S8 Ep114: The Nihilism of the Red Guards and Mao's International Maneuvers Professor Sean McMeekin

1. The Nihilism of the Red Guards and Mao's International Maneuvers

Professor Sean McMeekin
This segment explores the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (1966) and the Red Guards, characterized by a "radical cult of youth" and a nihilistic side of communism involving the destruction of urbane, literate civilization and turning against education, books, professors, the elderly, and foreigners. During this time, there was severe tension between Moscow and Beijing in the Sino-Soviet split. Mao utilized the Soviet Union as a useful enemy to demonize and scapegoat opponents internally, while using geopolitical maneuvering—such as coziness with Romania and the eventual opening to the United States—to punch above his weight internationally.