How Far Did the Cultural Revolution Strengthen Mao’s Personal Control of China?

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How far did the Cultural Revolution strengthen Mao’s personal control of China? Prior to the Cultural Revolution of 1966-9, Mao’s personal power over China had been weakened due to the rise of several political opponents and the power struggle between the years 1962-5 which meant that the Cultural Revolution increased Mao’s personal power to a significant extent. However whilst Mao may of now had ultimate authority, this came at the expense of the increased militarism of China and in turn led to the increased power of both Lin Biao and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). There are other aspects that the Cultural Revolution had an impact in terms of power that allowed Mao’s own power to be strengthened including, the weakening of the Chinese Communist Party, the militarism of China and the power of the army it’s leader Lin Biao. It can be argued that the Cultural Revolution strengthened Mao’s personal power, because one of the main outcomes was the weakening of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and their power. For example, Mao was able to blame the party for the outcome of the Cultural Revolution. The horrific deaths of half a million Chinese people. This enabled Mao to then put the blame on the party members, for being too enthusiastic about the movement. This can be shown by the fact that one outcome was the re – education enforced by Mao, that was made compulsory to the Red Guards, the youth league of the CCP. This clearly shows that Mao was successfully stating his authority and power within the communist party, expressing himself as the man leader. The CCP was also significantly weakened through the breakdown of the central committee, as another outcome of the Central Revolution. After the Ninth Party congress of April 1969, the old committee was replaced, with less than a quarter re-elected into the new committee, with 45% of the 279 members being
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