Any industrial development backward and dependant o

- Any industrial development – backward and dependant
o Japan enjoyed greater autonomy / movement in World Economy
- INCORPORATION
- Economic – trade / investment – Japan less important to West than China
- Political – less political, missionary encroachment
o Coming of West – profound internal changes
14

- Japan – new rulers grab power from local feudal domains and centralized;
very little pressure from West
- China – never able to regain central power, continuous Western pressure –
“Open Door” policy
o Not that the Chinese were less ideologically motivated, but prevailing
decentralization of power and continual encroachment of West. Absence of
centralized financial power could not sponsor economic development.
13. The Causes of the Cultural Revolution in China
• The Cultural Revolution was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and ended in 1976
• Mao called upon China’s youth (Red Guards) to challenge and go against authority
(“capitalists roaders”).
• Causes for the cultural revolution:
o Mao wanted to prevent the abandoning of socialism. Mao feared China was turning
“capitalist”
o Mao wanted to restore a revolutionary spirit to the Chinese people.
o Mao wanted to re-educate China’s oppressive officials.
o Mao wanted to have control over policy by provoking an internal party struggle. Mao
wanted all the power and didn’t want any rebel intellectuals getting in the way of his
rule.
o From 1961-1966, China greatly developed, thus, Mao felt he was losing his power.
• The Cultural Revolution did not come to a halt until the arrest of the Gang of Four, 10 years
after the Cultural Revolution had begun.
• Results: Cultural Revolution brought the People’s Republic of China to political and
economic ruin. It brought the country to the brink of civil war and turned the Chinese against
one another.
o 1966-1976 was a period of total chaos
14. The Red Guards in China
• During the Cultural Revolution, Mau Zedong called upon China’s Youth to make revolution.
• The Red Guards were the main enforcers of the Cultural Revolution.
• The Red Guards consisted of students, mainly teenagers, that were to revolt against and get
rid of anyone or anything that was anti-Mao. These included intellectuals, educated elite,
and even books, documents, and temples.
• The Red Guards persecuted intellectuals in the form of denunciation ceremonies, labor
camps, and mass imprisonment. The Red Guards persecuted anyone who was disloyal to
Mao and who caused general chaos in society. Even people who were only suspected of
being non-communist were persecuted. The Red Guards challenged the people in authority
such as school teachers, school principals, bureaucrats, and local leaders of the Communist
party (who initially ignored the demands of the Red Guards.