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How Did The Government Prevent The Cultural Revolution?

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The government introduced the so-called One Hundred Flowers campaign in the spring of 1956 with the slogan "Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend." The intention was to motivate and enhance creative freedom; the next year, it was extended to include freedom of intellectual expression. Many people construed this to mean an increased tolerance of political expression, but the government did not accept, and the result was a large-scale cleanse and removal of intellectuals and critics of the Communist Party. This was part of what became known as the Cultural Revolution. In an effort to restore his popularity, Mao implemented an attack on his enemies in the Communist Party. Those attacks went beyond the government to include intellectuals, teachers, and scientists, many of whom were sent to work camps in the countryside for "reeducation." Religion was declared illegal which led to the destruction of many temples. Tens of thousands of young people …show more content…

In 1972, U.S. President Richard Nixon made a historic trip to China to meet with Mao, to the beginning a period of improvement and advancement in diplomatic relations with the United States.
Mao died in 1976, which put the country in a state of virtual chaos. His successor was Hua Guofeng, a protégé whom the chairman had promoted through the ranks of the party. However, Mao's wife, Jiang Qing, along with three other officials (Zhang Chunqiao, Wang Hongwen, and Yao Wenyuan), assumed more power in the transitional government. Known as the Gang of Four, they were widely repulsed. When the gang publicly announced its objection to Hua in 1976, Hua had them arrested, an action that was widely accepted. The four politicians were convicted but did not come to trial until

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