Editing Great Leap Forward (section)

=== Lushan Conference and the Anti-Right Deviation Struggle ===
{{Main|Lushan Conference|Anti-Right Deviation Struggle}}

The initial impact of the Great Leap Forward was discussed at the [[Lushan Conference]] in July–August 1959. Although many of the more moderate leaders had reservations about the new policy, the only senior leader to speak out openly was Marshal [[Peng Dehuai]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Li |first=Rui |author-link=Li Rui |date=1999-09-27 |title=No Dissent |url=https://time.com/archive/6955457/no-dissent/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241228230821/https://time.com/archive/6955457/no-dissent/ |archive-date=2024-12-28 |access-date=2024-12-28 |magazine=[[TIME]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Teiwes |first=Frederick C. |author-link=Frederick Teiwes |date=1986 |editor-last=Longpu |editor-first=Zheng |editor2-last=Domes |editor2-first=Jurgen |title=Peng Dehuai and Mao Zedong |journal=The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs |issue=16 |pages=81–98 |doi=10.2307/2158776 |jstor=2158776 }}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Kohlenberg |first=Paul Joscha |date=January 2017 |title=The Use of "Comrade" as a Political Instrument in the Chinese Communist Party, from Mao to Xi |journal=The China Journal |volume=77 |pages=72–92 |doi=10.1086/688519 }}</ref> Mao responded to Peng's criticism of the Great Leap by dismissing Peng from his post as the [[Minister of National Defense (China)|Minister of National Defense]], denouncing Peng (who came from a poor peasant family) and his supporters as "bourgeois",<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":5" /> subsequently launching a nationwide campaign against "rightist opportunism" known as the "[[Anti-Right Deviation Struggle]]".<ref name=":22">{{Cite journal |last=Teiwes |first=Frederick C. |author-link=Frederick Teiwes |date=1986 |editor-last=Longpu |editor-first=Zheng |editor2-last=Domes |editor2-first=Jurgen |title=Peng Dehuai and Mao Zedong |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2158776 |journal=The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs |issue=16 |pages=81–98 |doi=10.2307/2158776 |issn=0156-7365 |jstor=2158776 |archive-date=4 May 2019 |access-date=28 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190504043021/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2158776 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Peng was replaced by [[Lin Biao]], who began a systematic purge of Peng's supporters from the military.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Peng Dehuai |url=http://en.people.cn/data/people/pengdehuai.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231209052658/http://en.people.cn/data/people/pengdehuai.shtml |archive-date=2023-12-09 |access-date=2024-12-28 |website=[[People's Daily]]}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=March 2025}} In total, over 3 million CCP members were purged or penalized during the campaign.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last1=Wu |first1=Shihong |last2=Gao |first2=Qi |date=2017-08-09 |title=邓小平与共和国重大历史事件（17） |trans-title=Deng Xiaoping and the major historical events of the People's Republic of China (17) |url=http://cpc.people.com.cn/n1/2017/0809/c69113-29460152.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240606202826/http://cpc.people.com.cn/n1/2017/0809/c69113-29460152.html |archive-date=2024-06-06 |access-date=2024-12-28 |website=[[People's Daily|People's Net]] |publisher=Guangan Daily}}</ref>