Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Unoriginal Mao

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Myth of Mao Zedong and Modern Insurgency

  • 330 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter demonstrates how all of the principles of insurgency that Mao outlines in his writings were used in prior uprisings. This includes multiple high-profile conflicts that involved all of the ideas later articulated by Mao, including the Maccabean Revolt and the American Revolutionary War, which serve as case studies in the chapter. Similarly, the chapter explains how all of Mao’s teachings were articulated by earlier theorists, with Lenin supplied as a case study. Finally, the chapter shows that Mao was fully cognizant of these past conflicts and theorists, and likely drew upon their experiences and arguments when formulating his own teachings. Consequently, Mao was not an innovator of new approaches to insurgency, but merely a replicator of previously piloted ideas.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Aboul-Enein, Basil and Yousself Aboul-Enein. 2011. A Theoretical Exploration of Lawrence of Arabia’s Inner Meanings on Guerrilla Warfare. Small Wars Journal. http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/a-theoretical-exploration-of-lawrence-of-arabias-inner-meanings-on-guerrilla-warfare. Accessed 15 Aug 2017.

  • Alden, John R. 1969. A History of the American Revolution. New York: Alfred A Knopf, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonwick, Charles. 1991. The American Revolution. London: Macmillan Education Ltd.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Boot, Max. 2013. Invisible Armies: An Epic History of Guerrilla Warfare from Ancient Times to the Present. London: Liveright Publishing Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Braun, Otto. 1982. A Comintern Agent in China, 1932–1939. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brumwell, Stephen. 2009. Nathanael Greene, 1742–86. In The Art of War: Great Commanders of the Modern World, ed. Andrew Roberts, 116–123. London: Quercus.

    Google Scholar 

  • Castleden, Rodney. 2008. Conflicts That Changed the World. London: Futura.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chang, Jung, and Jon Halliday. 2006. Mao: The Unknown Story. New York: Anchor Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clements, Jonathan. 2006. Mao Zedong (Life and Times). London: Haus Publishing Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conway, Stephen. 1995. The War of American Independence, 1775–1783. London: Edward Arnold.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, Alistair. 1973. Alistair Cooke’s America. London: British Broadcasting Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, John. 1995. From the Barrel of a Gun: A History of Guerrilla, Revolutionary and Counter-Insurgency Warfare, from the Romans to the Present. London: Greenhill Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Franklin, Benjamin, Silas Deane, and Arthur Lee. 2013. American Diplomats Press for a French Alliance, 1777. In Major Problems in the Era of the American Revolution 1760–1791, ed. Richard Brown, 201–202. Lexington: D.C. Heath and Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Furuya, Keiji. 1981. Chiang Kai-Shek: His Life and Times. New York: St John’s University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gruber, Ira. 1986. America’s First Battle: Long Island, 27 August 1776. In America’s First Battles, 1776–1965, ed. Charles Heller and William Stoft, 1–32. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hancock, John. 1961. Declaration of Causes of Taking Up Arms. In Sources and Documents Illustrating the American Revolution 1764–1788 and the Formation of the Federal Constitution, ed. S.E. Morison, 141–145. London: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haswell, Jock. 1973. Citizen Armies. London: Peter Davies Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawes, Esme. 1996. The Life and Times of Mao Tse-Tung. Bristol: Parragon Book Service, Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • He, Di, ed. 1994. The Most Respected Enemy: Mao Zedong’s Perception of the United States. The China Quarterly 137: 144–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Healy, Mark. 1989. Warriors of the Old Testament. Poole: Firebird Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herzog, Chaim, and Mordechai Gichon. 2006. Battles of the Bible. London: Greenhill Books/Lionel Levanthal Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heuser, Beatrice. 2002. Reading Clausewitz. London: Pimlico.

    Google Scholar 

  • Joes, Anthony James. 2000. America and Guerilla Warfare. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky.

