MAO’S RED CHINA China Under Communist Rule

MAO’S RED CHINA China Under Communist Rule
The Great Leap Forward, 1958 & The Crisis of

Communism is designed to be a “permanent revolution”.
For this reason, communists are always in a state of war. Communism is very strict and not very peaceful.

Propaganda spread Mao’s message
throughout China, brainwashing the public. Propaganda is the advertising of political points of view. Propaganda is generally untrue. Both Russia and China used propaganda to make the United States And its economic system seem evil.

Economic Reconstruction 1950s
Soviet Union model and assistance land reform (eliminate landlord class) heavy industry (state-owned enterprises) First National People’s Congress (1954) PRC Constitution Zhou Enlai Premier Foreign Minister

Following the Soviet Model
Between 1949 and 1960, China followed the Russian strategy of industrialization. They built large factories in the cities. Many Russian engineers came to China to assist in this effort. Many of the largest factories in China today were built during this period.

China under Mao Rebuilding China Development First Plan
Having defeated the Guomindang, Mao set about building a Communist China. His first concern was rebuilding a country that had been torn apart by years of civil war. Communist ideology shaped new government Change in China’s political, economic systems Government discouraged practice of religion Rebuilding China Also seized property of rural landowners, redistributed among peasants Put in place Soviet-style five-year plans for industrial development Development 1957, first plan doubled China’s small industrial output Early efforts to build economy successful Improved economy, reduced poverty First Plan

Improvements in literacy rates, public health
Early Years Improvements in literacy rates, public health Chinese life expectancy increased sharply over next few decades Improvements came at a cost To consolidate Communist control over China, government soon began to eliminate so-called “enemies of the state” who had spoken out against government’s policies Many thousands—including public officials, business leaders, artists, writers—killed, or sent to labor camps

China Modeled on Soviet Union
Soviet Union provided financial support, aid in China’s first years China modeled many of its new political, economic, military policies on Soviet system 1950s, territorial disputes, differences in ideology pushed China away from Soviet ally The Great Leap Forward 1958, in break from Soviet-style economic planning, Mao announced program designed to increase China’s industrial, agricultural output The Great Leap Forward created thousands of communes, collectively owned farms, of about 20,000 people each Each commune to produce food, have own small-scale industry

2013 The First Five Year Plan and The Great Leap Forward

First Five Year Plan

Setting the Stage Recall that the Communists ultimately triumphed over the Nationalist Kuomintang government because the Kuomintang was corrupt, disinterested in the people, and did not actively fight the Japanese. Once in Power, Mao tightened control over China and implemented his own Five-Year Plan to increase industrial and agricultural production. Mao became “premier,” or dictator, and the Communist Party was China’s only political party.

Prelude to the Great Leap Forward
The Hundred Flowers Campaign had revealed conflicting attitudes within the CCP leadership regarding the pace and type of development Additionally, Mao was very concerned with the increasingly bureaucratic nature of the party and the “loss of vitality” in China What is a dictator to do?

The Communists Transform China
Just as Stalin’s Five-Year Plan had increased production at a very high cost, Mao’s policies were harmful to the people of China. First among these was the collectivization of agriculture that killed over 1 million landlords. Collectivization was a gradual process that began with the creation of 5-15 family “mutual aid teams” and culminated with family collectives. Peasants were summoned to meeting places and forbidden to leave for days until they “joined” the collective.

Soviet Model of Development: Central planning of the economy
INITIAL PHASE: Soviet Model of Development: Central planning of the economy State ownership of enterprises. Workers were state employees. Planned production targets and supply of inputs. Managers were administrators of state property and enforcers of the output plans.

