PDP5 - The People's Democratic Dictatorship

Author Bio: Mao Zedong (or Mao Tse-Tung), the newly declared leader of the Chinese Communist Party, had working class roots and experienced China's recent struggles firsthand. This chaotic path of his life almost certainly led to his pursuit of political power, and his "understanding" for the working people drove his political leanings, which veered significantly to the left. He regarded Stalin and Lenin, and the systems that they created, very highly, and he saw himself in them.

Historical Context: Post WWII, the world began to see a steady rise and distinction between the west and the east; the capitalists and the communists. There had been many important communist figures who had shaped the landscape of Asia, which led to China's working class growing desperate for communism. They were unaware of what they might have been getting themselves into, but this didn't stop radical leaders, and in this case, Mao Zedong, from coming into power and establishing a system to modernize their countries at the expense of the workers.

Summary: The information presented here was originally spoken by Mao Zedong on June 30th, 1949, to celebrate the 28th anniversairy of the Chinese Communist Party. right away, Mao rushes to alienate those who oppose China and their working class; particularly the "imperialists", and specifically the U.S. & Britain. He mentions that, while he understands that the country wants democracy, that it is simply not possible and that a strict authoritarian state is required to maintain control of themselves and not succumb to the imperialists. Mao also details the responsibility that comes with being a member of Communist China; he seeks to remove anybody who does not show upmodt loyalty to their system from their society, indicating that the state could be afraid of rebellious information reaching the common people. Additionally, Mao makes a strong attempt to appeal to the working class; he notes their selflessness and willingness to be revolutionaries, and their ability to lead their country to great prosperity. Despite this, he refers to the working class as petty and needing of government control in other parts of his speech. Lastly, going against what one would think he would say, he mentions that true progress/"victory" is not possible without international unity, which seemed to be him calling to the "imperialists" to abolish their ways of life and to assume theirs.

Key Quotation: "The Communist Party of the Soviet Union is our best teacher and we must learn from it. The situation both at home and abroad is in our favor, we can rely fully on the weapon of the people's democratic dictatorship, unite the people throughout the country, the reactionaries excepted, and advance steadily to our goal."