中共建國初期，為了徹底清除國民黨及西方國家在中國的影響力，決意鎮壓「反革命」分子。劉少奇與周恩來曾先後下令鎮壓「反革命」，但並未得到毛澤東的的公開支持。直到1950年10月，毛澤東決定出兵抗美援朝，遂抓緊機會正式發動「鎮壓反革命」運動。 運動初期，毛澤東尚強調鎮壓與寬大相結合的統戰策略，但是到了1951年1月，毛澤東不滿於各地鎮壓「反革命」的進度落後，特別是上海、南京等大、中城市執行不力，遂下令須按比例大殺一批。毛澤東令下，各地開始「鎮反」殺人競賽，部分地區甚至出現超額殺人，並反過來要求毛澤東提高比例。毛澤東驚覺運動失控，才下令將捕人批准權收回到地專一級，殺人批准權收回到省級，並緊急召開第三次全國公安會議以貫徹命令，不過仍有部分地區出現趕殺的情況。1952年的第五次全國公安會議，羅瑞卿指示將「鎮反」重點轉向「反動」會道門。 毛澤東強調要發動民主人士及群眾參與「鎮反」運動，以收殺雞儆猴之效。毛澤東並下令全國組織群眾的治安保衛委員會，用群眾來監視群眾，鞏固了中共的統治基礎，穩定社會秩序，「鎮壓反革命」運動對新中國的影響至為深遠，與「土地改革」和「抗美援朝」並稱中共建國初期三大政治運動。;The new CPC government decided to suppress counterrevolutionaries to eradicate the influence of KMT and western countries in the early years of the PRC. Liu Shaoqi and Zhou Enlai had ordered to suppress counterrevolutionaries but Mao Zedong did not openly support this suppression then. In Oct 1950, Mao determined to send PVA to join the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea. He therefore seized this opportunity to formally initiate the Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries. In the beginning of the Campaign, Mao stressed on both suppression and leniency. However, by Jan 1951, Mao became dissatisfied by the progress of the campaign, especially in Shanghai, Nanjing and other big cities. Mao implemented a quota for the executions in accordance with local populations. As a result, many provinces began to race to kill. Some regions even carried out more executions than their quotas, and they inversely asked more numbers of execution from Mao. Mao did not feel that the campaign was out of control until then. He had issued a directive confining the power of arresting to local official level and the power of approving execution to provincial level. Mao convened the 3rd nation public security meeting to implement this order. However in some regions execution in excess was inevitable. In 1952, Luo Ruiqing directed the focus of Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries to ban reactionary secret societies in the 5th nation public security meeting. Mao emphasized that the public and the democratic personages should participate in the campaign to warn the people in opposition. Mao ordered to organize the public security committee, overseeing each other, consolidating the governing foundation and stabilizing the social order. The Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries which had profound and long-lasting influence on new China, the land reform and the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea were called as the 3 important political movements during the founding of the PRC.