China’s Problems Overwhelmingly rural, and backward (85%) -- tenancy, share-cropping common Huge population: 400+ million 1950 Peasants backbone of revolution; different than Russia where peasants seen as obstacle to progress Land reform -- get agriculture moving

Goal of Five Year Plan Goal of model – rapid industrialization, self- sufficiency Extract surplus from agriculture to finance industrial development – Rationalize process through centralized planning – 5 year plans – production targets

First Five Year Plan – Mao wanted China to “walk on two legs” – develop both agriculture and industry at the same time Soviet Union assisted with $300 million and 10,000 Russian engineers Targeted the development of heavy industry: coal, steel, chemicals, automobile, and transport

China’s First 5-year plan 1953-57
Emphasis on industry steel, machinery, railroads, electricity plants, metallurgy, chemicals Embrace rational planning – experts, bureaucrats lead

First 5 Year Plan  land reform (eliminate landlord class)
 land reform (eliminate landlord class)  development of heavy industry (state- owned enterprises) by 1957, most targets had been exceeded.  serious economic problems remained (unemployment & no funds to build industries)

The Communists Transform China
Once agriculture was collectivized with Mao in control, the government now had a monopoly on agriculture, allowing it to buy low and sell high to finance industrialization at the people’s expense. Private farming was against the law, and those found guilty were punished severely. In order to satisfy government quotas, food was often rationed, and many peasants nearly starved even in good times.

Within China: Build Socialism
In the countryside In the City

Outside: Friendship with Oppressed Peoples & Socialist Countries

Anti-Imperialism

Women Hold Up Half the Sky

Results: rapid industrial development, but …
Growth of bureaucracy New patterns of social inequality, privileged elites Growing gulf between modernizing cities and backward countryside Ideological decay, loss of revolutionary fervor

Effects of the First Five Year Plan
Failure to meet the targets established by The National Resource Committee was the equivalent of failing China Overall industrial output increased 15.5% per year (faster than the target of 14.7%) However, less people worked on farms, so food production increased at an average of 2% per year, compared to 14% from

Effects of the First Five Year Plan
Not building a Socialist utopia of equal prosperity for all Instead uneven development inequalities common in capitalism Making new classes

Mao’s New Theory of Economic Development
Past economic stagnation led to mental stagnation To Make Socialist Person -- Not sufficient to introduce new technologies or alter Mode of Production as had been done in USSR

Mao’s New Theory of Economic Development: From “Poor and Blank” to Permanent Revolution
Present unburdened by Past Change a matter of human will to overcome objective obstacles extreme volunteerism, optimism “Our revolutions are like battles; after each victory, we must put forward a new task,” Mao 1958

Great Leap Forward

Great Leap Forward, In 1958, Mao decided that the Russian strategy of industrial development was not suitable for China. This urban, large-factory system was not having enough of an impact on the mass of the population in the countryside. Mao decided to opt for a unique Chinese method of industrialization.

Why The Great Leap Forward Program?WhyThe beginning
Why was Mao ready for a change in economic policy by 1958? Despite 5YP’s successes, Mao felt the time was ripe for the transition from socialism to communism Disliked the sprawling bureaucracy and increasing individualism Feared an entrenched system, which would be more difficult to alter Disheartened by disappointing grain yields Also hoped for “spontaneous energizing of the whole nation” as he was very concerned with the lack of revolutionary spirit in China Sino-Soviet relations were deteriorating, desired self-sufficiency What is the significance of the phrase poor and blank? Despite China’s economic “backwardness” Mao felt this description of China’s peasantry was desirable-they were more eager for change Also more likely to become “red and expert”

Great Leap Forward ( ) abandon the Soviet model of economic development Soviet “scientific planning” mass mobilization people’s communes

China Virtually Isolated
The Great Leap Forward Plan was disaster; small commune factories failed to produce quantity, quality of goods China needed Combination of poor weather, farmers’ neglect led to sharp drops in agricultural production Famine spread through rural China; tens of millions starved to death between 1959 and 1961 Planning Disaster Failure of Great Leap Forward led to criticism of Mao Soviet criticism, withdrawal of Soviet industrial aid widened rift between two Communist nations By early 1960s, relations had broken down completely; China virtually isolated in world community China Virtually Isolated

THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD During this trip I have witnessed the tremendous energy of the masses. On this foundation it is possible to accomplish any task whatsoever. - Mao Mao’s Goal: Making China an Industrial Powerhouse Second 5-Year Plan: The Great Leap Forward In the summer of 1958, Mao Zedong made a tour of the Chinese countryside. On his return to Beijing, he was quoted saying: II. The task he had in mind was to make China into one of the world’s leading industrial nations at the same time as improving her agriculture. This would be done through a second 5-Year Plan, running from 1958 to Mao intended that the Chinese economy would overtake that of Britain within 15 years and that of American within 20 to 30. His plan was known as the Great Leap Forward.

