Born on December 26, 1893

Kill Tally: 14-20 million deaths from starvation during the "Great Leap Forward". Tens of thousands killed and millions of lives ruined during the Cultural Revolution.

He became a Marxist-Leninist around 1919. He came to believe that the greatest potential for revolution in China lies with the peasantry.

Inside China the policies of moderation are replaced by a campaign against "enemies of the state that will affect millions. Foreigners and Christian missionaries are branded as spies. Landlords and wealthy peasants are stripped of their land. Intellectuals, scientists, professionals, artists and writers are forced into "self-criticism" and public confessions of their failings in relation to communist ideals. Incompetent and politically unreliable public officials are purged. Corrupt businessmen and industrialists are removed from the system. Bourgeoisie are held in suspicion. Reports suggest that from one to three million are executed during the campaign.

Reported abuses have included arbitrary and lengthy detention with no communication with other prisoners, reeducation through labor, forced confessions, torture, and mistreatment of prisoners as well as severe restrictions on freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, association, religion, privacy, and worker rights.

Everyone was required to work in the communes, in factories, mines, and on public works projects in order to gain firsthand experience of manual labor and the conditions faced by the proletariat and peasantry. The Great Leap Forward brings shortages of food and raw materials and the demoralization and exhaustion of the workforce. The situation is exacerbated by poor harvests caused by bad weather and by Mao's refusal to hear of failures. Widespread famine results, especially in rural areas. It is estimated that from 1958 to 1961, 14-20 million more people die of starvation than in similar years of poor harvests.

The Red Guards create havoc within the party and widespread social chaos. Under the general leadership of Mao's wife, Jiang Qing, their aim is to root out old customs, habits, and ways of thought. Schools, colleges and universities are closed. Virtually all engineers, managers, scientists, technicians, and other professionals are "criticized," demoted or "sent down to the countryside to "participate in labor". Many are jailed; religious practices are suppressed; and thousands die when the factions enter into open armed conflict.

It is reported that 2000-3000 officers and soldiers of a revolt are executed on Mao's orders. Mao responds to anti-communists campaigns with guerrilla tactics. Mao is ruthless in enforcing party discipline. During an unplanned year long trek through the mountains, 92,000 communist soldiers die before reaching their final destination.

The Cultural Revolution is described as "an appalling catastrophe" and "the most severe setback to the socialist cause since 1949". The party is subsequently purged of members who came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution. The trials of the Gang of Four begin in Nov. 1980. Charges against them include the usurpation of state power and party leadership, and the persecution of some 750,000 people, including 34,375 who died during the Cultural Revolution.

The Korean War begins June 25, 1950 and lasts for three years, costs about three million lives and ends with no definitive outcome. 440,000 Chinese "volunteer" troops will die during the Korean War.

Although the number of deaths that occurred in China as a result of Mao's reign places him in the same league as Stalin or Hitler, Mao was of a completely different caliber to those two genocidal murderers. His legacy is as terrible as it is impressive.