Deng Xiaoping

After Mao's death in 1976, pragmatists led by Deng Xiaoping came to power in China. They brought the country out of crisis, rebuilt and revived the economy, and created a new model of China.

Deng Xiaoping (1904-1997). In 1920, 16-year-old Xiaoping had the opportunity to go to France to study; in 1921, he joined the Communist Youth League of China, where he struck up a friendship with the future Premier of the State Council, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China Zhou Enlai, and became involved in propaganda work among representatives of the Chinese diaspora in Europe. Returning to China, Deng Xiaoping together with Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai fights against the Kuomintang, then against the Japanese. After the victory of the Communists, Deng Xiaoping occupied important positions in the leadership of the PRC, becoming Minister of Finance, and then a member of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee. In September 1956, Deng Xiaoping was elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, effectively becoming the second person after Mao. Deng Xiaoping was appointed by Mao to correct the mistakes made during the Great Leap Forward, which Xiaoping successfully accomplished by introducing market mechanisms into a planned economy.

However, during the years of the Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping fell into disgrace. He was removed from all posts and sent for “re-education” to a tractor factory in Jiangxi province. While in exile, seeing the plight of the common people, Deng Xiaoping began working on a plan of reforms necessary for the dynamic and sustainable development of the country. With the help of Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping was able to return to Beijing in 1973 and restore his position in the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. However, in early 1976, after the death of Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping was again removed from all posts and sent into retirement. A group led by Mao's last wife, Jiang Qing, tried to seize power and remove competitors. However, after the death of Mao Zedong on September 9, 1976, the new Premier of the State Council, Hua Guofeng, initiated the arrest of Jiang Qing and her supporters (the so-called “gang of four”) and a public trial of them. Deng Xiaoping was returned to all his posts - member of the Central Committee, Politburo and Standing Committee, deputy chairman of the Central Committee and the Military Council, deputy premier of the State Council and chief of the PLA General Staff.

In December 1978, the third plenum of the CPC Central Committee was held, at which Deng Xiaoping proclaimed the course of “four modernizations”: agriculture, industry, defense and science and technology. From now on, blind adherence to the precepts of Mao and the ideological dogmas of Marxism ceased. The ideological line of the CCP has transformed into the attitude of “emancipating consciousness, seeking truth in facts.” Practice became the main criterion of truth.

Deng announced that everything in China can be criticized and changed except for four things: the socialist path, the dictatorship of the proletariat, the dominant role of the Communist Party and the ideas of Mao Zedong. The politician actually outlined the pillars on which the republic was formed.

Deng Xiaoping died on February 19, 1997