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'''Maoism''' is the [[Communist]] ideology of [[Mao Zedong]], which dominated [[China]] from 1949 until Mao's death in 1976.  Maoism differed at the start from standard [[Marxism-Leninism]] in that it looked to the masses of rural peasants rather than to the urban industrial proletariat as the driving force (along with the Communist Party) of the revolution.  Maoism began as a form of [[Stalinism]], but in the mid-1950s Mao became distrustful of the Soviet-style concentration of power in the hands of the Party bureaucracy and its "managerial and technocratic elites",<ref>http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/363444/Maoism</ref> which led him to promote the continuous revolutionary mobilization of the masses.  These divergences from Stalinism were elaborated in Mao's writings on [[guerrilla]] warfare and his "Red Book" and carried out through programs such as the [[Great Leap Forward]] of the late 1950s and the [[Cultural Revolution]] of the late 1960s.

'''Maoism''' is the [[Communist]] ideology of [[Mao Zedong]], which dominated [[China]] from 1949 until Mao's death in 1976.  Maoism differed at the start from standard [[Marxism-Leninism]] in that it looked to the masses of rural peasants rather than to the urban industrial proletariat as the driving force (along with the Communist Party) of the revolution.  Maoism began as a form of [[Stalinism]], but in the mid-1950s Mao became distrustful of the Soviet-style concentration of power in the hands of the Party bureaucracy and its "managerial and technocratic elites",<ref>http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/363444/Maoism</ref> which led him to promote the continuous revolutionary mobilization of the masses.  These divergences from Stalinism were elaborated in Mao's writings on [[guerrilla]] warfare and his "Red Book" and carried out through programs such as the [[Great Leap Forward]] of the late 1950s and the [[Cultural Revolution]] of the late 1960s.

Maoism became a trendy ideology among [[leftist]] extremists starting in the 1960s, who saw the poor of the [[Third World]], rather than the white [[proletariat]] of the industrialized West, as having the most "revolutionary" potential.  Maoism with its origins in China rather than Europe was thus deemed by these radicals to be more credible an ideology than the Soviet-line Old Left.  The Maosists fought against the Soviet backed leftists in most countries around the world, with the usual result of two Communist parties that fought each other.

Maoism became a trendy ideology among [[leftist]] extremists starting in the 1960s, who saw the poor of the [[Third World]], rather than the white [[proletariat]] of the industrialized West, as having the most "revolutionary" potential.  Maoism with its origins in China rather than Europe was thus deemed by these radicals to be more credible an ideology than the Soviet-line Old Left.  The Maosists fought against the Soviet backed leftists in most countries around the world, with the usual result of two Communist parties that fought each other.

China effectively (though not officially) gave up Maoism in the 1980s, and today no country is under its control. However, Maoism has survived its demise in China and emerged in control of powerful insurgent movements in several countries, such as [[Nepal]].  

China effectively (though not officially) gave up Maoism in the 1980s, adapting it to create their currently successful "socialism with Chinese characteristics", or a socialist market economy. However, Maoism is popular in certain insurgent movements in several countries, and in 2008 the Maoists legally won elections in [[Nepal]].

 

Maoism still has popularity in China today, despite the government abandoning Maoism.

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