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course. Peasant brigades got more autonomy, and factory managers could
determine production.
By 1966 Mao began to reassert his authority. He worried that the Party
had lost its old zeal. He sought to restore ideological purity, revolutionary
fervor, and the class struggle. To counter the unenthusiastic Party, Mao
found two allies: students and the army. The students, mostly in high school
but some in universities, formed units called the Red Guards. Millions
joined. The Red Guards marched and demonstrated. They were person-
ally loyal to Mao Zedong, often reciting from the government-distributed
“Little Red Book,” the Quotations of Chairman Mao . They physically
attacked the police and sometimes other Red Guards units. Tens of thou-
sands would assemble in Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing to
chant slogans and hear Mao address them. Soon even Mao realized they
were becoming uncontrollable.
Mao's other ally was the People's Liberation Army. He had personally
led the army since the days of the Long March, through the Civil War
and the War against Japanese Aggression, and finally to victory over
the Nationalists. With the breakdown of social order due to the collapse
of the Communist Party and the rampages of the Red Guards, the army
was the only force for stability. It both restrained the radicals and cooper-
ated with them in Revolutionary Committees that filled in for the van-
ished Communist officials. Because the Red Guards were so numerous and
violent, Mao and the Army decided to send them to the countryside, where
they would be out of the way, and perhaps learn old-fashioned virtues from
the peasants. This was not voluntary. In many cases, schools and universi-
ties were closed. Half a generation of young people were denied education.
By 1969 the pendulum began to swing back toward the center. Leaders
such as Deng Xiaoping and Zhou Enlai (Mao's longtime prime minister)
moved toward moderate policies. All sectors of the economy were to be
modernized. The 1973 National Party Congress voted to confirm this.
Two years later, Zhou Enlai spoke to the People's Congress to announce
the Four Modernizations for the four sectors of agriculture, industry,
defense, and science and technology. The year 1976 brought the deaths of
both Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong. China was headed on a new course.
Government: Upon winning power in 1949, Mao Zedong established
a totalitarian government under the control of the Communist Party.
The structure was dual: both party and government existed at all levels,
though the party always dominated. His model was the Soviet Union.
Authority extended into every aspect of life. The state owned all industry
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