Maoism

Maoism is the Communist ideology of Mao Zedong. Maoism is a form of Stalinism. Specific to Maoism are Mao's writings on guerrilla warfare, the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution, and Mao's Red Book.

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, this despite Maoism being repackaged Stalinism. 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 gave up Maoism in the 1980s, and today no country is under its control. However, in recent years Maoists have been especially powerful as an insurgent movement in Nepal.

Maoism

See also

Further reading