Mao Zedong and the People's Republic of China

Abstract

Long considered one of the most fascinating leaders of the 20th century, Mao Zedong has been noted as both a visionary as well as a cruel killer. Before his communist reign as the leader of the People's Republic of China in 1949, China was in a state of political and economical turmoil. Mao's policies were intended to correct the uneven distribution of wealth in the country and give a voice to the peasants, which he often identified with.
In 1920, Mao founded his first theory of violent revolution, which was inspired by the Russian revolution. He aimed to undermine the influence of imperialism and feudalism that was prevalent in china; he was quite disdainful toward the Chinese Nationalists who were preoccupied by economics rather than a cultural discourse. He believed that the proletariat would be the ones to seek a substantial change.