User:PenangLion/Huairen Hall coup

Huairen Hall coup
Part of the Cultural Revolution
Location of Huairen Hall at Zhongnanhai.
Date	6 – 24 October 1976 (18 days)
Location	Huairen Hall, Zhongnanhai, Beijing, China
Caused by	Initiation of the Criticize Deng, Counterattack the Right-Deviationist Reversal-of-Verdicts Trend Death of Zhou Enlai and the 1976 Tiananmen incident Death of Mao Zedong Power struggles by rebel factions and the Gang of Four
Goals	Overthrow the influence of the Gang of Four
Resulted in	Coup successful: End of the Cultural Revolution Gang of Four arrested and sentenced Hua Guofeng becomes the new paramount leader of China Start of the Reveal, Criticise, and Correction Movement
Parties
Central Committee CMC CGB Beijing Garrison Beijing Military Region Gang of Four Supported by: Shanghai militants Tsinghua University militants Peking University militants
Lead figures
Hua Guofeng Ye Jianying Wang Dongxing Li Xiannian Wu De Geng Biao Chen Xilian Wu Zhong Supported by: Zhang Yaoci Wu Jianhua Qiu Weigao Wang Hongwen Zhang Chunqiao Jiang Qing Yao Wenyuan Mao Yuanxin Supported by: Chin Qun Xie Jingyi Xu Jingxian Ma Tianshui Wang Xiuzhen Jin Zumin
Units involved
Central Guard Regiment PLA 5th Tank Division
Casualties and losses
2 dead

The Huairen Hall coup, also referred to as the Eradicate the Gang of Four campaign, was a coup d'état led by then premier of China Hua Guofeng to topple the Gang of Four of the Cultural Revolution Group (CRG) on 6 October 1976. The coup, backed by defense minister Ye Jianying, director of the Central Office Wang Dongxing and several important military personnel, involved the quarantine of Zhongnanhai in the pretext of investigation against CCP vice chairman Wang Hongwen, vice premier of China Zhang Chunqiao, Politburo members Jiang Qing and Yao Wenyuan, as well as Mao Yuanxin, the nephew of the recently deceased Mao Zedong.

On the morning of 7 October, in a top secret meeting of the Politburo, Hua was appointed as the paramount leader of China, thereby concluding the Cultural Revolution that had been launched since 1966. Afterwards, the Gang of Four and its main followers were purged from power, and received severe legal ramifications.

Background

Following the death of paramount leader Mao Zedong, there exists a power vacuum in the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. The main political factions of the CCP, namely the "talents" of Hua Guofeng, Wang Dongxing, Chen Xilian, Ji Dengquan and Wu De, the "veterans" of Ye Jianying and Li Xiannian, and the "revolutionaries" of Jiang Qing, Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, Wang Hongwen and Mao Yuanxin, engaged in a ferocious power struggle.

Planning

[[Category:October 1976 events]] [[Category:1970s coups d'état and coup attempts]] [[Category:Gang of Four]] [[Category:Military coups in China]]