Mao wanted to move faster to allow him to gain a complete dictatorship of China. At first Mao pursued a cautious policy in order to build and maintain a broaden coalition of support. However towards the end of 1950, with external and internal forces threatening China’s revolution Mao along with the CCP were therefore allowed to justify more extreme measures. The Bourgeoisie were repressed by the state by propaganda campaigns to isolate and shame the chosen targets. Police and The Courts were also used to prosecute those who committed corruption, consequently facing imprisonment and execution. One extreme method that Mao enforced were a large network of Labour Camps, known as, ‘Lao-gai; millions of Chinese were sent to these camps, which were often harsh environments, for hard physical labour in the fields or mines.
Repression and terror in China involved the whole population. Neighbourhood committees were also established to identify with the CCP and punish all those suspected of crime; Mao exerted control over the whole population. The Cadres permeated all levels of government and administration. They too had been fully indoctrinated and along with the PLA they were given leading roles to pass on the communist ideology to peasants. Mao had a clear view that repression and terror were the best two ways of reforming China and consolidating his power.
Mao used terror and repression most notably to eliminate political threats to his power. The best examples of this were the purges of the CCP, including those of Gao Gang and Rao Shushi in late 1953. The pair supported him however their impression left on Mao was that they were too ambitious. Any threat to Mao’s power he consequently imprisoned the ‘perpetrator’,
As a result he imprisoned Rao, who died in prison 20 years later, and Gao later committed suicide due to the public humiliation he faced.
Mass campaigns were a tactic that the Communist party used to suppress the Chinese society. Western influences were barred and missionaries were expelled, others were executed. Mao tried to exercise close control over the levels of executions, however his aim was to scare and brutalise the population away from crimes. Mao stated while chairing a meeting in January 1951,
‘If we are weak and indecisive and excessively indulgent of evil people, it will bring disaster.’
This explains Mao’s reasons behind the use of terror. Another form of repression Mao conducted were the Antis campaigns; where those who were involved with Bribery, tax evasion, and those who were managers and state officials were in the firing line. Mao tried to
consolidate his power by gaining the support of the Chinese people. The communists and Mao attempted to gain support from the peasants rather than the middle classes, for it were the peasants that made up the largest percentage of the Chinese population.
Despite Mao using a considerable amount of terrorising tactics he did attempt to reform China. In 1949 a Common Programme for China setting out an agenda for political, economic, and social change was implemented.
Mao had a cautious approach to Land reform as he wanted to gain the public’s respect. He first introduced land confiscation, however only confiscating land from rich landowners. In the early 1950’s Mao believed that a policy of forcing peasants into large collective farms or communes would encounter resistance and threaten to undermine peasant support for the revolution. As a result of this the CCP introduced a scheme for 10 families for pooled labour and equipment. This was a movement that would slowly introduce a commune.
Under traditional Chinese society women were regarded as worthless, under tight scrutiny from their family they were subjected to arranged marriages and were told to be good wives and fulfil traditional roles in the home. However when Mao came to power he enfranchised women and stated that at least one quarter of those elected to representative bodies had to be a woman. Mao also implicated the new marriage law in 1950, outlawing arranged marriages and the payment to a husband or his family.
An Improvement towards education was a major turning point for Mao. As the majority of the population in China were illiterate, Mao wanted to implement education because as a result he would be able to devise more propaganda. He would also then be able to create posters to inform those about public health because this was another improvement he wanted to make. At the time the posters outlined simple practical steps that city dwellers could take for themselves to improve their living conditions. However with the inclusion of words, many steps would not be mistaken and the public health would be better.
As mentioned before the majority of Mao’s tactics to consolidate his power were mainly with the use of terror and repression. Although there have been no recordings of the Chinese population being fearful, with the amount of terror and strict rules I can imagine there was apprehension throughout the country. However to conclude I disagree with the statement made, because Mao implemented reform. Reform appealed to the Chinese population for they wanted change. Even though Mao did use terror it was in the peasants favour.