European University Institute Library

Foreign Office files for China, 1949-1980, Section III

eng

Foreign Office files for China, 1949-1976

no index present

Former title proper (to May 2010): Foreign Office files for China, 1949-1976evo.

non fiction

Foreign Office files for China, 1949-1980

electronic resource

800483228

AM Explorer collection

The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, 1966-1976, a further period of immense social and political upheaval, led to nationwide chaos and economic disarray. This dominates the files from 1967 onwards. It led into the power struggles and political instability after 1969, which culminated in the arrest of the Gang of Four (Jiang Qing, Mao's last wife and the leading figure of the group, and her close associates Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wen-yuan and Wang Hong-wen). Material after Mao Zedong's death in September 1976 focuses on the policies of Deng Xiaoping. Whilst he did not take the supreme office himself, by 1980 he had secured the appointment of Hu Yaobang as head of the CCP and Zhao Ziyang as premier. Both were close associates and firm supporters of Deng's policies