10 Despicable War Crimes That Were Shamefully Denied

8. Mao Zedong - The Great Leap Forward 1958-61

From 1958-61, Mao Zedong ruled China with a big Communist stick that rivalled the size of Joseph Stalin's in the USSR. Zedong wanted to implement industrialisation and collectivisation onto China's largely agrarian economy. This turned out to be a bad idea and the effects of this policy nearly ruined Chairman Mao politically. Estimates of the casualties of The Great Leap Forward have been as high as 45 million people in China. There was a terrible famine alongside widescale massacre of forces not 'friendly' to the regime such as private farmers, clergymen, rich peasants and other unwanted elements. The policies did not go down well with several of Mao's compadres and he was forced into doing a little purging of the party. All the while, international relations had gone to pot in this period and the world looked the other way, effectively allowing China to get away with the mass murder of its own civilians. Needless to say, Mao Zedong denied everything and the terrible deeds were hushed up.