Consolidation and maintenance: Mao's nature and extent of the opposition Notes

Political, Party, and Intellectual Opposition

1. Although senior party purges like Gao Gang were already part of Mao’s use of force, deeper opposition existed within the CCP. Some members disagreed with Mao’s increasing focus on personal loyalty over party consensus.
2. The Hundred Flowers Campaign exposed underlying criticism among intellectuals, students, and even party members who were frustrated by censorship and economic failures.
3. The Anti-Rightist Campaign that followed punished over 500,000 people, many of whom had spoken out in good faith. These included university professors, writers, and mid-level cadres.
4. This backlash created a culture of silence within the party and intellectual life. Even constructive feedback was treated as political betrayal, which made future organised dissent nearly impossible.

Regional and Ethnic Resistance

1. The Tibetan Uprising (1959) was a major act of regional resistance. It was crushed by the PLA and followed by mass arrests, cultural suppression, and the exile of the Dalai Lama.
2. In Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia, opposition was rooted in ethnic identity and religion. CCP responses included forced assimilation, censorship of local languages, and the movement of Han Chinese settlers into these areas.
3. Local uprisings were often triggered by land reform, famine, or religious repression, but these movements lacked national coordination and were usually suppressed quickly.
4. These cases showed that while ethnic regions posed a challenge to national unity, they did not seriously threaten Mao’s political control.