Mao Zedong Biography

Mao Zedong Biography

Full Name: Mr. Mao Tse-Tung
Date of Birth: December 26, 1893
Place of Birth: Shaoshan, Hunan, China
Died: September 9, 1976
Place of Death: Beijing, China
Classification: Leaders & Revolutionaries


Leading the industrial and agricultural program known as “The Great Leap Forward,” Mao Zedong was involved in the deaths of millions of rural inhabitants in China when his attempted exploits at raising the production of grain and steel went awry. His leadership was communist or Marxist in theory, but his reign was one that dismantled and set back an entire nation. As a result, outside countries, namely the United States, Japan, South Korea, Russia, and Europe became his enemies.

Born into a peasant family, Mao knew the difficulties of rural life. While he attended school, he began to formulate ideas that he believed would help his fellow people who spoke Xiang, rather than Mandarin. However, his learning of theories was never thoroughly examined in practice, and he believed Marxism was the answer for a greater China.

Mao traveled to Beijing in 1919 with his professor and future father-in-law. While there, he was a librarian, attended classes and lectures of the most prominent minds in China, read as much communist literature as he could, married Professor Yang’s daughter, and started on his path to become a revolutionary.

By 1920, he had decided that a violent revolution was the only way to quickly and efficiently spread his ideas and be recognized as a political force. He became involved in many labor movement struggles, but soon saw realized it got him nowhere. He then decided to gather the support of the peasants, who he could easily manipulate and explain the greatness of communism. They encouraged him and took up arms in what became a violent revolt against China’s current system at the time. In the mountains of Jiangxi, he gathered more troops, set up base camps, and became the self-proclaimed commander-in-chief of the group.

Through his work, he built up an impressive army who were involved in guerilla warfare movements throughout the province. His army eventually fought Japan, and the United States saw that Mao was gaining power and popularity. His army was now dubbed the “Red Army”. When he finally came to power in China in 1949, his word was considered like that of a god. At first, he welcomed criticism of his policies, but after a few months, his popularity began to decline as intellectuals and other circles began questioning his leadership. Mao had many of his critics executed, and with the failure of his Five-Year Plan, millions more died and were persecuted. China became more isolated as Mao wanted China to support itself, and his involvement in China’s Cultural Revolution is still criticized to this day.