In 1966 Mao announced the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution to reclaim power from other high Chinese officials. He did this by mobilizing students. Mao said they should "bombard the headquarters" of the Communist Party, even though he was the nominal head of the government. Mao's stratagem worked in terms of removing Liu Shaoqi, the second-ranking party leader who had become the unofficial head of the Communist Party, from office. Liu's supporters, such as Deng Xiaoping, were subsequently purged from their offices as well. Millions of Chinese suffered and many died in the turmoil that followed.
The Cultural Revolution further damaged Chinese relations with the Soviet Union. Mao became so concerned about a Soviet military invasion that he turned to the United States. Almost simultaneously, U. S. president Richard Nixon became interested in improving relations with the Chinese. He hoped that such improved relations would lead the Chinese to pressure the North Vietnamese to settle the war in Indochina. Nixon visited China in 1972, beginning the gradual process of restoring friendly relations.
U. S. president Richard M. Nixon meets Chairman Mao Zedong during his historic visit to China in early 1972. (National Archives)
In 1976 a massive earthquake struck a city less than one hundred miles from China's capital, Beijing. This disaster was so great that more than 250,000 people died and damage extended to Beijing itself. Many Chinese, referring to an old Chinese superstition, suggested the ancient notion that the Chinese leaders had lost the Mandate of Heaven. This seemed to be confirmed when Mao died on September 9, 1976.
Within one month the most extreme radicals in Mao's faction were arrested. Over the next two years, more moderate Mao supporters tried to hang on to power, but they were eventually displaced by Deng Xiaoping, a supporter of Liu Shaoqi who had been purged during the Cultural Revolution.
Deng sought to avoid several of the mistakes Mao had made. He refused to take the highest offices in either the government or the Communist Party. However, in secret meetings he was declared to be the final arbiter of all major disputes if the party leadership was divided. Publicly, Deng was said to be the paramount leader. Pressed by peasant demands for freedom from the stifling communist system, Deng agreed to some tentative agricultural reforms. However, the reforms quickly spread to the rest of the country.
World History
