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After defeating the Japanese, the Communists defeated the Kuomintang in an ensuing civil war and established the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949. It was the culmination of over two decades of Communist Party–led popular struggle. From 1954 to 1959, Mao was the Chairman of the PRC. He took up residence in Zhongnanhai, a compound next to the Forbidden City in Beijing, and there he decreed the construction of an indoor swimming pool and other buildings. Mao often did his work either in bed or by the side of the pool during his chairmanship, according to Dr. Li Zhisui , who claimed to be his physician. (Li's book, The Life of Chairman Mao, has been subject to controversy.)
Following the consolidation of power, Mao launched a phase of rapid, forced collectivization, lasting until around 1958. The CPC introduced price controls largely successful at breaking the inflationary spiral of the preceding ROC as well as a Chinese character simplification aimed at increasing literacy. Land was redistributed from land-owners to poor peasants and large-scale industrialization projects were undertaken, contributing to the construction of a modern national infrastructure. During this period China sustained yearly increases in GDP of about 4–9% as well as dramatic improvements in quality-of-life indicators such as life expectancy and literacy. The CPC also adopted policies intended to promote science, women's rights, and minorities' rights, while combating drug use and prostitution.
Programs pursued during this time include the Hundred Flowers campaign, in which Mao indicated his willingness to consider different opinions about how China should be governed. Given the freedom to express themselves, many Chinese began opposing the Communist Party and questioning its leadership. This was initially tolerated and even encouraged, since it was thought that constructive criticism would be beneficial to the Party. However, after a few months, Mao's government reversed its policy and rounded up those who criticized the Party in what is called the Anti-Rightist Movement.
In 1958, Mao launched the Great Leap Forward, a plan intended as an alternative model for economic growth which contradicted the Soviet model of heavy industry that was advocated by others in the party. Under this economic program Chinese agriculture was to be collectivized and rural small-scale industry was to be promoted. In the middle of the Great Leap, Khrushchev canceled Soviet technical support because Mao was too radical in pushing for worldwide communist revolution. Severe droughts also occurred at this time, compounding the difficulties. The Great Leap ended in 1960, after food shortages affected both the Chairman's home town and Zhongnanhai itself. Both inside and outside China, the Great Leap Forward is now regarded as a disastrous policy contributing to the deaths of millions of people.
The withdrawal of Soviet aid, border disputes, disputes over the control and direction of world communism, whether it should be revolutionary or status quo, and other disputes pertaining to foreign policy contributed to the Sino-Soviet split in the 1960s.
Following these events, other members of the Communist Party, including Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping, decided that Mao should be deprived of actual power and only remain in a largely ceremonial and symbolic role. They attempted to marginalize Mao, and by 1959, Liu Shaoqi became State President, while Mao relinquished the position but remained Chairman of the Communist Party.
Facing the fact of not being heard on the political stage, Mao responded to Liu and Deng by launching the Cultural Revolution in 1966, in which the Communist hierarchy was circumvented by giving power directly to the Red Guards, groups of young people, often teenagers, who set up their own tribunals. The Revolution led to the destruction of much of China's cultural heritage and the imprisonment of a huge number of Chinese intellectuals, amongst other social chaos. It was during this period that Mao chose Lin Biao to become his successor. Lin Biao attempted a military coup in 1971, resulting in Lin's death from a plane crash. Mao lost trust in many of the top CPC figures. The Cultural Revolution and its great negative impact on China as a whole made it near-universally regarded as a complete disaster.
Mao greeted United States President Richard Nixon (right) in a China visit in 1972
In 1969, Mao declared the Cultural Revolution to be over, although the official history of the People's Republic of China marks the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976 with Mao's death. In the last years of his life, Mao was faced with declining health due to either Parkinson's disease or, according to Li Zhisui, motor neurone disease, as well as lung ailments due to smoking, and heart trouble, and remained passive as various factions within the Communist Party mobilized for the power struggle anticipated after his death. When Mao could swim no longer, the indoor swimming pool he had at Zhongnanhai was converted into a giant reception hall, according to Li Zhisui. During this decade, a cult of personality was created around Mao in which his image was displayed everywhere and his quotations were included in boldface or red type in even the most mundane writings.
After his death on September 9, 1976, there was a power struggle for control of China. On one side were the leftists led by the Gang of Four, who wanted to continue the policy of revolutionary mass mobilization. On the other side were the rightists, which consisted of two groups. One was the restorationists led by Hua Guofeng who advocated a return to central planning along the Soviet model. The other was the reformers, led by Deng Xiaoping, who wanted to overhaul the Chinese economy based on pragmatic policies and to deemphasize the role of ideology in determining economic and political policy.
Eventually, the power struggle was won by Deng Xiaoping. He introduced economic reforms that have proven largely successful, helping China sustain the highest rate of per capita economic growth in the world for the past two decades.
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