Campaign to Suppress
ChinaThe Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries was a political repression campaign launched by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the early 1950s, following the CCP's victory in the Chinese Civil War. The campaign's primary targets were individuals and groups deemed to be counterrevolutionaries or "class enemies" of the CCP, including landlords, wealthy farmers, and former Nationalist government officials.
During the campaign, hundreds of thousands of people were arrested, tortured, and executed, and many more were sent to labor camps or exiled to remote areas of China. The campaign was also characterized by widespread public humiliation, such as parading alleged counterrevolutionaries through the streets with placards detailing their supposed crimes.
The Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries was part of a larger effort by the CCP to consolidate power and eliminate perceived threats to its rule. The campaign was also motivated by a desire to redistribute land and wealth from the wealthy class to the poor and working class. The campaign was officially ended in 1953, but similar repression and persecution continued in the following years.
The campaign also had a significant impact on Chinese society and culture, as it led to widespread fear and mistrust, and contributed to a culture of political repression and censorship that continues to the present day. It is estimated that the number of deaths from the campaign ranges from several hundred thousand to more than a million.