Monday, May 23, 2016

Unit 9 Lesson 2: Focus: Was Mao Zedong a Hero or Villain for China?

1. Do Now 10 Minutes
Purpose: To create a common language between the teacher a natind student; to ease communication. To get students thinking of the focus question.
A) Save this SAG as Unit 9 Lesson 1 Was Mao Zedong a Hero or Villain for China?

B) Question: What makes a hero to a nation, but a villain to others?

Before Mao Zedong: Opium Wars 
  1. What was the cause of the Opium War?
  2. How did the relationship between the British and Chinese change as a result of the Opium war?  

Spheres of Influence 

By 1910, how many different countries claimed part of China? 

In terms of land, who had the largest "sphere of influence" in China? 

Eventually several European nations followed suit, forcing China to sign a series of unequal treaties. Extraterritoriality guaranteed that European citizens in China were only subject to the laws of their own nation and could only be tried by their own courts. Eventually western nations tired of governing foreign lands, established spheres of influence within China which guaranteed specific trading privileges to each nation within its respective sphere.

Chinese Reaction: The Rise of Mao Zedong

Disgusted with the failed efforts of the Manchu Dynasty in ridding China of opium or foreign influence after the Opium Wars, Chinese citizens staged the Taiping Rebellion between 1850-1864. Already weakened, the Chinese officials turned to foreigners for help in putting down the rebellion, killing millions of Chinese in the process.After, the Chinese nationalist staged the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. Viewed as a threat to the profits they enjoyed in their imperialist spheres of influence, foreign nations formed an international coalition that ended the uprising. With this victory, additional concessions were granted to foreign nations within China.Finally, 5,000 years of dynastic rule in China came to an end in 1911. China tumbled into civil war as local warlords sought to control their locals, while nationalist leaders such as Sun Yixian sought to unify China. Civil war took hold of China after Sun’s death as Mao Zedong and his communist forces battled Sun's successor Jiang Jieshi for control of the country. In 1949, Mao established a communist government in mainland China while Jiang Jieshi fled to Taiwan and established a democratic government there.

1) Based on your knowledge of the previous readings and map are there people in China that dislike foreigners being in China? Why or why not? What terms help us answer this question?

2)  Is there a percentage of Chinese that desire foreigners in China? Why or why not? What terms help us answer this question?

3) What causes Civil War in China in 1911? Why or why not? What terms help us answer this question?

4) Based on your knowledge of all the reading and prior knowledge of communism is Mao Zedong a hero or a villain?  What terms help us answer this question?

2. Primary and Secondary Source Analysis 60 Minutes. Thematic Essay due the next day after class.

Purpose: To understand new content in order to write a Thematic essay for the Regents exam on June 13, 2012.

Directions: Annotate the below documents according to the focus question and the task found below.

Was Mao Zedong a Hero or Villain for China?


Once in power, the communists set out to turn China from a backward society into a modern industrial nation. First, however, they had to overcome hunger, poverty, disease, and illiteracy. Mao focused on rebuilding the economy. To build socialism and repair the economy, Mao nationalized all of China’s businesses. The government also instituted five-year plans and increased heavy industry. With Soviet help, China built hydroelectric plants, railroads, and canals. Mao distributed land to the peasants, and thousands of landlords were beaten and killed. In order to increase output, the government encouraged peasants to pool their land and work together on cooperative farms.
Mao also built a one-party totalitarian state, with the Communist party supreme. Communist ideology replaced Confucian beliefs and traditional religions. The government attacked crime and corruption, and it did away with the old landlord and business classes. Peasants and workers were now honored as the builders of this new China. Mao increased literacy by simplifying the characters in the Chinese language, and he opened schools for both the young and the old. In schools, students learned to praise Mao.
The Communists sent health-care workers to rural areas. Although many of these “barefoot doctors” had limited training, they did help to reduce disease and teach better hygiene. Under China’s new constitution, women won equality under the law. They were expected to work alongside men in the fields and factories. State-run nurseries were set-up to care for children. Although Chinese women made progress, they did not enjoy full equality. Only a few women won promotion to top government jobs. Women were often paid less then men for the same work.
1. Name five ways in which Mao Zedong and the Communists changed China once in power.

