Laying the Groundwork for a Revolution

In 1959, Mao had stepped down from his position as Head of State, his role in government was steadily decreasing.  He had become increasingly more distant to the public as well as his friends and family.  During his time away from the political scene, Mao became disturbed by the efforts of current Party leaders to resurrect the broken economy of China.  The leaders were not moving forward with the goals of his revolution; Mao feared that the Party was straying from the socialist path. Mao began secretly devising a plan to prevent the de-railing of the revolution and to ensure a new generation of revolutionary-minded successors.

Mao launched his mass movement called the “Socialist Education Campaign” was meant to rekindle revolutionary fervor.  The campaign was launched in 1962, after the nation had finally recovered from Mao’s Great Leap Forward.  Farmers and workers attended rallies and meetings, studied Mao’s teachings. All were encouraged to apply Mao’s words and many dutifully attempted to do so.  Mao, however, was unhappy with the campaign and continuously questioned the government under Liu Shaoqi and their commitment.  Mao saw the government as having capitalist tendencies, giving out bonuses and other incentives to workers. 

This began the conflict between Mao and Liu Shaoqi.  This conflict split Mao and his supporter from Liu and his. Although no one would dare directly criticize Mao, or accuse him of making mistakes, subtler ways were found of doing so.  This all lead up to the launching of Mao’s final great campaign in 1966.