The Empire That Went to War Against Imperialism, Opium, and Birds

Opium, Japan, birds, critical intellectuals, America, leaders of the Communist Party of China, gender inequality, the Soviet Union, and class conflict share a common point: Mao Zedong, the founder of the People's Republic of China, who campaigned against all of them. Mao, the leader of the Communist Party, ruled China for 27 years, defeating some of these enemies, reconciling with others, and failing against some. Mao, who united a fragmented and humiliated China under foreign domination, was, at the time of his death on September 9, 1976, considered by some to be comparable only to the first emperor of the country. Mao's legacy is not only a united and powerful China ready to become the world's factory; Maoist thought attracted millions around the world, from Iran to France and from Nepal to Peru, with many sacrificing their lives in hopes of realizing his ideas in their countries—ideas that were a dream for many, but certainly not for the tens of millions of Chinese who died of starvation in the pursuit of these thoughts. The 50 million people Mao's policies affected began when he defeated the Kuomintang (the Nationalist Party) in 1949, his former ally in the war against Japan during World War II and his sworn rival, taking power in China. The Kuomintang forces retreated to Taiwan. Mao came to power in a China where 10% of its half-billion population were addicts. The Communist Party labeled addiction, not addicts, as 'the enemy.' Addicts were introduced as victims needing help, while traffickers were executed. Mao was not the first leader of China to decide to ban opium sales in the country. In the mid-19th century, the Qing Dynasty decided to prohibit opium imports into China. At that time, the most significant seller of opium to China was the British East India Company. British traders cultivated poppies in their Indian colony and sold opium to China. The emperor's decision to ban opium imports led to a military confrontation with Britain, known as the 'Opium War.' British forces attacked the Chinese in the name of 'free trade' and inflicted a heavy defeat on them. China succumbed to humiliating treaties and even lost Hong Kong. Mao and many others consider the Opium War the beginning of their country's downfall. Mao's campaign against addiction enjoyed public support, and China freed itself from opium after a century. Frank Dikötter, a historian and author of 'Mao's Great Famine,' believes the Communist Party's relationship with opium has never been black and white. Dikötter, who previously taught at the University of London, told Radio Farda that the Communist Party engaged in opium trade during World War II for revenue, and despite Mao's severe crackdown in the mid-1960s, poppy cultivation began in some parts of China. He adds that fear of execution led many to abandon opium use in the 1950s. Mao and the Communist Party of China rose to power theoretically and practically by relying on the farmers of the country who had lived in poverty for centuries, bringing about a peasant revolution. Alongside the fight against opium, the Communist Party of China abolished discriminatory laws against women, allowing women for the first time to choose their husbands. In the early 1950s, land owned by landlords was redistributed among farmers. Farmers were encouraged to humiliate landlords and small landowners. In many cases, humiliation did not stop at words, and thousands lost their lives. The next step was to unite farmers under a cooperative umbrella. This led to increased production and improved living conditions for farmers. However, this was not enough for Mao. Despite many in the Party opposing him, he wanted to go further and push China toward communism. Like Stalin, Mao sought to implement the idea of collective ownership. Meanwhile, in 1956, Khrushchev, Stalin's successor, harshly criticized this policy of collective ownership in a speech that was not made public. Frank Dikötter says Mao's opponents used this speech to slow down the implementation of collective ownership, but Mao, believing in his policies, turned to the masses and launched the 'Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom' campaign. In this campaign, citizens were encouraged to express their opinions openly and criticize. He thought people would support him. But Mao's hundred flowers wilted quickly as people, contrary to Mao's expectations, opened their mouths in strong criticism and even targeted Mao. In an article, Mao labeled critics as counter-revolutionaries, and a widespread crackdown on critics began; even supporting 'Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom,' which Mao himself initiated, was deemed a crime. From the race of lies to cannibalism, in 1958, Mao initiated a five-year plan to accelerate industrialization and agricultural surplus production in China, despite many leaders opposing him, and implemented collective ownership. Mao's 'Great Leap Forward' campaign began. Farmers began to live and work collectively (commune), and no one had ownership rights over anything. To increase production, children were kept in one place, women and men worked together, ate in public kitchens, separate dormitories were established, and in a word, the family was abolished. One of the government's slogans was 'A few years of hardship, a thousand years of happiness.' The Soviet Union had announced that it would surpass the United States in steel production, and China, not wanting to fall behind, declared that its steel production would surpass that of Britain. The story of the 'Great Leap Forward' had stranger dimensions than fictional tales. Thousands of furnaces were set up across China, and whatever the peasants had was thrown into these furnaces to produce steel and inflate commune statistics. Due to the inexperience of many, much of the steel produced was unusable. On the other hand, communes were encouraged to compete with each other for greater agricultural production. The government decided how much agricultural product should be given to the state and how much should be allocated for the farmers' food. The decision-makers for farmers were individuals who had no knowledge of farming and were only ideologically driven. Myths replaced reality in practice. One of these myths was that if we spread a lot of fertilizer in one place, we would have more crops. Fabricated figures soared to attract the attention of officials. Based on these figures, the government demanded that communes provide their agricultural products to the state. As a result, the actual amount left for the peasants was insufficient for their daily sustenance. The result was a famine that claimed the lives of tens of millions