China since 1949 - for each event - what happened, when, who was involved and what was the effect on the power of each group involved?

As the slideshow suggests, by the 1970s Mao's position within the party was not in doubt. As his death (through the onset of parkinson's) became more likely different factions within the party began to jostle for power. This period saw the death in mysterious circumstances of Lin Biao, the growth of power of the Gang of Four, protest after the death of Zhou Enlai and eventually the accession to power of Hua Guofeng.

The power struggle

Read this brief article or this one on the accession of Hua Guofeng, then investigate how such a non-entity of the Chinese Communist Party was chosen by Mao over some of the more obvious successors.

Look into;
- What happened to Lin Biao, what is your theory on his death?
- Why did the death of Zhou Enlai cause problems for the gang of four?
- Why was Deng Xiaoping not able to take power immediately after Mao's death?

Contenders for Mao's Throne

The Leftists:
Who were they?
What policies did they promote / support? (202 - 204 + 215)
What was the basis of their power? (source 6.1)
What was their view on foreign policy and four modernisations? (205-207)
​How did the Qingming festival show the unpopularity of the Gang of Four (source 6.6) 
How did they fare after the death of Mao? (220 - 223)
The Rightists:
Who were they?
What policies did they promote / support? (206/7 + 215)
What was the basis of their power? 
What was their view on foreign policy and the four modernisations? (209)
How did the death of Zhou Enlai affect them? (214 + 217) 
How did they fare after the death of Mao? (221)

What were the factors in the defeat of the Gang of Four?

Role of the four modernisations.
The death of Zhou Enlai and Qingming festival
The death of Mao
The long term effects of the Cultural revolution
The actions of Hua Guofeng

Look into the 5 factors that led to the defeat of the Gang of Four. Try and think how each is interlinked and also think about ranking them. You could present your notes like the picture opposite, the file for this is below.
fall_of_g_of_4_table_e.g..docx
File Size: 12 kb
File Type: docx
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The inevitable rise of Deng?

With each date; What happened, how did it help Deng to power, was it a mistake of Hua?

July 1977:


Dec 1978:


Sept 1980:


Jan 1981:


June 1981:



Use Todd pp226-230 to guide on this. Consider, is it right to be seeing Deng's rise as inevitable?

A brief article introducing Deng
A complete indulgence by Mr Rudall or is there a cunning analogy for the transition of power in China in here...probably not, but see if you can explain the possible analogies in here, who is Luke, who is Darth Vader, is there a hidden meaning in this dialogue, does Luke's plunge represent anything. Any TOK moments send to B Van Dorssellaer.