1959+Repression+of+the+Tibetan+Uprising

1959 Repression of the Tibetan Uprising

1) Description

Though the first Tibetan uprising in 1950 was suppressed by the People's Liberation Army, it was not destroyed. The Tibetan resistance movement emerged again in 1959 to challenge Chinese authority. The CCP responded by sending the PLA to suppress the demonstrations and protests again, and thousands of protestors were arrested, imprisoned, or, for the leaders of the movement specifically, executed. The PLA focused particularly on attacking the Tibetan religion, torturing priests and nuns, turning ancient monasteries into administrative offices or military barracks. The repression of this uprising led to the flight of the Dalai Lama, and the CCP purposefully extending the Great Famine of 1958 in China to Tibet as part of its plan to destroy Tibetan resistance.

2) Significance in Mao's Rule

Like the Anti-Rightist Movement in 1957, the Repression of the Tibetan Uprising of 1959 is also an example of the way Mao manipulated terror, fear, and violence to consolidate his power. Not only did the CCP send the People's Liberation Army to suppress the resistance, it even intentionally spread the Great Famine of 1958 in China to Tibet in order to destroy the uprising completely. In this sense, Mao was content with letting hundreds of thousands of Tibetan people starve to death just to stop the resistance from emerging again. This shows that Mao was a ruthless ruler and capable of using any methods to ensure the security of his absolute authority.