BB-040 / State Terror
Cultural Revolution Violence
The Act
Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution unleashed Red Guard violence against teachers, intellectuals, party officials, and ordinary citizens labeled as class enemies. Public struggle sessions, beatings, suicides, and extrajudicial killings were widespread. Estimates of deaths range from hundreds of thousands to several million.
The Response
After Mao’s death the Chinese Communist Party officially condemned the Cultural Revolution as a catastrophe. Many victims were later rehabilitated. Full public accounting and independent historical research remain restricted inside China.