Goal of Great Leap Forward: Permanent Revolution
Constant process of ideologically inspired mass activism Producing “Great Leaps” Forward and “Cultural Revolution”

Ideology and Politics in Command
Central planning abandoned

Economic Development Industrialize countryside
Maoist Vision: De-centralized System Close gap between urban-rural Industrialize countryside Xiafang: technicians, intellectuals, youth to the countryside commune

To create a Socialist Utopia: Dazhai Commune

ORGANIZE POPULATION INTO PRODUCTION UNITS
TOTAL CARE -- HEALTH, EDUCATION, WELFARE INSPIRE WITH CONTUNOUS IDEOLOGICAL WORK

Great Leap Forward: 2nd Five Year Plan When? 1958-1962 Why?
To bring another success to the PRC success in carrying out land reforms success in other campaigns to attack the reactionaries

Mao believed the country should focus on industry and food
Mao believed the country should focus on industry and food. Mao made a five year plan and called it The Great Leap Forward Pictures are able to set a mood. Many governments have used art to excite citizens and capture their imaginations What are the objects in this poster? Grains, food, Molten steel, Are these the things Mao is promoting?

Great Leap Forward The Commune is Like a Mighty Dragon, Production is awe-inspiring

To achieve self-sufficient economy
To achieve self-sufficient economy disliked Soviet way of industrialization (putting heavy industry first) China would not do with high-tech factories which depended on foreign capital and assistance  to show that the Chinese way of industrialization was better than the Soviet way or the capitalist way

To end diplomatic isolation
China was being isolated from other countries (capitalism) due to its practice of communism To catch up Britain and US and to break off diplomatic isolation To raise international status of China

To increase productivity
First Five Year plan completed earlier than expected But... serious economic problems remained unchanged unemployment (most peasants had little to do between harvesting and sowing)

Communes and Collectivization

Great Leap Forward – Second Five Year Plan (1958-1962)
Collectivization became the official policy. China’s land was divided into 70,000 communes He hoped that it would help unemployment and cause a genuine communal unity He accused peasants of hiding grain and used force against them The food would be traded for money to buy weapons or used for fuel

How did the Great Leap Forward affect China?
Mao believed that both industry and agriculture had to grow to make the other work. The industry had to be well fed to be good industry workers, and agriculture needed industry to make good tools for them. In order to make the industry and agriculture grow, China was reformed into a series of communes. A commune is a relatively small, often rural community whose members share common interests, work, and income and often own property collectively.

The Great Leap Forward Mao’s second Five-Year Plan is known as the Great Leap Forward, and involved utilizing the massive amounts of human labor to avoid having to import industrial machinery. Who needs a bulldozer when you’ve got a few hundred people with shovels, right? Mao believed that steel and grain would make China great, and these endeavors were complete and total disasters.

Great Leap Forward, In 1958, Mao decided that the Russian strategy of industrial development was not suitable for China. This urban, large-factory system was not having enough of an impact on the mass of the population in the countryside. Mao decided to opt for a unique Chinese method of industrialization.

THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD - THE COMMUNES
Develop Agriculture as well as Industry Chinese Commune System - All Encompassing Collective Farm & Work Units Purpose: Releasing the Worker’s Tremendous Energy I. Unlike the 1st 5-Year Plan, the Great Leap Forward aimed at develop agriculture as well as industry, both light and heavy, all at the same time. The key to achieving this was the reorganization of the Chinese people into communes. II. Communes were groups of villages which varied in size from a few square kilometers to that of a country. The average commune contained about 5000 families who gave up their land, their animals, and their equipment to common ownership by all member of the commune. III. The purpose of the commune was to release what Mao called the “tremendous energy of the masses” by making sure their time and effort were not wasted and that the members of a commune could work at a great variety of tasks.

