ABSTRACT
Mao Zedong's Red Army defeated the Kuomintang, conquered the mainland and established a one-party regime. Mao, the “Great Helmsman,” was a military veteran and hardened partisan. 24 He became Chairman of the Communist Party in 1935, and was conversant with communist ideological politics. Stalin was his political mentor. 25 This background shaped Mao's perception of the main direction for constructing communist power in China. It impelled him to ruthlessly suppress the forces of counter-revolution 26 and follow the path pioneered by Stalin for building command communism, with some accommodation for local circumstances and many casualties. 27 Despite successes, 28 Mao understood that full Marxist utopian communism could not be gestated overnight. Tactical concessions were essential, but he believed that if the Party stayed the course, China would eventually reach the promised land.
