The origins of the cultural revolution: the coming of the cataclysm, Vol. 3

This Volume Begins With The Great Famine Of The Early 1960s Which Resulted In Tens Of Millions Of Deaths, Setting In Train A Series Of Emergency Measures Which Increasingly Divided Mao From His Comrades-in-arms. Roderick Macfarquhar. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [657]-699) And Index. This is the final volume in a trilogy that examines the politics, personalities, economics, culture, and international relations of China from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. It seeks to answer the central question: Why did Chairman Mao Zedong launch the Cultural Revolution (1966--76), which plunged China into chaos and almost destroyed its Communist Party? The Coming of the Cataclysm starts with the great famine of the early 1960s, which resulted in tens of millions of deaths and set in train a series of emergency measures that increasingly divided Mao from his comrades-in-arms. His anger that they were prepared to adopt "capitalist" methods to rescue the country was sharpened by his belief that Moscow had actually gone capitalist and sold out to the "imperialist" West. From 1961 to 1966, the period covered by this volume, the increasingly urgent question for Mao was how to prevent a similar revolutionary degeneration in China. The Cultural Revolution was his answer.Drawing upon new evidence from Party documents, personal interviews, books, and journals, MacFarquhar details the growing rift between Mao and his colleagues as they attempted to cope with domestic privation and an increasingly hostile international environment -- until the Chairman finally decided to smash the unity of the Yan'an Round Table by unleashing society against the party-state Frontmatter List of Tables (page xiii) List of Plates (page xv) Abbreviations (page xvi) Introduction (page 1) Part One: The Third Bitter Year 1 The Central Committee's Ninth Plenum (page 11) 2 Emergency Measures (page 23) 3 A New Course in the Countryside (page 39) 4 A Plethora of Plans (page 72) 5 Reds and Experts (page 90) 6 China's Isolation (page 121) Part Two: False Dawn 7 The Seven Thousand Cadres Conference (page 137) 8 Economic Crunch (page 184) 9 The Dispute over Collectivization (page 209) 10 Resuscitating the United Front (page 234) 11 The Curious Case of the 'Three-Family Village' (page 249) Part Three: Class Struggle 12 Mao Changes the Signals (page 261) 13 War in the Himalayas, Crisis in the Caribbean (page 297) 14 Mao in Charge (page 324) 15 The Socialist Education Movement (page 334) 16 The Sino-Soviet Rupture and the Vietnam War (page 349) Part Four: The End of the Yan'an Round Table 17 Woman Warrior (page 381) 18 From Grey Eminence to Red Leader (page 399) 19 Mao Stoops to Conquer (page 431) 20 The Coming of the Cataclysm (page 461) Conclusions (page 466) Abbreviations used in Notes (page 474) Notes (page 479) Bibliography (page 657) Index (page 701) This is the final volume in a now-classic trilogy that seeks an answer to this question as it examines the politics, economics, culture, and international relations of China from the mid-1950s to the mid 1960s. "The Coming of the Cataclysm" explores the important events leading up to the Cultural Revolution, and details the ways in which Mao continually tested the Chinese Communist Party.