COMMUNIST CHINA

1. China under Mao a. Rebuilding China i. Government 1. Shaped by Communist ideals 2. Discouraged the practice of religion 3. Seized property of rural landowners and redistributed it 4. Used 5 year plans for industry

ii. Mao’s policies led to improvements in literacy rate and public health 1. Chinese life expectancy increased iii. Cost 1. Government began to eliminate “enemies of the state”, who had spoken out against the government’s policies

b. The Great Leap Forward i Mao announced the program, Great Leap Forward 1. Designed to increase China’s industrial and agricultural output 2. Created collectively owned farms called communes; each was to produce food and have its own small-scale industry ii. Plan was a disaster iii. Led to criticism of Mao

c. Culture Revolution i. Movement initiated by Mao during the mid-1960s ii. Movement sought to rid China of its old ways and create a society in which peasants and physical labor were ideal 1. Results: a. Eliminated intellectuals i.e. teachers, skilled workers and artists b. Schools were shut down and militant high school and college students known as the Red Guard were encouraged to criticize intellectuals and traditional values

iii. This movement will re-establish Mao’s dominance but caused terrible destruction in Chinese society

2. China after Mao a. Reforms Begin i. 1970s- China will end its isolation from the rest of the world 1. Nixon will go to China in 1972 ii. Gang of Four 1. Held much of the power in China 2. Were responsible for many of the worst features of the Culture Revolution 3. Will be imprisoned after Mao’s death

iii. Deng Xiaoping 1. Became China’s leader after Mao 2. Put in place far- reaching market reforms called the Four Modernizations a. Sought to modernize 4 areas: agriculture, industry, science and technology and national defense b. Also gave businesses new freedom to make economic decisions

b. Tiananmen Square i Inspired by more economic freedom, more than 1 million pro-democracy protestors occupied Beijing’s Tiananmen Square 2. China’s leaders become impatient with them and ask them to leave the square 3. June The government responded with force killing many protestors in the Tiananmen Square Massacre

c. China Today i. China’s economy is the 2 nd largest in the world ii. Chinese government encourages families to have 1 child 1. This is done to prevent population growth from harming economic development

iii. Challenges 1. Had to import enormous qualities of coal, iron ore, oil and natural gas 2. Rapid industrialization has led to widespread air and water pollution

iv. Human Rights Abuses 1. Is a concern for many critics of China 2. Government limits free speech and religious freedoms 3. Strict control over media 4. Political protestors are jailed 5. Courts are accused of not providing fair trials