How? Peasants placed into communes Mass mobilization

THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD - THE COMMUNES
The advantage of People’s Communes lies in the fact that they combine industry, agriculture, commerce, education, and military affairs. - Mao People’s Time Managed Effectively for Work Commune in Control of All Activities - Hierarchy Commune Creation Extremely Speedy - More than 25,000 at end of 1958 I. The Great Leap Forward planned to develop agriculture and industry. Mao believed that both had to grow to allow the other to grow. Industry could only prosper if the work force was well fed, while the agricultural workers needed industry to produce the modern tools needed for modernisation. To allow for this, China was reformed into a series of communes. Communes were intended to function like small cities or towns. They had their own manufacturing capabilities and worked farmers like factory workers and kept people from migrating to the cities. If needed people on communes could be mobilized for large labor-intensive projects. They were organized so that nothing could distract the people from their work. Around 4 million communal eating halls were set up so that the number of people who spent time cooking meals was reduced. Several million children were put into nurseries and schools so that both parents in a family were freed for full-time work. Old and infirm people were moved into “houses of happiness” so that their families did not have to take time off of work to look after them. II. Communes controlled almost every activity in a person’s life because they combined several different functions. First, a commune was a unit of local government, with a committee made up of peasants, Party members and soldiers running schools, clinics, nurseries, eating halls, entertainment and other public services. Second, a commune was a unit of work organization, with the work of the commune divided among work teams of a dozen families, and grouped into work brigades of a dozen work teams. Finally, a commune was a unit of the CCP, with a Party committee making sure that the commune always followed Party decisions. III. The speed at which communes were created was astounding. By the end of 1958, about 700 million people (90% of the population) had been placed in 26,578 communes in all parts of the country.

The commune owned everything, tools, animals, and land.
Communes were made up of many families ( often as many as five thousand families) The commune owned everything, tools, animals, and land. People worked for the commune, not for themselves. The commune provided schools, nurseries and healthcare so workers could work instead of taking care of babies and older parents Would any of these things help your family? Mao often was portrayed in these posters. Always in a positive way. ASK FOR STUDENT RESPONCES TO THE QUESTION ON SLIDE

The Great Leap Forward Farming was further collectivized into larger farms called “communes.” 26,000 communes were created, each covering 15,000 square miles, supporting about 25,000 people each. Life on the communes was strictly controlled, peasants worked the land together, ate together in cafeterias, slept in communal dorms, and raised their kids in communal nurseries.

Propaganda was everywhere – including the fields workers could listen to political speeches as they worked Successes were always depicted, letting the public know all the good things the government had accomplished. ASK STUDENTS TO IDENTIFY MODERN TECHNOLOGY, REMEMBER THIS IS about 1960

Propaganda posters often use symbolism
The dragon in this picture symbolizes steel production The bird symbolizes grain production How does this poster make you feel? Many students will say this is not a happy image because of the dragon, however in China the dragon is a good symbol

THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD - PROPAGANDA & ENTHUSIASM
A key element in the Great Leap Forward was Party propaganda. The Party and the government made every effort to whip people into a frenzy of enthusiasm for their work. Posters, slogans and newspaper articles urged the Chinese to work long hours, whatever the weather and no matter how bad the conditions. Wherever people worked, loudspeakers played revolutionary music and stirring speeches, encouraging workers not only to reach but to exceed the Plan’s targets. As a result, many impressive construction projects were completed in record time. Propaganda a Key Element Goal to Inspire Workers to Overachieve Goals Impressive Construction Projects Completed

Write at least two sentences that you think this poster might be saying.
China is depicted as the garden of plenty WRITTEN RESPONSE, CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING

The Great Leap Forward Funerals, weddings, and religion were replaced with meetings and propaganda. Only work points, not pay, were awarded. Only the state profited from this labor, and peasants had no reason to work hard. Criticism of the commune would label you as dangerous, and escape was next to impossible.

Effects of Communes Economic difficulties
Most peasants had lost their incentives to produce get everything in the people communes communal eating halls provided the peasants with very generous meals free of charge lower productivity = food crises, decline in production, devaluation of money, high inflation and a huge national deficit

Effects: Great Famine

Causes of the Famine 1958 had particularly good weather for growing food. Party leaders claimed that the harvest for 1958 was a record 260 million tons – which was not true. Still the leaders over-reported their harvests to their superiors in Beijing, and what was thought to be surplus grain was sold abroad.

