The Origins of the Cultural Revolution. Volume 3: The Coming of the Cataclysm 1961-1966

This is the final volume in a trilogy which examines the politics, personalities, economics, culture, and international relations of China from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. Roderick MacFarquhar is the first to use a multitude of new Chinese sources to answer the question: Why did Chairman Mao Zedong launch the Cultural Revolution which plunged China into chaos and almost destroyed its Communist Party? Volume 3 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. The Chairman's anger that they were prepared to adopt 'capitalist' methods to rescue the country was sharpened by his belief that Moscow was denouncing his revolutionary diplomacy because the Soviet leadership had gone capitalist and sold out to the 'imperialist' West. From 1961 to 1966, the increasingly urgent question for Mao was how to prevent a similar revolutionary deterioration in China. The Cultural Revolution, in which tens of thousands of loyal party veterans were publicly disgraced to make way for a supposedly more leftist generation of Red Guards, was his answer. Ironically, after it all ended with Mao's death, one survivor, Deng Xiaoping, was so appalled at the destructiveness of the Chairman's final cataclysm that he actually did turn to capitalism to revive the country. This volume is the first scholarly work for twenty years to focus on the whole gamut of events - political, economic, intellectual, military, and international - in the years leading up to the Cultural Revolution and makes use of a multitude of Chinese documentary, biographical, and historical works that have only appeared in the last decade. 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. 1. Contradictions Among The People, 1956-1957 -- 2. The Great Leap Forward, 1958-1960 -- 3. The Coming Of The Cataclysm, 1961-1966. Roderick Macfarquhar. Vol. 1 Lacks Series Statement. Includes Bibliographies 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.

Winner of the 1999 Joseph Levenson Prize for Books on Twentieth Century China, Association for Asian Studies

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. Why did Mao Zedong launch the cultural revolution that almost destroyed all that he had worked so long and so hard to create? In his highly praised study-now a classic-Roderick MacFarquhar seeks to answer that question by examining the politics, economics, culture, and international relations of China from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. Reason began to prevail in the summer of 1960 as a gloomily pensive Mao realized the enormity of what he had perpetrated.