Good things Mao Zedong did

Answer 1

Mao Zedong was instrumental in waging a war against the invading forces of the Imperial Japanese military beginning in the 1930's and on forward to the end of World War Two. Mao's communist ideology led him to end all political opposition once he took over total control of the Communist Party. The result was a one party system, that was a totalitarian one imprisoning and executing all democratic opponents of communism. He used the Chinese army to help with the North Korean efforts to win the Korean War. In summation, his became a ruthless dictator much like Joseph Stalin.

Answer 2

Here are some positive interpretations of Mao's acts:

Mao is the "sun in the sky." He is considered the greatest leader in Chinese history. Mao freed China from its medieval backwardness and transformed it into a modern nation. Under Mao's leadership, China was transformed. What had taken centuries in the West, took only decades in China. China made the leap from a semi-colony to a Great Power.

Mao liberated the Chinese people from economic exploitation and social oppression. He freed China from its Confucian past, gave women equal status in Chinese society, opened China to the west and expanded China's economy. China's economy grew at an average annual rate of 11% to 15% per year thereby creating the industrial infrastructure that laid the basis for the economic transformation that took place during the rule of Deng Xiaoping.

According to Lee Feigon, author of Mao-A Reinterpretation, the Cultural Revolution transformed China for the better. During the Cultural Revolution, Mao battled corruption, streamlined bureaucracy, strengthened the economy, reduced and decentralized Soviet-style bureaucracy that was threatening to choke China, promoted artistic and educational reform, and worked towards social justice and the feminist ideal.

"Although urban schools closed for a time, Mao used the Cultural Revolution to dismantle elitist and formalistic educational system that the country had returned to in the early 1960s. He shifted resources to rural education, in the process radically expanding China's educational system."

The Great Leap Forward was a failure. Rather than a leap forward, it became a lurch sideways. By 1961, China was on the brink of economic ruin and internal collapse. As a result of the loss of fertile farmland and poor management of what farmland remained the annual harvest declined. The result was widespread famine. Industrial outpit also fell. Even Mao himself was forced to admit that his idea was a disaster. He was forced to step down from his post as chairman of the Chinese Communist Party.

Second opinion.

Mao Zedong was a ruthless communist dictator. Opposition to his one party rule of China caused the deaths of millions of Chinese people. He fought against the UN forces in the Korean War.

Answer 3

Mao's Great Leap Forward brought economic ruin and famine to the country.