Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
LEADER OF ALL TIME.
MAO ZEDONG-- HE INSPIRED NEAR
GOD-LIKE WORSHIP AMONG HUNDREDS
OF MILLIONS OF CHINESE.
AS THE HERO OF THE PEASANT-
BACKED REVOLUTION IN 1949, MAO
TOOK OVER CHINA, PRORORORORORORO
BRING POWER TO THE PEOPLE
THROUGH COMMUNISM.
HE PRESENTED HIMSELF AS THE
PREFECT LEADER, BUT THERE WAS A
DARK SIDE.
THE EARLY YEARS OF HIS COMMUNIST
REGIME WOULD SEE SOME THREE
MILLION POLITICAL DISSENTERS PUT
TO DEATH.
BUT THE TOLL FROM HIS STRONG-
ARMED TACTICS PALES IN
COMPARISON TO THE ARMAGEDDON HE
UNINTENTIONALLY CAUSED: : : : :A
GOVERNMENT POLICY GONE
DISASTROUSLY WRONG.
THESE PICTURES REPRESENT BUT A
TINY FRACTION OF THE MILLIONS
WHO DIED DURING THE CHINESE
FAMINE OF 1958 TO 1961, THE
WORST THE WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN.
ESTIMATES OF THE DEAD RANGE
BETWEEN 30 AND 40 MILLION
PEOPLE, AS IF THE ENTIRE STATE
OF CALIFORNIA HAD BEEN WIPED
OUT.
THE FAMINE AND ITS DEATHS WERE
THE DIRECT RESULT OF MAO'S SO-
CALLED "GREAT LEAP FORWARD,"
MAO'S RELENTLESS PUSH TO
INCREASE STEEL PRODUCTION AND
SIMULTANEOUSLY ORGANIZE FARMING
INTO MASS COMMUNES.
THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD, HOWEVER,
WAS AN ECONOMIC DISASTER AND A
HUMAN TRAGEDY.
>> Brundage: THE IDEA OF
ORGANIZING MASS COLLECTIVES TO
REPLACE FAMILY FARMS TURNED OUT
TO BE WOEFULLY INEFFICIENT--
A VAST MISUSE OF RESOURCES.
>> Rowe: BECAUSE OF MAO'S
HEADSTRONG DETERMINATION, THE
GREAT LEAP FORWARD WAS NOT
ABANDONED FOR THREE YEARS,
DURING WHICH TIME AN
EXTRAORDINARY NUMBER OF
CHINESE-- TENS OF MILLIONS--
STARVED TO DEATH.
YET WITH MAO'S CULTURAL
REVOLUTION, THE MILLIONS WHO
SURVIVED HIS LETHAL DECISIONS
AGAIN CAME TO REVERE HIM--
DESPITE HIS BEING THE DEADLIEST
LEADER OF ALL TIME.
>> Rowe: UNDER MAO, 45 MILLION
PEOPLE WERE EXECUTED OR DIED OF
NEGLECT.
THAT'S MORE THAN TWICE THE
NUMBER OF DEATHS ORDERED BY
HITLER AND STALIN COMBINED.