In an attempt to break with the Russian model of Communism and to catch up with more advanced nations, Mao proposed that China should make a "great leap forward" into modernization. He began a militant Five Year Plan to promote technology and agricultural self-sufficiency. Overnight, fertile rice fields were ploughed over, and factory construction work began. abor-intensive methods were introduced and farming collectivized on a massive scale. The campaign created about 23,500 communes, each controlling its own means of production. But former farmers had no idea how to actually use the new factories and what was once fertile cropland went to waste on a disastrous scale. The Great Leap Forward was held responsible for famine in 1960 and 1961, and it is estimated that thirty million people died.

1. What was Mao’s Great Leap Forward? Was it really “a great leap forward”?

2. Can we compare this to any other time in history? (Hint: Soviet Union)


The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution was a ten-year political campaign - a social experiment aimed at rekindling revolutionary fervor and purifying the party. Mao Zedong and his wife, Jiang Qing, directed popular anger against other members of the party leadership. In response, the youth formed the “Red Guards.” These individuals attacked those they said were counterrevolutionaries. While others were removed from office, Mao was named supreme commander of the nation and army. Ideological cleansing began with attacks by young Red Guards on so-called "intellectuals" to remove "bourgeois" influences. Millions were forced into manual labor, and tens of thousands were executed. The result was massive civil unrest, and the army was sent in to control student disorder.
1. What was the Cultural Revolution? What do you think Mao was attempting to do?


Directions: Read the following primary source documents to determine how the Chinese viewed Mao’s rule. After reading these documents, you will determine if Mao was a hero or villain for China.

Document #1:

Mao is the “sun in the sky.” He is considered the greatest leader in Chinese history. Mao freed China from its medieval backwardness and transformed it into a modern nation. Under Mao’s leadership, China was transformed. What had taken centuries in the West, took only decades in China. China made the leap from a semi-colony to a Great Power.
1. Why is Mao considered the “sun in the sky” in Chinese history?

Document #2:

Mao liberated the Chinese people from economic exploitation and social oppression. He freed China from its Confucian past, gave women equal status in Chinese society, opened China to the west and expanded China’s economy.
2. According to this document, how did Chinese life improve under Mao?

Document #3:

The Cultural Revolution transformed China for the better. During the Cultural Revolution, Mao battled corruption, streamlined bureaucracy, strengthened the economy, reduced and decentralized Soviet-style bureaucracy that was threatening to choke China, promoted artistic and educational reform, and worked towards social justice and the feminist ideal.
3. According to this document, how did the Cultural Revolution change China?

Document #4:

The Great Leap Forward was a failure. Rather than a leap forward, it became a lurch sideways. By 1961, China was on the brink of economic ruin and internal collapse. As a result of the loss of fertile farmland and poor management of what farmland remained, the annual harvest declined. The result was widespread famine. Industrial output also fell.
4. How does this person view the Great Leap Forward?

Document #5:

Cultural Revolution remains a titanic catastrophe in which human rights, democracy, the rule of law and civilization were crushed. During the decade that followed, literally millions of people were sacked, imprisoned and otherwise ostracized for their hidden 'bourgeois tendencies,' while tens of thousands were executed. Mao encouraged students to rebel against authority, inform on their politically incorrect seniors, and join the Red Guard – the ideological militia that pushed the Cultural Revolution forward. China collapsed into a state of near anarchy. Schools shut down, offices closed, transport was disrupted – it was so bad that even today, the full history is still far from known. While the Cultural Revolution 'officially' ended in 1969, and the worst abuses stopped then, the politically charged atmosphere was maintained until Mao's death in 1976.
5. According to this document, how did the Cultural Revolution affect China?

Purpose: To practice DBQ essay writing before the Regents

Directions: Read the below very very carefully.


Theme:  Political Systems

Political systems have affected the history and culture of nations and societies.


Choose two different political systems and for each
• Describe the characteristics of the political system
• Discuss how the political system has affected the history or culture of a specific
nation or society

You may use any political systems from your study of global history.  Some suggestions you
might wish to consider include absolute monarchy, constitutional monarchy, parliamentary
democracy, direct democracy, theocracy, communism, and fascism. You are not limited to these suggestions.

Do not use the United States as an example of a nation or society.


In your essay, be sure to
• Develop all aspects of the task
• Support the theme with relevant facts, examples, and details