PDP5 - "The People's Democratic Dictatorship"

Author Bio: Mao Zedong was the founder of the People’s Republic of China and ruled from 1949 until his death in 1976. Influenced by Marx and Lenin, Mao founded the Chinese Communist Party in 1921. 

Context: This speech was given on June 30, 1949, the commemorate the 28th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party and the beginning of Mao’s rule in China. This speech shows how the nationalist and socialist movements of Europe spread around the world to China. 

Summary: In this speech, Mao states how his new system of communism in China will lead to prosperity. Mao says that China must unite with the workers and the proletariat and reject the western ideals of Great Britain and the United States. Mao compares Marxism and Leninism to a weapon and advocates for the alliance of China with the Soviet Union and other socialist government around the world. Mao’s democratic dictatorship (“democracy for the people and dictatorship over the reactionaries”) is introduced and said to be the best way for China’s development as a communist state. In this speech, Mao sets the goals to abolish classes in China and to put the working man in power. 

Key Quote: “The Communist Party of the Soviet Union is our best teacher and we must learn from it. The situation both at home and abroad is in our favour we can rely fully on the weapon of the people's democratic dictatorship, unite the people throughout the country, the reactionaries excepted, and advance steadily to our goal.”