Question

Where did Mao think he would find the most support for his Communist Party?

Answer 1

Within the Chinese peasantry.

Explanation:

Mao adapted and developed Marxism-Leninism to meet the demands of China. Primarily he based his power struggle on the peasantry, because China, unlike the Soviet Union, did not have an industrial working class or proletariat within a capitalist system.

China was predominantly agrarian and the power structure was feudal. Mao therefore realised that to be successful he needed the support of the peasants. Mao's armies were peasant armies and much of his major economic reforms after he came to power were based on re-organising the land. Ownership passed to the state, and the peasants were part of a highly centralised economic system, organised into huge communes.