The Famine What factors contributed to the famine of 1959-62?
“Encouraged by expectations of a great leap in agricultural productivity from collectivization, the government diverted massive amounts of agricultural resources to industry and sharply raised grain procurement from the peasants, eventually leading to malnutrition among peasants and decimation of their labor productivity in growing next year's crops. The consecutive years of bad weather also aggravated the fatal economic policies. The decline in food availability was indeed a cause of the GLF famine. But other institutional factors, including urban bias in China's food distribution system, radical local policies, and grain exports, were also major contributors of the excess mortality. By and large, the GLF catastrophe was the result of a series of failures in central planning.” While the inflated numbers reported by communes contributed to the famine, what is more disturbing is that the top CCP officials knew it was happening, and yet continued to take large portions of the grain yields.

Causes of the Famine The excellent growing weather of 1958 was followed by a very poor growing year in 1959. Some parts of China were hit by floods. In other growing areas, drought was a major problem. The harvest for 1959 was 170 million tons of grain – well below what China needed at the most basic level. In parts of China, starvation occurred.

Results Famine! “When there is not enough to eat people starve to death. It is better to let half of the people die so that the other half can eat their fill.” -Mao

The Famine 1960 had even worse weather than 1959.
The harvest of 1960 was 144 million tons. 9 million people are thought to have starved to death in 1960 alone; many millions were left desperately ill as a result of a lack of food. The government had to introduce rationing. This put people on the most minimal of food and between 1959 and 1962, it is thought that 20 million people died of starvation or diseases related to starvation.

The Famine (con.) Estimates range from million deaths; it is the worst famine in recorded history 2-3 million of those were beaten to death or buried alive The power of the local cadres also played a role-they could deny food to anyone not “on board” with the GLF In 1962, having lost about ten million people in Sichuan, provincial leader Li Jingquan compared the Great Leap Forward to the Long March in which only one in ten had made it to the end: “We are not weak, we are stronger, we have kept the backbone”

年大饑荒 - The Great Famine

Birth & Death Rates

Great Sparrow Campaign

The Great Sparrow Campaign (打麻雀运动) was part of Mao Zedong’s Four Pests Campaign (除四害运动, Chú Sì Hài Yùndòng). A part of the Great Leap Forward (大跃进, Dà Yuèjìn) from , the goal of the Four Pests Campaign was to get rid of rats, flies, mosquitoes, and sparrows. Sparrows were considered pests because they ate grain seeds. Farmers were encouraged to tear down sparrows’ nests, break sparrow eggs, and bang pots and pans to scare sparrows away. Later, China’s authorities discovered that sparrows actually prefer to eat insects rather than grain seed. More importantly, sparrows had served an important function in the farm ecology by eating locusts.

Illogical agricultural methods were used, such as overplanting. Mao believed the seeds of the same species would not compete, and higher harvests would result. Grain production actually fell. As part of the Great Leap, Mao also launched the Great Sparrow Campaign in which the Chinese people were encouraged to kill sparrows because it was believed that they ate the grain.

Sparrows eat insects. The kinds of insects that eat grain… With no birds, the insect population exploded and China’s crops were devastated. Officials were often pressured to lie about their to produce grain, resulting in communes being forced to sell more grain that they could afford to give.

Initially, the campaign did improve the harvest. While the sparrow population declined, the locust population grew: Sparrows are a predator of the locusts in the food chain Locusts swarmed the country and caused disruptions to crop harvesting.

While the Great Sparrow Campaign initially appeared to produce an increase in grain output, the countryside became infested with locusts, a much more serious pest than sparrows. Mao called the plan off, but it was too late. Swarming locusts coupled with bad weather and the misguided Great Leap Forward led to the Great Chinese Famine (三年大饥荒, Sān Nián Dà Jīhuang), which killed 30 million people between 1958 and 1961.

Propaganda Poster to encourage rural children to hunt and kill the sparrows

Picture of rural family looking at all the sparrows they have killed.

