The Counterattack the Right-Deviationist Trend of Historical Revisionism movement was the last large-scale political movement initiated by Mao Zedong at the end of the Cultural Revolution.

After 1975, the newly-resurgent Deng Xiaoping was appointed Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s Central Military Commission, and Chief of General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Deng gradually took over the work of the State Council from the seriously ill Zhou Enlai. He began the "Complete Rectification" to clean up the chaos caused by the Cultural Revolution. This caused discontent among the pro-Mao "rebel groups" who were attacked in the process.

By October 1975, the political winds had shifted. Mao Yuanxin (Mao Zedong's nephew) reported to Mao Zedong that Deng "seldom talked about the achievements of the Cultural Revolution and seldom criticized Liu Shaoqi's revisionist line." Before Mao, others cast aspersions upon Deng's attitude toward the Cultural Revolution. This move violated Mao Zedong's fundamental principle that "the Cultural Revolution shall not be negated". This caused cracks to appear in the relationship between Deng and Mao.

Liu Bing, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee at Tsinghua University, wrote a letter to Mao that reflected various problems with Party Secretary Chi Qun and Deputy Secretary Xie Jingyi. On November 3, Mao replied to Liu's letter. Mao stated that "the brunt of this letter is aimed directly at me. I am in Beijing, so why not write the letter directly to me, instead of going through Xiaoping? Xiaoping is partial to Liu Bing. The issues involved at Tsinghua University are not isolated, but rather a reflection of the current struggle between the two Party lines."

On November 4, Mao Yuanxin called a meeting of eight people. At the meeting, Deng Xiaoping still made no mention of the Cultural Revolution, and emphasized that it was correct to focus on productivity, and to achieve stability and unity. After Mao Yuanxin reported the situation to Mao Zedong, the elder Mao became even more resentful of Deng Xiaoping.

Subsequently, Mao Zedong decided to no longer allow Deng Xiaoping to preside over the Central Committee's day-to-day work. Mao launched a campaign to criticize Deng Xiaoping and the counterattack the right-deviationist trend toward historical revisionism.

As the Counterattack the Right-Deviationist Trend of Historical Revisionism movement gradually deepened, Deng Xiaoping was severely criticized and had to relinquish all his political power. In March 1976, the campaign's name was officially changed to the Criticize Deng and Counterattack the Right-Deviationist Trend of Historical Revisionism movement. The movement intensified people's dissatisfaction with the Cultural Revolution (pro-Maoist) faction and with Mao himself. This dissatisfaction culminated, after Zhou Enlai's death, in 1976's April 5 Tian'anmen Incident.

References: Yang Jisheng, "The World Turned Upside Down: A History of the Chinese Cultural Revolution"; Wikipedia