Evaluate the interpretations in both of the two passages and explain which one you think is more convincing in explaining why the Cultural Revolution began. (30)
Passage A suggests that Mao wanted to make society obey his orders and wanted to intimidate his party into being loyal Maoists, whilst Passage B suggests that Mao wanted a permanent revolution in order to make his party loyal Maoists, this was driven by the Red Guard and the PLA as it was coming towards Mao’s death.
Passage A is convincing as it provides a reflection of Mao’s ultimate views, this is evident through the description that he ‘feared that there was a plot against him’, this makes the source convincing as in real life, Lin had planned the assassination of Mao; making Passage A convincing as it depicts the realities of what was happening. Passage A is proved to be convincing as the source states Mao wanted to ‘kill culture’, this can be proved as Mao’s wife, Jiang Qing, had led the censorship movement under Mao’s orders, including books and plays; making it convincing as it is in line with real life situations. However, Passage A is not convincing as it suggests that Mao was leading the revolution however this is not true, in fact, Mao had stepped down in 1967 and his wife was taking control as well as Lin. The fact that the cultural revolution was driven by the Red Guards and PLA, not Mao further emphasises that Passage A is not convincing as it does not explain the realities in which the students had volunteered to do th...
