May 16 Notification issued - May 16, 1966

On this day in 1966, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued the May 16 Notification, marking the start of the Cultural Revolution.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Stay in History Class. It's a production of I
Heart Radio. Hey y'all, I'm Eves and Welcome to the
Stand History Class, a podcast that brings you a new
tidbit of history every day. Today is May sixteen. The

(00:21):
day was May sixteenth, nineteen sixty six. China's Cultural Revolution
began when the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee issued a
document known as the May sixteenth Notification. The Cultural Revolution
was a decade long period of political and social upheaval
launched by Mao Zedong. The origins of the Cultural Revolution

(00:44):
are complex, but the ten years that ensued were characterized
by extreme violence, persecution, and an economic downturn. Mao Zadong,
the chairman of the Communist Party of China, proclaimed the
founding of the People's Republic of China in nineteen forty nine.
Mao set about instituting measures to reform society. Landlords were

(01:06):
killed and land was redistributed to peasants. The opposition was
violently suppressed, and Mao started the Hundred Flowers Campaign, inviting
criticism of the Communist Party of China's policies, but he
soon backtracked on it. In night, Mao launched the Great
Leap Forward, which was a five year campaign a forced

(01:27):
agricultural collectivization and rural industrialization, but implementation was poor and hasty,
and ideological purity was emphasized over expertise. The disruption of
China's agriculture and natural disasters led to famine and massive
economic and environmental destruction. The Great Leap Forward was a

(01:49):
failure and resulted in tens of millions of deaths by starvation, execution, torture,
forced labor, and suicide. The government began to appealed the
program by nineteen sixty, but its failure created tension between
party leaders. The campaign was denounced and Mao was blamed.
Mao's position and government weakened as Mao attempted to regain

(02:12):
his authority. Over the next few years, there was a
brief period of recovery and economic stability. Agricultural and industrial
production increased, but Mal and his supporters were plotting a comeback.
The exact origins of the Cultural Revolution are not clear,
but many historians point to the play High Re Dismissed
from Office, which was about a Ming dynasty official who

(02:35):
criticized the emperor. Mal was convinced that the play supported
the Defense minister Pung Dehuai, whom Mao had purged because
he criticized the Greatly forward mao supporters also denounced the
play as an attack on Mao's leadership. Mal and his
supporters began advocating for a cultural revolution, claiming that they
aim to restore socialism and take down the ruling class.

(02:59):
The Cultural Revolution and also operated as an effort to
eliminate people who had went up against Mao. When Ma sixteenth,
nineteen sixty six, the Central Committee of the CPC issued
a document condemning CPC member Pong Zen and his committee,
known as the Five Man Group, for saying that the
High replay was an academic issue and not a political one.

(03:21):
Pong and other members of the group were purged from
the CPC and the Five Man Group was replaced with
the Cultural Revolution Group. The May sixteenth notification stated that
the enemies of the Communist Party had infiltrated the party,
and it outlined the revolution's goal of pursuing class warfare.
Though Mao didn't formally launch the Great Politarian Cultural Revolution

(03:43):
until August, this day is widely considered its beginning. Schools
were closed, intellectuals were sent to the countryside to do
manual labor. A cult of personality formed around Mao students
form paramilitary groups called the Red Guards and targeted political
enemies like elites and others deemed to be anti revolutionaries.

(04:04):
They urged people to get rid of the four Olds
or old customs, culture, habits, and ideas. They also destroyed
historical sites and artifacts. They even carried out mass killings
in cities. As the Red Guards became more extreme, the
People's Liberation Army was sent in to restore order. Male's

(04:25):
death on September nine marked the end of the Cultural Revolution.
Death told very greatly from the hundreds of thousands to millions.
The economy was damaged. The Cultural Revolution completely upended Chinese
politics and society. I'm each Jeff Code and hopefully you
know a little more about history today than you did yesterday.

(04:46):
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again for listening to the show in all see you tomorrow.

(05:10):
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