How did Mao Zedong secure control of China in the 1950's?

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  1. In what ways did Mao secure the control of China in the 1950’s?

In 1949, Mao Zedong was appointed the undisputed leader of China. As well as this, he was chairman of the CCP. China became the ‘People’s republic of China.’ Mao was still not satisfied. Although he had become the leader of China, this did not mean that he had total control. For that reason, the CCP put in a number of policies to make sure they could have total control over China.

The first policy put in place, was that China became a one-party state. This meant that all other parties other than the CCP were banned. The term ‘counter-revolutionary’ came into place to describe those who showed any opposition to the communist party. Counter-revolutionary described someone who was against the communist revolution. To clear themselves of any suspicion of being counter-revolutionary, people began to accuse others.

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Mao introduced the idea of the carrot and stick method. He used policies which would improve the lives of certain groups of people as the carrot, and then used punishment as the stick. The stick policies consisted of Mao taking control over the cities in which there may be remaining support for the GMD. The GMD were the Guomindang. They were the opposition of the CCP. To stamp out any of the remaining supporters, he ordered the massacre of these people; these people being those who might have anything to do with the GMD. In total, around 93,000 people ...

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