ABSTRACT

The Cultural Revolution progressed, the Red Guards' excesses, factional infighting, incompetence and disorder came to the forefront. The assumption of civilian functions by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) during and immediately after the Cultural Revolution had been quite unprecedented in Chinese history. Whatever may have been the motives behind the establishment of the Revolutionary Committees, the fact remained that the PLA had been primarily responsible for the imposition of the new order. These Committees, therefore, were merely a facade, a face-saving formula and a cover for the continued domination of the country by the military. Before the establishment of Revolutionary Committees, the PLA was ruling the country directly, and thereafter, in the name of those Committees. The commanders held more than twice as many full memberships on the Central Committee in 1969 as the commissars, whose representation was considerably reduced.