Biography of mao tse tung summary

British Broadcasting Corporation Home. He was responsible for the disastrous policies of the 'Great Leap Forward' and the 'Cultural Revolution'. Mao was born on 26 December into a peasant family in Shaoshan, in Hunan province, central China. After training as a teacher, he travelled to Beijing where he worked in the University Library.

What is mao tse-tung famous for

It was during this time that he began to read Marxist literature. Mao and other communists retreated to south east China. In , after the KMT surrounded them, Mao led his followers on the 'Long March', a 6, mile journey to northwest China to establish a new base. The Communists and KMT were again temporarily allied during eight years of war with Japan , but shortly after the end of World War Two, civil war broke out between them.

Chiang Kai-shek fled to the island of Taiwan. Mao and other Communist leaders set out to reshape Chinese society. Industry came under state ownership and China's farmers began to be organised into collectives. All opposition was ruthlessly suppressed. The Chinese initially received significant help from the Soviet Union, but relations soon began to cool.

In , in an attempt to introduce a more 'Chinese' form of communism, Mao launched the 'Great Leap Forward'. This aimed at mass mobilisation of labour to improve agricultural and industrial production.