How did Mao Zedong secure control of China in the 1950s?
… and then used punishment as the stick. The stick policies consisted of Mao taking control over the cities in which there may be remaining support for the GMD. The GMD were the Guomindang. They were the opposition of the CCP. To stamp out any of the remaining supporters, he ordered the massacre of these people; these people being those who might have anything to do with the GMD. In total, around 93,000 people were murdered by the CCP; 28,000 in Shanghai and 65,000 in Guangzhou. This was a huge amount of people to have died, purely on suspicion. Furthermore, to make sure no anti-communist groups were meeting, Mao and the CCP closed down all other organisations to stop large groups of people meeting. In addition to this, Mao also targeted religions and closed down churches; communists believed that people should not worship anyone but obey the government. Maoist slogans were …
