Who was Mao Zedong? What did he do to China? How many people died under his leadership?

Mao Zedong, also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who became the founding father of the People's Republic of China (PRC), which he ruled from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976. Mao was born on December 26, 1893, in Shaoshan, Hunan province, China.

Mao played a critical role in the history of 20th-century China, leading the Communist Party of China (CPC) to victory against the Nationalist Party (Kuomintang, KMT) in the Chinese Civil War, which led to the proclamation of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949. As the leader of China, he implemented sweeping economic, political, and social changes through various campaigns and policies.

Some of the most well-known (and controversial) initiatives under Mao included:

1. The Great Leap Forward (1958-1962) - A campaign aimed at rapidly transforming China from an agrarian society into a socialist society through rapid industrialization and collectivization. Unfortunately, this policy led to one of the deadliest famines in human history.

2. The Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) - A socio-political movement that Mao launched to reassert his control and maintain the communist ideology. It involved a mass mobilization of the youth, who formed Red Guards, causing widespread destruction of cultural artifacts, and the persecution of scores of intellectuals and alleged counter-revolutionaries.

The number of deaths attributable to Mao's leadership is highly contested and subject to interpretation, ranging widely with estimates from tens of millions to potentially over 70 million. The majority of these deaths occurred during famine periods, particularly the famine following the Great Leap Forward, in which estimates range from 15 to 45 million deaths due to starvation, overwork, and state violence.