Why did Mao Zedong launch the Cultural Revolution in 1966?

Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution in 1966 primarily to reassert his control over the Chinese Communist Party and to eliminate political rivals who he believed were leading China toward "revisionism" or a bureaucratic degeneration of the party.1234

Mao’s motivations included several key objectives:

• Purging Political Opponents: He sought to remove party leaders—such as Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping—who he felt were insufficiently revolutionary or had challenged his authority, particularly following the failures of the Great Leap Forward.1354
• Ideological Rectification: Mao aimed to combat "bourgeois" infiltrators and traditional values, which he viewed as counterrevolutionary. He wanted to transform the government from a bureaucratic machine into a system more aligned with his personal vision of communism.14
• Revolutionary Experience for Youth: By mobilizing students into Red Guards, Mao intended to provide China's younger generation with a direct revolutionary experience, believing this would benefit both the youth and the party cadres they criticized.14
• Policy Reform: He sought to make cultural, educational, and health care systems less elitist.4

Ultimately, the movement was a radical attempt to reverse perceived trends toward Soviet-style development and to secure Mao's place in history by forcing a "revolution in the superstructure".4