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When did the Cultural Revolution take place in China?
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Cultural Revolution
Mao Zedong reviewing troops at Tiananmen Square, Beijing, August 1966.
The Cultural Revolution took place in China from 1966 to 1976.12
While the movement was formally launched by Mao Zedong at the Eleventh Plenum of the Eighth Central Committee in August 1966, it had been declared months earlier on May 16, 1966, and was already underway in educational institutions by that time.13
The revolution concluded in the fall of 1976 following the death of Mao in September and the subsequent downfall of the Gang of Four, though it was officially declared over in August 1977 by the 11th Party Congress.1