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Podcast: Dan Snow's History Hit
Episode: The Chinese Cultural Revolution
Description: By the early 1960s, Chairman Mao Zedong's campaign to modernise Communist China had ended in disaster. Known as the Great Leap Forward, it resulted in turmoil on such a scale that many had begun to question Mao's authority. In response, he set out to claim absolute political supremacy by launching a grassroots movement called the Cultural Revolution. A decade of terror ensued that would permanently alter the fabric of Chinese society, and result in the deaths of up to 2 million people. But what exactly happened during this decade of madness, and what can we learn from those who lived...