as creating a culture of fear that still persists.
This lack of press freedom, initiated by Mao after the Hundred Flowers Campaign, still exists. Of China’s 6 national news channels, 5 are controlled by the state, and the remaining channel regularly suffers from prosecution of staff and vandalism of their offices and studios (Wikipedia). This desire extends to foreign press organisations, with numerous examples of western media outlets being barred from events in China, such as the annual CPC conference in October 2017, where the likes of the BBC, Guardian and Financial Times were all barred (Phillips).
China’s censorship of all other forms of media, including the internet and broadcast television, stems from Mao, and his keenness to eliminate access to foreign entertainment in order to control the masses, and keep them focused on a socialist way of life, rather than being tempted by Western Capitalism, which he saw as an addictive poison, comparing it to Opium. This philosophy continues today, with websites such as Google, Twitter and YouTube all blocked (Wikipedia). This censorship of foreign material is so comprehensive, it has been dubbed “The Great Firewall of China. Despite huge international pressure to change this, China shows no signs of altering its position, a direct impact of Mao.
The most significant aspect of Mao’s legacy is the one-party state, with no democratic elections, particularly impressive as no other nation on Earth, with the exception of North Korea, has a lack of democracy enshrined in law. Indeed, whilst much has changed, the one thing that remains taboo is the criticism of Mao, as his “thoughts” are enshrined in the constitution. So, criticism of him is
criticism of the CPC. This explains why it was so important for the party to retain his body, for “The Great Helmsman” could not simply fade away into history after his death in 1977.
In conclusion, Mao’s importance from the start of the latter half of the 20th century can be assessed by looking at modern day China. His economic actions and philosophy, whilst damaging during his lifetime, remain hugely significant. Indeed, his successor, Deng Xiaoping, used Maoist philosophy to instigate economic reform in the 1980s that led to China having the second largest GDP, as well as being expected to overtake the USA in the next 20 years (Hutton). However, his economic importance is dampened by the fact that China is opening itself up increasingly to a western capitalist economic philosophy, something which Mao was openly against. China has also backed away from 5 year economic plans, made famous under Mao, and away from a heavy stimulus planned economy, for fear of excessive investment requirements (Wildau).
Mao’s geopolitical actions have confirmed the People’s Republic of China’s right to exist on the world stage, as well as giving China the ability to expand its sphere of influence into other countries such as Pakistan.
Mao’s political importance cannot be overstated. Not only was he the founding father of the CPC, his political ideology is still extremely significant to its proceedings, so much so that, until October 2017, he remained the only person to be named in the CPC constitution, an honour which has since been extended to Xi Jinping (Phillips).
Mao’s importance in the latter half of the 20th century is reflected by the fact that China remains a one-party state, the CPC being fully imbedded into it, with no press freedom and widespread censorship of divergent thoughts. China has attained superpower status with the world’s second largest economy. China attaining permanent membership of the UN Security Council, accompanied by increased geopolitical reach, is testament to the importance of Mao Zedong.