over three years. The Communist Party accepted the figure of ten million, but some experts suggest even seventy million. Mao, who promised to free farmers from poverty, sent them to death with his misguided planning and, better to say, his delusions. The 'Great Leap Forward' lasted no more than three years. Over 1,200 cases of cannibalism were reported in 1960. In some instances, the starving killed and ate family members or relatives. The Communist Party prepared a secret report on this cannibalism, and Mao was 'aware of it.' To remind the starving Chinese how fortunate they were, a new campaign called 'Bitter Past' was launched. The elders of villages had to recount the stories of the bad years before communism so that the youth would appreciate their good fortune. This campaign also failed because the elders quickly spoke of the famine and the deaths of friends and family members that occurred not in the past but in the 'years of happiness.' Although Mao was not labeled as responsible for the Great Famine, he lost his former status among other Communist Party figures, was removed from the presidency, but remained a powerful leader of the Communist Party. The publication of the Little Red Book in 1964 made history for the Communist leader of China, who, besides being a theorist of revolution and war, was also a poet. The book included quotes from Mao, such as 'Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun' and 'Revolution is not a dinner party, nor writing an essay, nor painting a picture; it is a violent uprising that overthrows one class by another.' Two years later, Mao decided to re-enter the political game and took an unprecedented step by inviting the youth to revolt against Chinese officials and authorities. They were invited to rise against old ideas, culture, customs, and traditions. The result of Mao's action was the emergence of the Red Guards from Chinese youth and the hunting of Mao's opponents. The Red Guards, who carried Mao's Little Red Book like a Bible, stopped many people and asked them questions from the Little Red Book. Gilles Lardreau, a French philosopher enamored with Mao, compared the Little Red Book to the re-publication of the Bible and likened Mao to a resurrected Christ. The Red Guards tortured and killed millions whom they labeled as 'class enemies.' In recent years, for the first time, some Red Guards have apologized to the victims and declared the Cultural Revolution illegal. Many ancient artifacts and writings of China were destroyed and burned in the name of fighting the past. The Red Guards were so destructive that after a year, under the pretext of learning about the lives of farmers and their suffering, they were sent from cities to agricultural areas. Pierre Riquet, a historian and author, writes about the Cultural Revolution that revolution is just a word, and culture is an excuse for the power struggle of a few at the top of the power pyramid. The Red Guards tortured and killed millions whom they labeled as 'class enemies.' In recent years, for the first time, some Red Guards have apologized to the victims and declared the Cultural Revolution illegal. Mao's Cultural Revolution, which was a purge of his opponents, lasted until 1976, the year of Mao's death. The Gang of Four, his successors, including Mao's wife, sought to continue this path, but in 1978, the tide turned, and Deng Xiaoping, a moderate leader of China, entered a new path that many consider the first capitalist country with a Communist Party. Mao's ideas influenced beyond China's borders, and thousands called themselves Maoists, believing they could achieve a peasant revolution and besiege cities from the countryside. Mao's words also found a place in political literature: the Soviet Union, which had gradually cooled its relations with China after Stalin, was labeled as social imperialism (although this term was used by the proletariat organization during Lenin's time, Mao gave it a new meaning). Mao's revolutionary ideas were not only popular in third-world countries; in 1968, the student and youth movement that shook some European countries, including France, was heavily influenced by Mao. Rebecca Karl, a history professor at New York University and author of multiple books on China, told Radio Farda that Mao's promises of the Cultural Revolution, which were against bureaucracy and authority, had a clear impact on Europe. The events that occurred during the Cultural Revolution were not clear and evident to Europeans in France or Italy, but the right to question those in power, rebellion, and establishing democracy for the masses through the occupation of public spaces were very attractive to Europeans. Of course, it was not only Mao who influenced a number of excited and uninformed youth about China; many of the most influential intellectuals and philosophers in Europe, especially the French, defended Mao and even had no traces of reality in their travel notes to China. Jean-Paul Sartre, one of the most famous philosophers of the twentieth century, wrote that Mao had not made a mistake unlike Stalin. Julia Kristeva, a psychoanalyst and literary critic, after her visit during the Cultural Revolution in China, said she saw no signs of violence. Roland Barthes also made no mention of the atrocities in his travel notes to China. Rebecca Karl states, 'At that time, Soviet communism had no appeal for the left; Mao's revolutionary methods and ideas were a breath of fresh air for the left.' Dikötter agrees with Rebecca Karl. He says, 'Stalin was very popular among young people and even many politicians in the 1930s. De-Stalinization led communists to be attracted to Mao, the 'warrior, philosopher, and revolutionary.' Of course, the voices critical of Maoism at that time were under severe pressure. Pierre Riquet (Simon Lévy), who depicted the reality of China in his famous book 'The Emperor's New Clothes for President Mao' (referring to Hans Christian Andersen's story about a naked king walking and no one daring to say the king is naked until a child shouted), was accused of being a CIA agent. Radicalism and the fascination of Western intellectuals for communist radicalism is not a new phenomenon. Many intellectuals and even scientists align their beliefs with Stalin's ideas. Some communist biologists in the West, when Stalin declared genetics a product of the bourgeoisie and discarded it, stood by him. Radicalism and the fascination of Western intellectuals for communist radicalism is not a new phenomenon. Many intellectuals and even scientists align their beliefs with Stalin's ideas. Some communist biologists in the West, when Stalin declared genetics a product of the bourgeoisie and discarded it, stood by him. Iranians also joined this Maoist wave.