Maoism

Maoism, also called Mao Zedong Thought, is a version of Marxism-Leninism created by Mao Zedong. He made it while working for a socialist revolution when China was still developing. One big idea of Maoism is that many different groups, not just communist revolutionaries, could lead a revolution in places that were not yet industrial.

Maoism was important in China from the 1950s until changes in the late 1970s. During this time, it guided the Chinese Communist Party and inspired many revolutionary groups worldwide. After China and the Soviet Union split in the 1960s, both countries argued about who truly followed the ideas of Joseph Stalin and led the global movement for communism.

The term “Maoism” was first used in 1951 by a scholar named Benjamin I. Schwartz. He used it to explain how Mao put Marxist-Leninist ideas into practice, especially by getting peasants to support the revolution.

History

Further information: Ideology of the Chinese Communist Party

Chinese intellectual tradition

In the early 1900s, Chinese thinkers thought about two big ideas: questioning old traditions and loving their country very much.

Iconoclastic revolution and anti-Confucianism

Some educated people in China began to question old beliefs from Confucianism. The fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911 made many think that Confucianism was tied to old, unfair ideas.

Chen Duxiu and others led movements like the New Culture Movement from 1915 to 1919. These movements influenced young Mao Zedong and aimed to educate more people and challenge old leaders.

Nationalism and the appeal of Marxism

National pride and anger against foreign control grew in China. Events like the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 made many Chinese upset. This led to big protests, like the May Fourth Movement in 1919.

The Russian Revolution in 1917 also inspired many Chinese thinkers. After these events, more Chinese began to see Marxism as a way to fight foreign control.

Yan'an period between November 1935 and March 1947

After the Long March, Mao and the Chinese Communist Party settled in Yan'an. Here, Mao shared his ideas about Marxism and began to shape what would become known as Mao Zedong Thought.

Mao Zedong's intellectual development

Mao's ideas grew in five main stages:

1. The early Marxist stage from 1920 to 1926
2. The early Maoist stage from 1927 to 1935
3. The mature Maoist stage from 1935 to 1940
4. The Civil War stage from 1940 to 1949
5. The time after 1949 when China won its revolution

Initial Marxist period (1920–1926)

Mao believed that education alone wouldn’t change China. He thought the rulers needed to be removed, and the people had to demand change.

Formative Maoist period (1927–1935)

During this time, Mao didn’t write much about theory.

Mature Maoist period (1935–1940)

This was a busy time for Mao’s thinking. He began to adapt Marxist ideas to fit China’s unique situation.

In the late 1930s, Mao and others started sharing the Communist Party’s growing ideas. Mao called these ideas Mao Zedong Thought.

Beginning in Yan'an, Mao Zedong Thought became a guide for revolution and social change.

Civil War period (1940–1949)

In this time, Mao focused more on action than theory. He still believed theory should guide practice. He talked about avoiding two mistakes: relying too much on theory (dogmatism) and relying too much on experience (empiricism).

In 1945, the party officially adopted Mao Zedong Thought as its main idea.

Establishment of the PRC

For Mao, winning in 1949 proved his theories right. He updated his ideas to fit building a new society. By 1951, the term “Maoism” was used in English to describe his practical way of leading revolution.

In 1956, Mao first talked about the idea of constant revolution.

Cultural Revolution

The idea of cultural revolution comes from Marxism-Leninism. It says that even after a revolution, old ideas can return. So, people need to keep fighting old ideas and values.

Examples of this happened in the Soviet Union and in China’s New Culture and May Fourth Movements. These events shaped Mao’s ideas about cultural revolution. Under Mao, big movements tried to apply these ideas.

Deng era

After Mao died in 1976, Deng Xiaoping began new economic changes in 1978. Deng said the true spirit of Mao Zedong Thought was to look at facts and judge policies by their results. He separated Mao from Maoism, saying Mao made mistakes too.

China’s leaders still keep Mao Zedong Thought as one of their main guiding ideas.

