Paper 1 Practice 3/5

"Mao's use of terror and propaganda were his most effective methods of winning support of the peasants and common people." To what extent do you agree with this claim?

This claim is largely accurate; Mao made very effective use of propaganda and terror during his rise to power in China, with propaganda being particularly helpful toward achieving the goal of gaining the support of the common people. Source A points out that life in Communist controlled "liberation areas" was very appealing to peasants who lived in Guomindang China, because the news had spread that the Communists gave their people more freedom and abandoned certain unpleasant traditions such as forced marriages and the murder of unwanted children. This source also shows an example of Communist propaganda, portraying peasants working together to help the Red Army fight Japan. The fact the Communists seemed to support the idea of war with Japan while the Nationalists did not made many people side with the Communists.

Source B seems to argue that it was Mao's economic policy, specifically his methods of land reform, that gained the support of many peasants. A counterclaim to this might be that it was not the land reform itself, but rather Mao's promises of successful land reform in contrast with the poor economic policies of the Nationalists, that appealed to peasants, making this another example of the use of propaganda.

Source C states that "Mao's most formidable weapon was pitilessness," supporting the claim that terror had a large role in increasing Mao's support. The use of terror was very effective at decreasing opposition to the Communists, because Mao was ruthless with his enemies. However, it was not as effective as propaganda in terms of actually gaining the support of the peasants.