Stalin and Mao: A Comparison of the Russian and Chinese Revolutions

by Lucien Bianco, Krystyna Horko (Translator)

China's ascent to the rank of the world's second largest economic power has given its revolution a better image than that of its Russian counterpart. Yet the two have a great deal in common. Indeed, the Chinese revolution was a carbon copy of its predecessor, until Mao became aware, not so much of the failures of the Russian model, but of its inability to adapt to an overcrowded third-world country. Yet instead of correcting that model, Mao decided to go further and faster in the same direction. The aftershock of an earthquake may be weaker, but the Great Leap Forward of 1958 in China was far more destructive than the Great Turn of 1929 in the Soviet Union. It was conceived with an idealistic end but failed to take all the possibilities into account. China's development only took off after--and thanks to--Mao's death, once the country turned its back on the revolution.

Lucien Bianco's original comparative study highlights the similarities: the all-powerful bureaucracy; the over-exploitation of the peasantry, which triggered two of the worst famines of the twentieth century; control over writers and artists; repression and labor camps. The comparison of Stalin and Mao that completes the picture, leads the author straight back to Lenin and he quotes the observation by a Chinese historian that, "If at all possible, it is best to avoid revolutions altogether."

Genres: China, History

480 pages, Hardcover

First published October 23, 2014

About the author

French sinologist and historian.

Reviews

[Chyi · Rating 3 out of 5]

感觉毕仰高作为一个研究中国农民与共产革命起家的学者，对俄国革命的了解更加深刻一些。若说这本书是对中俄革命或斯大林、毛泽东两人的比较研究，呈现的结果，是真没比较出来什么。全书没有什么给人启发的真知灼见，更像是一个耄耋老者对二十世纪共产主义嬉笑怒骂、挖苦讽刺的文集。