Xi era

Xi Jinping says Mao Zedong Thought is the main guide for China’s Communist Party. He describes it as learning from facts, listening to people, and keeping China independent.

Some people in China today worry about unfairness and inequality. Some young people are interested again in Mao’s ideas. The government has limited some of these discussions.

Components

The CCP's way of thinking splits ideas into "Thought" and "Theory". Thought is more important and shows how much a leader matters.

Mao Zedong Thought grew from talks among early CCP leaders and mainly uses Mao's looks at Marxism and China’s history. It changes Marxism to fit China.

The idea of the New Democracy was known to Chinese revolutionaries from the late 1940s. This idea said that for most people, the “long road to socialism” needed a “national, popular, democratic, anti-feudal and anti-imperialist revolution, run by the communists”.

Maoism believes that “political power grows out of the barrel of a gun”, stressing the “revolutionary struggle of the vast majority of people against the exploiting classes and their state structures”, which Mao called a people's war. It encourages many people in the countryside to stand up against old ways by using guerrilla warfare, focusing on “surrounding the cities from the countryside”.

Maoism sees the gap between towns and countryside as very important, thinking capitalism uses this gap. It believes peasant uprisings are key to world change, seeing the countryside as stronger than cities. Because of this imperialism by rich towns on poor countryside places, Maoism supports national liberation movements in poorer nations.

The idea of the mass line grows from Vladimir Lenin’s thoughts on a vanguard party. It has a plan for leading people, strengthening the group, and building socialism. The mass line is “from the masses, to the masses”. It has three steps:

1. Collect ideas from many people.
2. Look at these ideas with a revolutionary view, thinking about what’s best long-term.
3. Share these ideas back to help people work together for change.

These steps should happen again and again to keep improving.

Mao took ideas from Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, and Vladimir Lenin to think about “contradiction” (maodun). He believed contradiction is natural and needed for growth. In essays like On Contradiction and On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People, he said things develop through struggle.

In 1974, China shared its Three Worlds Theory at the UN. This theory said during the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union were the “first world”. Other powerful nations were the “second world”. Poor nations were the “third world”. Both first and second worlds used the third world, but the first world was worse. Revolution was more likely in third-world countries.

Maoism focuses on countryside change rather than cities. This is called agrarian socialism. Maoist groups in places like Peru, Nepal, and the Philippines look at both city and countryside needs. Maoism differed from the Soviet Union under Nikita Khrushchev, seeing it as state capitalist and Marxist revisionism.

Maoism and Marxism differ in who can start a communist revolution. For Marx, it was city working class. For Mao, it was peasants, whom he called the popular masses.

Mao strongly believed in uniting people. He looked at peasant uprisings in Hunan while others focused on cities and orthodox Marxist workers. Many ideas in Maoism, like not trusting experts too much, come from usual people’s views. The idea of “people’s war” comes from these thoughts. Mao thought experts and group leaders should first learn from people and then guide them. This was key to the “people’s war” plan.

International influence

From 1962, disagreements between the Chinese Communist Party and the Soviet Union caused splits in communist parties worldwide. At first, the Albanian Party of Labour supported China. Many communist parties in South-East Asia, like the Communist Party of Burma, the Communist Party of Thailand, and the Communist Party of Indonesia, also sided with China. Some Asian parties, like the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Workers' Party of Korea, tried to stay neutral.

Under leaders Ali Soilih and the DRCP party, the State of the Comoros used ideas from Mao. Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge had some similarities to Mao’s ideas.

Efforts to unite the international communist movement under Maoist ideas continued after Mao died in 1976. Many parties and groups formed in the West and Third World that followed the Chinese Communist Party. They often used names like Communist Party (Marxist–Leninist) to show they were different from traditional Soviet-aligned parties. These movements were influenced by student activism in the 1960s and 1970s.

Only one major Western communist party supported the Chinese Communist Party, the Communist Party of New Zealand. After Mao died in 1976 and power struggles followed in China, the international Maoist movement split into three groups.

Afghanistan

The Progressive Youth Organization was a group in Afghanistan that followed Mao’s ideas. It was founded in 1965.

