Mao's misbegotten Great Leap Forward mobilized armies of peasants to make China a modern nation and instead mired the countryside in depression and famine. Through all the author of the Little Red Book those minions dutifully quoted from memory remained the inscrutable emperor in his Forbidden City, orchestrating chaos from behind his giant portrait atop the Gate of Heavenly Peace. Brief Timeline of Communist China 1931 The Japanese invasion of Manchuria. Mao Zedong formally declares the People's Republic of China . 1950 Chinese troops enter the Korean War .
Chinese troops enter Tibet.
1959-1962 Widespread hunger resulting from the Great Leap Forward. 1960 Mao admits that the Great Leap Forw ard was a disaster. 1963 Open split between Chinese and Soviet communist parties. Mao introduces the Cultural Revolution . 1966 Red Guards take control of local governments.