ABSTRACT
The Cultural Revolution was an unmitigated disaster for the CCP. A campaign which began as a bid by Mao to roll back the tide of revisionism and resurrect party legitimacy succeeded only in decimating the institutions of party and state and damaging the party’s credibility almost irreparably, especially amongst the young. As a first step towards repairing the harm inflicted on the party, the leadership needed to reunite and oversee a new era of political and socio-economic stability. But this did not happen. In the years leading up to Mao’s death in 1976, China underwent yet another period of political upheaval characterized by bitter infighting amongst rival factions of the party elite. In the meantime, any concern for the legitimation of party rule was forgotten.
