The campaign to reshape Chinese society by persecuting perceived threats and mobilizing the younger generation into government is known as the ...

• A. Hundred Flowers Campaign
• B. Cultural Revolution
• C. Anti-Rightist Campaign
• D. Great Leap Forward

Answer: (B)

A mass, state-led campaign to reshape society through ideological purification and youth mobilization describes the Cultural Revolution. Initiated by Mao Zedong in 1966, its aim was to reaffirm Maoist ideology and purge elements deemed capitalist, traditional, or bourgeois from all aspects of life. The movement mobilized the younger generation—especially students—into revolutionary groups and Red Guards who pushed through schools, workplaces, and communities to enforce ideological purity, attack intellectuals and officials, and redefine cultural and political life. Persecution of perceived threats—through public denunciations, struggle sessions, and purges—was central to its method, making it distinct from other campaigns that focused on policy or punishment of critics rather than mass youth-led upheaval. The Hundred Flowers Campaign and Anti-Rightist Campaign targeted critics rather than mobilizing youth into governance, while the Great Leap Forward aimed at rapid industrial and agricultural transformation rather than ideological purging and mass youth mobilization.