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On October 1, 1949, in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, Mao Zedong proclaimed the People’s Republic of China. This event was the culmination of a remarkable campaign led by the Communist Party of China and would pave the way for great transformations in the following decades.
The Asian giant, plundered and humiliated by Western powers for centuries, began to awaken in the 20th century. Beginning in the late 1920s, China was plunged into a civil war between the nationalist forces of the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Communist Party (CPC).
The Communists suffered severe setbacks in the early years, undertaking the Long March to regroup and counterattack in guerrilla warfare. Mao Zedong (1893-1976) asserted himself as the main leader of the revolutionary forces.
After heading the resistance against the atrocious Japanese occupation during World War II, the People’s Liberation Army of the CPC took the lead until it effectively controlled the entire Chinese territory. And in 1949 the People’s Republic was founded.
The times that followed were full of great challenges and even more epic responses. Campaigns such as the Great Leap Forward (1958-1962) allowed the collectivization of land to bring progress and social justice to the Chinese countryside. In parallel, industry and defense were developed, and China assumed itself as a world power.
In recent decades, the country has recorded astonishing growth that threatens the position of the United States as the world’s leading economy. At the same time, the Communist Party has not lost its focus on equality, in addition to fostering a foreign policy of cooperation with the nations of the Global South.
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Text: Ricardo Vaz. Illustration: Luis Cario..