Founding chairman of the People's Republic of China — who led the Communist Party to victory in the civil war (1949), launched the Great Leap Forward (1958–62, 45 million deaths) and the Cultural Revolution (1966–76) — the most lethal political figure in history by direct policy consequences.
Applies guerrilla warfare doctrine to a continental peasant revolution — Mao's military theory (the people as water, the guerrilla as fish; protracted war; base areas strategy) was the most effective non-Western military doctrine of the 20th century, enabling victory over a numerically and technologically superior opponent.
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