Chen Boda (PJW)

Chen Boda was the third and final Chairman of the People's Republic of China.

Originally Mao Zedong's secretary, Chen rose through the ranks to head the powerful Cultural Revolution Group. Allying himself with Marshal Lin Biao, Chen became one of the most powerful men in China as the Cultural Revolution spiraled out of control. Mao attempted the purge the two as their power grew, but Chen and Lin struck first; Mao would be assassinated in 1968, and it is highly likely the two were behind it.

Lin became the next Chairman, and the two worked closely to continue the Cultural Revolution, not only at home, but also abroad. As the Soviet Union turned inward, China became the leading supporter of foreign communist movements. The purges at home would continue as well, and in 1974 Lin would be purged when Chen claimed Lin was behind Mao's assassination. Already in failing health, Lin would die soon after, and Chen assumed direct control of China.

Chen's radicalism brought China to the brink during his tenure as Chairman. It is widely suspected China was responsible for Bolivia's nuclear weapons used in the Bolivian War, as well as acting increasingly belligerent to North Vietnam, who was falling back into the orbit of Moscow during the late 1970s in fear of the continuous purges in domestic China.

The Soviet Union and China had long split, and during the end of the Cultural Revolution in the early 1980s Chen declared the Soviet Union the ultimate counter-revolutionary, and had given up its role in spreading the revolution in favor of imperialism. Soviet General Secretary Dmitry Ustinov was never one to back down from a challenge, and tensions rose increasingly high.

Finally, on April 18, 1982, as Chinese tanks formally invaded North Vietnam and North Korea, tensions boiled over. The four hour Sino-Soviet Exchange consisted of thousands of nuclear weapons being launched and over 500 million Chinese dying in the initial exchange. Chen would be killed when he failed to evacuate Beijing on time and the city was destroyed by the most powerful nuclear weapon in the Soviet arsenal. Following Chen's death and the nuclear exchange, the People's Republic collapsed and eastern China essentially became a nuclear wasteland.