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 One such mass-action campaign, the Great Leap Forward of 1958-60, intended to mobilize the country into superhuman feats of agricultural and industrial productivity. Instead it resulted in mass starvation, as peasants spent more time in political debate than in physical work, a problem made worse by two years of poor harvest, floods and typhoons. When most in need of help, Mao then quarreled with the Soviet Union, ostensibly in the name of Chinese ‘self-reliance’ but really out of pique because the Soviets would not share their nuclear technology with China. As if to add insult to injury, Mao finally lost all patience with his critics and turned to the young. In 1966, he launched the Cultural Revolution, encouraging his Red Guard army to wipe the slate of history clean and build a totally new China. The Red Guards proceeded to smash up historic buildings and museums, beat up intellectuals and teachers, and even turned on their own parents. This mass-action resulted in ten years of terror, anarchy, and repression.