By the end of August in 1966, it was clear that the Cultural Revolution was going to be a unique historical period of violence and upheaval. Violence and brutality were becoming routine, symptoms of the incredibly modern issues that the Cultural Revolution was creating, including student protests and the psychology behind them, leadership seemingly stoking the fires of mistrust and intimidation, and people not knowing which news sources to trust. One of the saddest elements of this violence and chaos was that it was often perpetrated by teenagers. What was life like for the Red Guards, what kinds of experiences did they have at mass rallies, and what made them tick?
This is Part IV in a series on the Cultural Revolution. It focuses on the escalation of the Cultural Revolution in it's early phases and the experiences of Red Guards at mass rallies in Tiananmen Square. Future episodes will chronicle the further ebbs and flows of the Cultural Revolution.
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