The Communist (Maoist) Party of Afghanistan was formed in 2004.

Australia

The Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist) is a Maoist group in Australia. It started in 1964.

Bangladesh

The Purba Banglar Sarbahara Party is a Maoist party in Bangladesh. It was founded in 1968.

Belgium

The split between supporters of the Soviet Union and China affected communism in Belgium. The pro-Soviet Communist Party of Belgium had a Maoist split led by Jacques Grippa. Grippa formed the Communist Party of Belgium – Marxist–Leninist (PCBML).

Ecuador

The Communist Party of Ecuador – Red Sun, also known as Puka Inti, is a small Maoist group in Ecuador.

Denmark

Small Maoist groups formed in Denmark in 1964. Over time, these groups split and changed.

France

In 1964, a Maoist group formed at École Normale among students who studied with Louis Althusser. French Maoism grew after the split between China and the Soviet Union. After the events of May 1968, Maoists became more influential in French intellectual circles and contributed to movements for gay and lesbian rights and the early feminist movement in France.

The École Normale Maoists joined with leaders of the May 1968 protests to form Proletarian Left. For six years, it was the most visible Maoist group in France. It dissolved in 1974.

Germany

In West Germany, several groups formed in the late 1960s that followed Maoism.

India

Mao’s ideas gained followers among Indian communists during uprisings in the 1940s and 1950s. The Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong became popular after the 1967 Naxalbari uprising. The Communist Party of India (Maoist) is the main Maoist group in India today.

Iran

The Union of Iranian Communists (Sarbedaran) was an Iranian Maoist group formed in 1976. The Communist Party of Iran (Marxist–Leninist–Maoist) formed in 2001.

Israel

The 1970s group Ma'avak was influenced by Maoism.

Italy

Articles criticizing an Italian communist leader increased interest in China’s communist approach. Soon after, the first Italian Mao-inspired party was founded. Groups like Servire il Popolo modeled themselves on China’s Red Guards.

Mao-Spontex

Mao-Spontex was a Maoist interpretation in Western Europe that emphasized cultural revolution and rejecting hierarchy. It was a movement from 1968 to 1971.

Palestine

The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine was initially influenced by Maoism.

Peru

Peru had a strong Maoist movement due to the Sino-Soviet split and the actions of Shining Path.

Philippines

The Communist Party of the Philippines, formed in 1968, was based on Maoist ideas. It has an armed wing, the New People’s Army, and is still active today.

Portugal

Maoist movements were active in Portugal during the 1970s, especially during the Carnation Revolution in 1974. The Portuguese Workers' Communist Party was one of the most active groups.

Spain

The main Spanish Maoist group was the Communist Party of Spain (Marxist–Leninist). After rejecting Maoism, the Communist Party of Spain (Reconstituted) became the leading Maoist group.

Sweden

In 1968, a small Maoist group called Rebels formed in Stockholm.

Tanzania

Tanzania’s socialist approach under President Julius Nyerere used Maoist ideas like self-reliance.

Turkey

The Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist is a Maoist group currently fighting against the Turkish government. It was founded in 1972.

United States

After the events of the 1960s, Maoist ideas were a major part of American socialism. Groups like the Revolutionary Communist Party and the October League emerged. The Black Panther Party was also influenced by Mao’s ideas. In his autobiography, BPP leader Huey P. Newton wrote about how reading Mao changed his views.

Criticism and implementation

Maoism lost support in the Chinese Communist Party after reforms by Deng Xiaoping in 1978. Deng thought Maoism showed the risks of extreme left ideas. He said Mao was "70% right, 30% wrong," separating Mao's ideas from his way of governing. Many Chinese scholars agree with this view.

Some scholars think this change brought back capitalist ideas to China. In 1978, this led to the Sino-Albanian split when Albanian leader Enver Hoxha called Deng a revisionist and created Hoxhaism, a different form of Marxism. Enver Hoxha criticized Maoism.

Mao believed China had an important role in international socialism. This strong nationalistic view made Mao different from other Chinese communists.