Propaganda Poster to encourage peasants to hunt and kill the sparrows.

Industrialization

Policies Under the Great Leap Forward
Forests were stripped of trees to be used as fuel for factories, so deforestization resulted Anything that peasants could melt down into steel was put in backyard furnaces, but the steel was poor quality and led to poor equipment being created Mao ordered huge drives to build irrigation systems using poor equipment. Some of these projects are still unstable today Mao also wanted to raise output in factories, so common sense and rules went to the wayside in the name of speed. Accidents frequently caused tens of thousands of deaths

Industrialization Technically, the GLF was part of Mao’s 2nd FYP
Improvements in heavy industry was still a major goal, though Mao seemed more concerned with the scale of the undertaking than the quality In addition to the mobilization of small-scale industry in the communes, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were established Often inefficient Created the “iron rice bowl” mentality Output of some goods actually fell

Look for positive images and symbols in this picture
Look for positive images and symbols in this picture. List several and explain to the person next to you why you think they are in this picture. Look for positive images and symbols in this picture. Bolts of cloth, Grain, rice wine?, Technology, Energy production, chemical pesticides WRITTEN LIST, VERBAL EXPANATION WITH PARTNER, SEVERAL STUDENTS MAY SHARE WITH CLASS, CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING

Large Scale Infrastructure Projects
“the empire of the blue ants” Expansion of Tiananmen Square Ming tombs Irrigation Systems Canals, Dams, etc

Conservancy Projects Millions of peasants were pulled away from their agricultural tasks in order to engage in industrialization or water conservancy projects. This lack of attention to the crops added to the problem of a serious drought and up to 30 million people died in China during this period.

There were not enough machines, there was no cement, no mortar and other building materials. Beijingers were summoned to build this dam with their bare hands and feet by voluntary shift work. Hundreds of thousands of inhabitants of Beijing, including all the civil servants and university professors, doctors, students, etc. set out to execute the order. In 8 hours shifts, they worked day and night without a break. They scratched away the earth from the surrounding hills often with no more than their fingernails, they split stones with primitive tools, and carried earth and stone in little baskets carrying poles to the river bed, where more thousands stood and stamped the stones and earth flat with their feet, urged on by the Party…men with megaphones…Mao Zedong himself and all the members of the Politburo and the government came and joined in the work of building the dam…In six months the dam was built. It is 2088 feet high and 38 feet wide at its base. - Eyewitness, Hugo Portisch

Elena Songster & Jessica Stowell, OU
The Great Leap Forward 1959 Steel production famine “More, Faster, Better” Elena Songster & Jessica Stowell, OU

THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD - THE BACKYARD STEEL CAMPAIGN
Small Commune Factories Set Up Emphasis on Steel Production Backyard Steel Furnaces Set Up 1958 a Good Year For Overall Production I. Communes were expected to contribute to the Great Leap Forward in small as well as big projects. Small commune factories were set up to make all kinds of industrial products such as cement, ball bearings and chemical fertilizer. II. Particular emphasis was on the making of steel, so 600,000 ‘backyard steel furnaces’ were set up in towns and villages all over China. Before long, these little furnaces, each one capable of making only a few tons of steel, had turned out 11 million tons - 65% more than the total for IV. As 1958 wore on, the figures for the production of steel, coal, timber, cement, fertilizer, and a hundred other industrial products showed a spectacular rise. In agriculture there were record harvests of cotton and grain. It began to seem that Ma Zedong was right - that it really was possible to accomplish any task whatsoever.

The Great Leap Forward Steel production was similarly controlled, and although Mao had no knowledge of metallurgy, he encouraged every village to build small furnaces to produce steel. Trees were eliminated near the communes to fuel the furnaces, and even peasant’s doors and furniture was burned. The very pots and pans that the people cooked their food with were requisitioned as “scrap metal” so that the commune could meet its quota.

Steel Production The whole country was mobilised, so that by the end of the year 600,000 "backyard furnaces" had sprung up making steel, often melting down useful items like cooking pots and tractors just to increase steel "production".

“Back-yard" production plants
The most famous were 600,000 backyard furnaces which produced steel for the communes.

