Hey, history buffs! Put on your time-traveling helmets because we’re diving into China during Mao Zedong's rule. Trust me, this is like the "Game of Thrones" of real history — but with more red books and fewer dragons. 🐉

Key Points

• Great Divide: The major split was around how to advance China's industry.
• Great Leap Forward: An economic plan by Mao that basically flopped, but some hardliners still wanted to stick with its intense methods.
• Hardliners vs. Pragmatists: Some people (the hardliners) believed in strict control over peasants and workers based on Maoist principles. For them, revolution > everything.
• Mao as a Reference Point: Even when Mao was out of the limelight, his ideology remained the ultimate guide.

Real-World Examples

• Think of the Great Leap Forward as a really, really ambitious startup that promised to disrupt agriculture and industry but ended up being a big ol' fail (like some dot-com bubble companies).
• The hardliners are like those die-hard fans of a TV show who refuse to acknowledge any flaws even after the series turns bad.

Key Points

• Lin Biao: A huge fanboy of Mao and also the Defense Minister of China.
• Propaganda Minister: Basically made it his job to make Mao the Beyoncé of class struggle and revolution.
• From Marx to Mao: Lin portrayed Mao as the ultimate successor to Marx, Lenin, and Stalin.

Real-World Examples

• Lin Biao's devotion to Mao is like a celebrity’s publicist going above and beyond, making sure everyone knows their client is the GOAT (Greatest of All Time).