The Cultural Revolution, launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, was one of the most dramatic and devastating events of the 20th century. What Mao described as a great revolution, aimed at consolidating the power of the Chinese Communist Party and forcefully reaffirming Marxist principles in China, had far from beneficial effects on the country and its people. Mao felt that China had become gentrified and that the values of the capitalist world were too deeply entrenched in the country, so he decided to act.

Mao encouraged young people to organise themselves into the famous Red Guards, a self-managed popular police force charged with purging society of anyone considered neo-capitalist or bourgeois. The Red Guards, often made up of very young university students or humble workers and peasants, indoctrinated and armed, were responsible for the capture and murder of many intellectuals and public figures deemed too close to the West.

On a social and cultural level, the Cultural Revolution attempted to eliminate all traces of China's millenary and rich culture, from religious practices to philosophy, literature and art. Religious buildings were set on fire and, as at the time of Nazi Germany, piles of forbidden books were piled up and set on fire in public squares.

One of the most curious aspects of the Cultural Revolution was its influence on international relations. During this phase, China gradually withdrew from major world diplomacy, closing in on itself and rejecting all forms of collaboration and dialogue with external powers, including those, such as the Soviet Union, that had shown sympathy towards it. It was not until the late 1970s, with the rise of Deng Xiaoping's leadership, that China finally adopted more pragmatic and less radical policies, though without denying the communist ideology, and stopped progressively destroying China's historical heritage.

The Cultural Revolution left an indelible imprint on the minds of the Chinese population and the debate on Mao's responsibility is still raging today.