    Google Scholar 

  • Josephus, Flavius. 2006. Jewish Antiquities. Translated by William Whiston. Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions Limited.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keegan, John. 1993. A History of Warfare. London: Pimlico.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keller, Werner. 1957. The Bible as History. London: Hodder and Stoughton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, Paul. 1988. The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000. London: Unwin Hyman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laqueur, Walter. 1976. Guerrilla Warfare: A Historical & Critical Study. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lenin, Vladimir I. 1940. “Left-Wing” Communism, an Infantile Disorder. New York: International Publishers, Co. Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1961. What Is to Be Done? Burning Questions of our Movement (1902). In Lenin’s Collected Works, vol. 5, 119–271. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House. Translated by Joe Fineberg and George Hanna.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1962. Two Tactics of Social-Democracy in the Democratic Revolution (1905). In Lenin’s Collected Works, vol. 9, 15–140. Moscow: Progress Publishers. Translated by Abraham Fineburg and Julius Katzer.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1964. The Military Programme of the Proletarian Revolution: II. In Lenin’s Collected Works, vol. 23, 77–87. Moscow: Progress Publishers. Translated by M. S. Levin, Joe Fineberg and Others.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1965a. Comrade Workers, Forward to the Last, Decisive Fight! (1925). In Lenin’s Collected Works, vol. 28, 53–57. Moscow: Progress Publishers. Translated by Jim Riordan.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1965b. To the Red Army Men. (1919). In Lenin’s Collected Works, vol. 30, 70. Moscow: Progress Publishers. Translated by George Hanna.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1965c. The Fight to Overcome the Fuel Crisis: Circular Letter to Party Organisations. (1919). In Lenin’s Collected Works, vol. 30, 139–142. Moscow: Progress Publishers. Translated by George Hanna.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1969a. The Revolutionary Army and the Revolutionary Government. In Guerrilla Warfare and Marxism, ed. William J. Pomeroy, 73–77. London: Lawrence & Wishart.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1969b. Lessons of the Moscow Uprising. In Guerrilla Warfare and Marxism, ed. William J. Pomeroy, 77–84. London: Lawrence & Wishart.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1969c. Guerrilla Warfare. In Guerrilla Warfare and Marxism, ed. William J. Pomeroy, 84–94. London: Lawrence & Wishart.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1969d. The Irish Rebellion of 1916. In Guerrilla Warfare and Marxism, ed. William J. Pomeroy, 102–106. London: Lawrence & Wishart.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1969e. Marxism and Insurrection. In Guerrilla Warfare and Marxism, ed. William J. Pomeroy, 109–115. London: Lawrence & Wishart.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1969f. Emancipation of the Peoples of the East. In Guerrilla Warfare and Marxism, ed. William J. Pomeroy, 115–120. London: Lawrence & Wishart.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1970. Socialism and War: The Attitude of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party towards the War (1915). In Lenin Collected Works, vol. 21, 295–338. Peking: Foreign Languages Press. Translated by E. O’Callaghan.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1972a. Fear of the Collapse of the Old and the Fight for the New. In Lenin’s Collected Works, ed. George Hanna, vol. 26, 400–403. Moscow: Progress Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1972b. Letters to the Workers and Peasants: Apropos of the Victory over Kolchak. (1919). In Lenin’s Collected Works, vol. 29, 552–560. Moscow: Progress Publishers. Translated by George Hanna.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1972c. The Working Class and Its Press. In Lenin’s Collected Works, vol. 20, 363–371. Moscow: Progress Publishers. Translated by Bernard Isaacs and Joe Fineberg.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1972d. The Socialist Fatherland is in Danger! (1918). In Lenin’s Collected Works, vol. 27, 30–33. Moscow: Progress Publishers. Translated by Clemens Dutt.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1972e. A Great Beginning: Heroism of the Workers in the Rear. (1919). In Lenin’s Collected Works, vol. 29, 409–434. Moscow: Progress Publishers. Translated by George Hanna.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1974. Speech on Red Officers Day. (1918). In Lenin’s Collected Works, vol. 28, 195. Moscow: Progress Publishers. Translated by Jim Riordan.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1975. To Medvedev, Political Commissioner of the 1st Army. In Lenin Collected Works, vol. 44, 138. Moscow: Progress Publishers. Translated by Clemens Dutt.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2010. Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism (1917). London: Penguin Classics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lillibridge, G.D. 2007. Out of My Past: A Chico Man’s Speeches and Essays, 1955–1997. Bloomington: Xlibris Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Majendie, Paul. 1990. Michael Collins: Irish Hero or Terrorist? Reuters, November 11. http://articles.latimes.com/1990-11-11/news/mn-5909_1_michael-collins. Accessed 5 Feb 2014.

  • Mao Tse-tung. 1961. Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung. Vol. IV. Peking: Foreign Languages Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1965a. Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung. Vol. I. Peking: Foreign Languages Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1965b. Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung. Vol. II. Peking: Foreign Languages Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1975a. Collected Works of Mao Tse-tung. Vol. I. Hong Kong: Maoist Internationalist Movement.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1975b. Collected Works of Mao Tse-tung. Vol. VI. Hong Kong: Maoist Internationalist Movement.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1990. Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung. Vol. VI. Secunderabad/Hyderabad: Kranti Publications and Sramikavarga.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mao Zedong. 2003. Talk with Edgar Snow on International Issues, 9 Jan 1965. PLA Daily. http://english.pladaily.com.cn/special/mao/txt/w25.htm. Accessed 2 Feb 2014.

