In What Ways and with What Success did Mao Deal with Opposition Between 1949-1976?

One of the ways Mao dealt with opposition in 1949 to 1976 was by setting up a temporary constitution in 1949. The constitution allowed other political parties to participate in a multi-party ‘people’s democratic dictatorship’. Mao kept control by not giving landlords, country owners and prominent ex GMD supporters the right to vote. However the ‘national bourgeoisie’ and the ‘petty bourgeoisie’ were given civil rights alongside the peasants and the workers. This was a success at dealing with opposition because as Mao had just came to power in 1949 and therefore had a lot of opposition. Making vast changes at once would have caused more opposition, the temporary constitution allowed Mao to deal with the opposition he had without producing any more. Once the opposition had been dealt with Mao was able to become less tolerant of potential bourgeois opponents. This is why in 1954 Mao was able to turn China into a one party state, successfully dealing with oppositon.

Another way Mao dealt with opposition between 1949 and 1976 was by suppressing minorities and religion within China. In 1950 Mao’s government called on ethnic minorities to identify themselves and promised then a degree of autonomy. Four hundred ethnic groups did so, from these officials created fifty groups which were placed under military supervision and forced to accept communist rule. The official communist view was that religion was a capitalist invention, used to keep the lower classes in their place with promises of a better afterlife. Confucianism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity were condemned as superstitious and Maoist China saw the closure of churches, temples, shrines and monasteries. Foreign priests and missionaries were expelled and Chines ones were forbidden to wear distinctive dress. In 1950 Tibet was captured and renamed Xizang, its people were subjected to severe repression in an attempt to eradicate all traces of Tibetan language and culture. The outlawing of the Lama Faith, which is a form of Buddhism, and Tibetan culture provoked a national uprising in 1959. This was brutally crushed after six months. Overall this was not a success because although the uprising in Tibet was crushed there was a limit to how much Mao could reshape people’s private belief. In the more remote areas of China it remained strong and in Tibet the Lama Faith inspired continued resistance to Chinese occupation.

In addition Mao dealt with opposition by using mass mobilisation campaigns. For example the suppression of counter-revolutionaries campaign in 1950-51 which focused on those with links to the GMD, criminal gangs and religious sects. Due to this movement there numbers of denunciations and public executions. In addition there was the three antis campaign in 1951 which was a campaign against corruption, waste and obstruction, and was directed against communists and non-communists. Managers, state officials, police and cadres were obliged to take part in struggle sessions. Struggle sessions were a session which the accused were taken before a panel, usually in public, to listen to a catalogue of their alleged crimes and moral failings. They were deliberately humiliated and required to look down. The five antis campaign in 1952 was a campaign against bribery, tax-evasion, theft of state property, cheating in government contracts and economic espionage. The accused faced fines, property confiscations and periods in labour camps. If they confessed and paid their dues they were usually allowed to return to their work, unlike landlords. Although few were executed around 2-3 million committed suicide because of the shame and humiliation. Another campaign was the anti-rightist campaign in July 1957 which followed the 100 flowers campaign in 1956-57. In 1956 Mao lifted censorship rescictions and encouraged open criticisim of the way the party had been working. In May and June