The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in the People's Republic of China was a power struggle that took place within the Communist Party of China, which grew to include large sections of Chinese society and eventually brought the People's Republic of China to the brink of civil war. Launched by Communist Party of China Chairman Mao Zedong on May 16, 1966 in order to regain control of the party after the disasters of the Great Leap Forward had led to a significant loss of his power to rivals such as Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping. Though Mao himself officially declared the Cultural Revolution's...