Makeshift Furnaces

"back-yard" production plants.
they added a considerable amount of steel Workers are happy. NO THIS WORKER IS NOT MAKING STEEL, HE IS BEATING A DRUM.

Propaganda Poster for Steel Plan

Backyard Steel Furnaces
The most mocked aspect of the Great Leap Forward was the backyard steel furnaces. Mao thought that peasants could learn to make steel on a broadly decentralized basis. Most areas of China, however, lacked the ore and fuel for this.

Effects of Steel Plan A great deal of steel was created, but it was of such poor quality that it was useless. Mao learned in 1959 that only traditional large scale steel mills were capable of producing good quality metal, but Mao waited to cancel the steel program quietly later to save face. While focusing on steel, a great deal of Grain was left to rot in the fields.

farm machinery fell to pieces when used.
thousands of workers were injured after working long hours Steel produced by the backyard furnaces was too weak

The backyard furnaces also used too much coal and China’s rail system, which depended on coal driven trains, suffered accordingly.

THE CRISIS YEARS, Ours is the only chemical factory of its kind and the boiler is 70 years old. But one day a Party official arrived and told me to increase the pressure in the boiler from a hundred to a hundred and fifty pounds per square inch so that the reactor process could be completed 9 times a day instead of 6. When I told him he was turning it into a bomb, he accused me of being a bourgeois reactionary. So what was I to do? Great Leap? The connecting pipe burst when the pressure reached 120 pounds, and we were out of production for a week while repairs were made. Only months after Mao Zedong launched the Great Leap Forward, things began to go dreadfully wrong.

Why Did The Steel Production Plan Fail?
What went wrong ? Quickly produced farm machinery produced in factories fell to pieces when used. Many thousands of workers were injured after working long hours and falling asleep at their jobs. Steel produced by the backyard furnaces was often too weak to be of any use and could not be used in construction. Buildings constructed by this substandard steel did not last long. Backyard production method had taken many workers away from their fields – so desperately needed food was not being harvested

THE CRISIS YEARS, 1959-1961 Things Begin Going Wrong in 1959
Unrealistic Demands for More Production From the Party Backyard Steel Campaign Fails Too Little Agricultural Production Only months after Mao launched the Great Leap Forward, things began to go dreadfully wrong. Scenes like that mentioned before were repeated all over China in Everywhere Party workers urged people to produce more and and to produce it faster. As a result, old and overworked machines fell apart under the strain. Factory workers fell asleep at their benches and suffered accidents through carelessness brought by exhaustion. Political decisions/beliefs took precedence over commonsense and communes faced the task of doing things which they were incapable of achieving. Party officials would order the impossible and commune leaders, who knew what their commune was capable of doing or not, could be charged with being a "bourgeois reactionary" if he complained. Such a charge would lead to prison. Quickly produced farm machinery produced in factories fell to pieces when used. Many thousands of workers were injured after working long hours and falling asleep at their jobs. Steel produced by the backyard furnaces was frequently too weak to be of any use and could not be used in construction – it’s original purpose. Buildings constructed by this substandard steel did not last long. Political decisions/beliefs took precedence over commonsense and communes faced the task of doing things which they were incapable of achieving. Party officials would order the impossible and commune leaders, who knew what their commune was capable of doing or not, could be charged with being a "bourgeois reactionary" if he complained. Such a charge would lead to prison. It wasn’t only in the factories that the Great Leap Forward failed to take off. Quickly produced farm machinery produced in factories fell to pieces when used. Many thousands of workers were injured after working long hours and falling asleep at their jobs. Steel produced by the backyard furnaces was frequently too weak to be of any use and could not be used in construction – it’s original purpose. Buildings constructed by this substandard steel did not last long . The backyard steel campaign also failed. 3 million of the 11 million tons of steel made in backyard furnaces were too impure for industrial use and had to be thrown away as scrap. But worse was yet to come. So many furnaces had been built that, eventually, one person in ten was employed in making steel. This took people away from the fields, reducing the amount of food that could be grown.

