> Cultural Revolution was not a civil war That's splitting hairs. Mao's Red Guards -- student revolutionaries and young adults -- effected a drastic shift in

> Cultural Revolution was not a civil war That's splitting hairs. Mao's Red Guards -- student revolutionaries and young adults -- effected a drastic shift in power, from a more liberal government to Mao (a strong authoritarian), and something on the order of three million people died as a direct consequence. Moreover, China lost an unbelievable amount of its history, as revolutionaries purged the "Four Olds" (customs, culture, habits, and ideas).