Question

Why did Mao Tse Tung launch and then called off the "Hundred Flowers" campaign in 1957?

Answer 1

The Hundred Flowers campaign was launched by Mao Zedong in 1956-57 that allowed free discussion and constructive criticism of the communist government.

1. There were contradictory ideas related to the motive of Mao for initiating such a campaign. Some perceived it as his genuine intention to promote constructive criticism, others thought that it was a plan of Mao to flush out the critics of the government and the CCP.
2. The critics of the party openly criticised the party on several grounds such as the over-centralisation of the decision-making process. The Communist Party was also projected as an undemocratic party.
3. Due to the campaign a huge rush of criticism came for Mao, the government and the CCP where people publicly criticised them. It was difficult to manage by Mao and the government and thus the campaign was called off and to handle the problem ‘Anti Rightist Campaign’ was launched by Mao in 1957 where Mao took severe measures to stop the criticism of the government.