341. Chairman Mao: The Clash With Stalin (Ep 4)

In this episode we ask how Mao Zedong transformed a devastated nation into an industrial power. This is a story of economic ambition, social transformation, and totalitarian power. But it's also a story of tragedy. Join us as we discuss the first turbulent decade of the People's Republic of China. Hello and welcome to Empire.

We are picking up the story now in 1949 at the dawn of the People's Republic of China. Last time we saw Mao, we saw him surviving the long march, outmaneuvering his rivals during the Japanese invasion, and then ultimately declaring that the world's most populous country was a communist republic. I mean, that's quite an achievement in a in a short space of time. Runner, give us a portrait of China in 1949. It's not in a happy situation, although things are better presumably than they were in the middle of the Chinese occupation.

No. I would say that if one chose one word to describe China in 1949, I think it would be dislocation. It was still very much a society that was living in the post-war. In other words, the end of the World War II period and the aftermath.

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