to ensure their high compliance with the new leadership and the new party ideology. In order to secure his power, Mao supported his political authority with ethical and moral rhetoric. Rise of Mao The Yan'an rectification saw Mao consolidate his position of preeminence in the CCP. To do this he undertook a "thought-reform campaign" from 1942 to 1944. The effort was partly a reflection of Mao's wish to eradicate Soviet influence. Under the conditions of independently operating Communist areas and incessant warfare, Mao could not rely on discipline alone to guarantee obedience in the CCP ranks. In order to ensure the Party's obedience to his orders, Mao developed the techniques of the Rectification Campaign to implement 思想改造 sīxiǎng gǎizào "thought reform” or “ideological transformation". Mao's tactics often included isolating and attacking dissenting individuals in "study groups." Operational principles The Communists established numerous schools, formulating a new type of educational system. Among these schools were the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University, the Lu Xun Academy of the Arts, the Northwest Public School, the Central Party School, the Academy of Marxism-Leninism, the Women's University, Yan'an University, and the Academy of the Nationality, as well as a number of special training programs. All veterans and new recruits had to be enrolled and educated in one of these institutions, in accordance with their previous training or their expertise, before they could be trusted with assignment to party and government positions. At the end of the Yan'an Rectification Campaign the CCP had developed an operational set of principles and practices that differed greatly from the centralized, functionally specialized, hierarchical, command-oriented approach imposed by Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union. In what some authors have labeled the "Yan'an complex," the CCP emphasized a combination of qualities that can be summed up as: decentralized rule with flexibility allowed to local leaders; the importance of ideology in keeping cadres loyal; a strong preference for officials whose leadership spans a range of areas; stress on developing and maintaining close ties with the local population; focus on egalitarianism and simple living among officials. These became deeply held values of the CCP, and years later became central to the Party mythology that reminisced about the success of the Yan'an era. Thought reform During the Yan'an Rectification Campaign, more sophisticated techniques of thought control were used than had been previously attempted in China. Relying on criticism, self-criticism, "struggle", confession, and the content