New Forces of Revolution

1914 to Present

1. . New Forces of Revolution
   1. Revolution from the left and from the right
      1. Cuban – Marxist left wing
         1. Patterns of dictatorship and economic exploitation in Latin America
            1. Liberation/modernization dependent on US
            2. Great Depression forced L. America economies to diversify
            3. WWII forced Interwar dictators out of power
            4. Reverted to exploitative economies/dictatorial control
            5. Modernization merely put more wealth in upper class hands
            6. . Military governments/right wing dictatorships
               1. 1970s only Colombia, Venezuela, Costa Rica democratic
         2. Dictatorship from other political spectrum – left – Fidel Castro
            1. Overthrew right-wing dictator – Fulgencio Batista
            2. Nationalizes industry, carries out land reform
            3. Goals – modernize, industrialize, increase literacy, eliminate inequality
            4. Castro and Che Guevera wanted to combat US imperialism
            5. Claimed to be Marxists – turned to USSR for assistance
      2. Iranian – Extremist right wing
         1. Most powerful dictatorships in Middle East – Iraq and Iran
         2. Since 1920s, ruled by secular Phalavi shahs
            1. Last shah ruled from 1941-1979 - Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
            2. Used oil wealth to industrialize/modernize
            3. Opposed Islamic traditionalism
               1. Encouraged Western dress, education
               2. No veil on women
               3. Eradication of sharia – Islamic law
            4. Ally of the United States
            5. Relied on repression to maintain order
               1. Regime anti-democratic
               2. Middle class opposed shah’s authoritarian/repressive rule
               3. Ayatollah’s – religious teachers – oppose secular views
         3. Enter Shiite cleric Ayatollah Khomeini
            1. Islamic fundamentalist exiled by the Shah
            2. Iranian Revolution turned nation into anti-Western (U.S.)
            3. Theocratic dictatorship
            4. Held American hostages for a number of months
            5. Went to war with Iraq from 1980-1988
         4. Khomeini died 1989 – theocracy still exists
      3. The People’s Republic of China
         1. China and the Second Revolution
            1. China on winning side of both wars, but…no country suffered more
               1. May Fourth Movement 1919
                  1. Attempt to create a liberal democracy in China
               2. 1920s fragmented into series of warlord states
               3. When Sun Yat Sen died, Chiang Kai Shek took over
                  1. At first communists / Chiang Kai Shek work together
                  2. Then Nationalists execute communists > civil war
            2. Communists retreat to the north to regroup
            3. W/ Japanese invasion Communists/Nationalists “work together”
            4. After WWII, coalition gov’t encouraged
               1. But…Communists win in 1949
               2. Chiang Kai Shek goes to Taiwan to regroup – sound familiar
            5. US supports KMT – Nationalist Kuomintang in Taiwan
            6. . USSR supports CCP – Chinese Communist Party
         2. Most populous communist nation on earth for five decades
         3. Mao – questionable communist leanings
            1. At first, appeared to want to take pragmatic social/political reform
            2. New Democracy and land reform of 1950s greeted positively
               1. Collectivization – first Five-Year Plan – relatively successful
                  1. Relatively humane
            3. But…he is repressive
               1. Refuses to let Inner Mongolia secession
         4. But…then he gets nutty
            1. Perversely grotesque persecution of dissenters, class enemies
            2. Too fast end of 1950s w/ industrialization/collectivization
            3. Great Leap Forward – 1958
               1. Collectivization and industrialization too fast
                  1. Good job – lack of initiative/decrease in production
               2. Crops fail/chaos in industrial sector
                  1. 15 million die
               3. Industrialize at the local level – small-scale peasant projects
               4. Led to division of CCP
               5. Fortunately it was stopped in 1960
         5. Then he gets nuttier
            1. Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution of 1966
               1. Method of attacking political enemies
               2. Absolute revolutionary purity
                  1. Little Red Book – only version of wisdom
                     1. Mao’s sayings
               3. Young communists put anyone questionable on trial
                  1. professors, foremen, farm heads, writers, politicians
                  2. Victims demoted, harassed, “reeducated”
               4. Attacked members of CCO
         6. Finally Mao dies and Deng Xiaoping defeats “Gang of Four”
            1. Mao’s widow plus allies
         7. 1976> - Deng Xiaoping discontinues collective farming
            1. Lets Western influence in
            2. But does not permit democratic reform – Tiananmen Square - 1989
         8. g. Comparing Dynastic China to Communist China
            1. 2000 years class structure and Confucianism dominated China
               1. Communism – all traces of class structure erased
            2. Traditional society – valued large families
               1. Help on farm
               2. Identity based on relation to other family figures
               3. Communists – abortion and birth control
                  1. Some refused
                  2. Others infanticide
            3. Collectivization destroyed old relations
               1. no need for family labor
               2. Communists don’t want competition w/ state authority
               3. Women advance
                  1. Husbands and wives treated equal by law
                  2. Women can divorce husbands
                  3. Property rights, equal pay for equal work
                  4. Encouraged to pursue professional/vocational