  • Michael Collins: A Man Against an Empire. Military History Magazine, 12 June 2006. http://www.historynet.com/michael-collins-a-man-against-an-empire.htm. Accessed 18 Feb 2014.

  • Millett, A.R., Peter Maslowski, and William B. Feis. 2012. For the Common Defense: A Military History of the United States from 1607–2012. New York: The Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Millis, Walter. 1981. Arms and Men: A Study in American Military History. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oliver, Peter. 1961. Origin & Progress of the American Rebellion: A Tory View, ed. Douglass Adair and John Schutz. San Marino: The Huntington Library.

    Google Scholar 

  • Overy, David, and Kevin Gannon. 2007. The Colonial Wars and the American Revolution. In The American Military Tradition, ed. John Carroll and Colin Baxter, 1–34. Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Payne, Robert. 1950. Mao Tse-tung. New York: Henry Schuman Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearlman, Michael D. 2002. The American Revolutionary War: A Complex “Little Conflict” on the Edge of “the Civilized World”. Excerpt reprinted US Army Command and General Staff College, S600 Book of Reading, Fort Leavenworth, KS: USACGSC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peckham, Howard H. 1979. The War for Independence: A Military History. London: The University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pratt, Fletcher. 1956. The Battles that Changed History. New York: Doubleday & Company Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raphael, Ray. 2004. Founding Myths: Stories That Hide Our Patriotic Past. New York: MJF Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rooney, David. 2004. Guerrilla: Insurgents, Patriots and Terrorists from Sun Tzu to Bin Laden. London: Brasseys.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rose, Michael. 2007. Washington’s War: From Independence to Iraq. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schram, Stuart. 1966. Mao Tse Tung. Baltimore: Penguin Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schweikart, Larry, and Michael Allen. 2007. A Patriot’s History of the United States: From Columbus’s Great Discovery to the War on Terror. London: Penguin Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silbey, David J. 2012. The Boxer Rebellion and the Great Game in China. New York: Hill and Wang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Slavicek, Louise Chipley. 2004. Mao Zedong. New York: Chelsea House Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smelser, Marshall. 1973. The Winning of Independence. New York: New Viewpoints.

    Google Scholar 

  • Szabo, Ernest A. 1997. Operational Issues of Insurgency/Counter Insurgency: The Maccabean Revolt. Fort Leavenworth: School of Advanced Military Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tien, Chen-Ya. 1992. Chinese Military Theory: Ancient and Modern. London: Mosaic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tierney, John J., Jr. 2007. Chasing Ghosts: Unconventional Warfare in American History. Washington, DC: Potomac Books Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trotsky, Leon. Summary and Perspectives of the Chinese Revolution: It’s Lessons for the Countries of the Orient and the Whole of the Comintern. In The Third International After Lenin: The Draft Program of the Communist International: A Criticism of Fundamentals, eds. Leon Trotsky. New York: The Militant. www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1928/3rd/index.htm. Accessed 15 Oct 2013.

  • US Congress. 2013. Congress Calls on the States to Support the Continental Army, 1776. In Major Problems in the Era of the American Revolution 1760–1791, ed. Richard Brown, 197–198. Lexington: D.C. Heath and Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Creveld, Martin. 2008. Judah Maccabeus, c. 190–160BC. In The Art of War: Great Commanders of the Ancient and Medieval World, ed. Andrew Roberts, 148–155. London: Quercus.

    Google Scholar 

  • Washington, George. 1890a. To the President of Congress. In The Writings of George Washington (1776–1777), ed. Worthington Chauncey Ford, vol. V. New York/London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons. http://oll.libertyfund.org/simple.php?id=2403. Accessed 28 Nov 2011.

  • ———. 1890b. To Major General Heath. In The Writings of George Washington (1776–1777), ed. Worthington Chauncey Ford, vol. V. New York/London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons. http://oll.libertyfund.org/simple.php?id=2403. Accessed 28 Nov 2011.

  • ———. 1890c. Letter to George Clinton. In U.S. History Online Textbook, ed. UShistory.org. Philadelphia: The Independence Hall Association. http://www.ushistory.org/us/11f.asp. Accessed 28 Nov 2013.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2013. General George Washington Explains Army Problems and Calls for Help, 1780. In Major Problems in the Era of the American Revolution 1760–1791, ed. Richard Brown, 225–226. Lexington: D.C. Heath and Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Xiaorong, Han. 2005. Chinese Discourses on the Peasant, 1900–1949. Albany: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zarrow, Peter G. 2005. China in War and Revolution, 1895–1949. Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. McDaniel College, Westminster, MD, USA

    Francis Grice

Authors
  1. Francis Grice
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Grice, F. (2019). The Unoriginal Mao. In: The Myth of Mao Zedong and Modern Insurgency. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77571-5_3

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation