Was Mao really communist?

The Chinese revolution is one of the greatest events in human history. After decades of titanic struggle, Mao led the Communist Party to victory, ending capitalism in China and the humiliating dominance of Western imperialism.

For these reasons, many young communists revere Mao as a communist hero. In China, a new generation of revolutionaries, opposed to the capitalist regime in Beijing, look to Mao for ideas on how to overthrow it.

But the regime also claims the heritage of Mao. Why did the state Mao established return to capitalism? Was he simply betrayed? What is the significance of his ‘sinification’ of Marxism? Can Marxism base itself on peasant guerrillas? What is the link between the way in which the revolution was carried out from the countryside, and the subsequent return to capitalism only a few decades later?

In this talk, Daniel Morley will explore these questions, and provide an answer to whether Mao was really communist.

Recommended reading: The Chinese Revolution of 1949

Further reading: 90 Years of the Chinese Communist Party / The Chinese Communist Party 1927-37 – The development of Maoism / The Chinese Communist Party 1937-49 – The Unfolding of Historical Necessity: China’s Great Revolution

Recommended listening: