China’sascenttotheranksoftheworld’ssecondlargesteconomicpowerhasgivenitsrevolutionabetterimagethanthatofitsRussiancounterpart.Yetthetwohaveagreatdealincommon.Indeed,theChineserevolutionwasacarboncopyofitspredecessor,untilMaobecameaware,notsomuchofthefailuresoftheRussianmodel,butofitsinabilitytoadapttoanovercrowdedthird-worldcountry.
Yet,insteadofcorrectingthatmodel,Maodecidedtogofurtherandfasterinthesamedirection.Theaftershockofanearthquakemaybeweaker,buttheGreatLeapForwardof1958inChinawasfarmoredestructivethantheGreatTurnof1929intheSovietUnion.Itwasconceivedwithanidealisticendbutfailedtotakeallthepossibilitiesintoaccount.China’sdevelopmentonlytookoffafter—andthanksto—Mao’sdeath,oncethecountryturneditsbackontherevolution.
LucienBianco’soriginalcomparativestudyhighlightsthesimilarities:theall-powerfulbureaucracy;theover-exploitationofthepeasantry,whichtriggeredtwooftheworstfaminesofthe20thcentury;controloverwritersandartists;repressionandlaborcamps.ThecomparisonofStalinandMaothatcompletesthepicture,leadstheauthorstraightbacktoLeninandhequotestheobservationbyaChinesehistorianthat,“Ifatallpossible,itisbesttoavoidrevolutionsaltogether.”