Effects of the Great Leap Forward

Accomplishments of Maoist Era
Technology and Technical expertise transferred to Countryside Infrastructure: education, electrification, roads, rural industry, health care Gap between urban-rural narrowed

THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD FAILURE
Coal and iron cannot walk by themselves. They need vehicles to transport them. This I did not foresee. I and the Premier did not concern ourselves with this point. You could say we were ignorant of it…I am a complete outsider when it comes to economic construction. I understand nothing about industrial planning. Comrades, in 1958 and 1959, the main responsibility was mine, and you should take me to task…The chaos caused was on a grand scale, and I take responsibility. Comrades, you must analyze your own responsibility…If you have to fart, fart! You will feel much better for it. - Mao, 1959 The furnaces also used so much of the country’s coal supplies that railway locomotives had no fuel to run on. And so much extra steel was made that there was not enough railway trains to take it to the industrial centers where it was needed.

Results of the Great Leap Forward
38 million died of: Being worked to death Others were killed, tortured, or imprisoned Famine (the average daily calorie intake was 1,534.8 for men and 1,200 for women – Aushwitz got between 1,300-1,700 calories per day) Heavy industry developed (although it was still behind most large industrial countries) Agriculture lagged behind

Agriculture failed because: Unscientific agricultural methods were used There was a shortage of agricultural labor because of peasants working on industrial projects The peasants disliked losing their private lots Natural disasters – droughts and floods Peasants didn’t work hard because grain was taken from them

Great Leap Forward Fails
Ends in massive famine -- 3 lean years Struggle “Experts” vs. “Reds” Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution Failure of Ideologically based Mass Campaigns

THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD FAILURE - THE FARMING CRISIS
Failure in the Countryside and Towns Not Enough People Working in Farming Over-reporting of Grain Harvests Good Weather Turns to Bad…Famine Intensifies 20 Million Die Due to Famine & Malnutrition I. The Great Leap Forward failed as badly in the countryside as it did in the towns. Although the weather in 1958 was excellent, two problems prevented the harvest from being a good one. II. First, so many peasants were working in industry, especially backyard steel making, that there were too few people to harvest the crops properly. III> Secondly, Party officials ignored this fact and falsely claimed that the grain harvest had been a record 260 million tons. As a result, communal eating halls started giving peasants very generous meals, using up valuable food stocks. IV. None of this would have mattered if the next year’s harvest had been good. But the weather in 1959 was very bad. In some parts of China there were floods, in other parts there were droughts. The result was a harvest of only 170 million tons. Before long, people were going hungry. Some began to starve. V. To complete the farming crisis, the eather in 1960 was even worse than in The bad weather combined with the chaos caused by the Great Leap Forward, reduced the harvest to 144 million tons. This led to major famine, killing around 9 million people in alone. The government introduced a rationing system under which most people were given 125 grams of grain a day, but the death toll continued to rise. Between some 20 million Chinese died of starvation and related diseases.

PROBLEMS: POPULATION EXHAUSTED FROM POLTICAL CAMPAIGNS
INDUSTRIAL AND AGRICULTURAL STAGNATION Population triples (1.3 billion), 85% still in agriculture

The Great Leap Forward The Great Leap was made worse by ecological problems, and in 1959 and 1960, drought ravaged China. Those that had embraced Mao’s reforms the most suffered worse than others, and in some areas, cannibalism arose. OFFICIAL CHINESE REPORTS STATE THAT 14 MILLION PEOPLE STARVED. Actual figures may be much higher, in the million range. All the while, officials hid the starvation and failures of steel production from Mao, but even when he found out, nothing was done because he could not admit that even nature had proven him wrong.

Intensified diplomatic isolation
PRC was isolated from the western countries. disliked Khrushchev and blamed him for revising Marxism-Leninism.  Khrushchev openly criticized the Great Leap Forward the relationship between China & the Soviet Union began to deteriorate

Russian Response to Great Leap Forward
The Russians were insulted that the Chinese were no longer following their advice and pulled out their engineers. Many factories that were being built could not be finished because the Russians had the only plans and because the Russians were to provide the machinery.

Russian Response The Russians were insulted that the Chinese were no longer following their advice and pulled out their engineers. Many factories that were being built could not be finished because the Russians had the only plans and because the Russians were to provide the machinery.

Sino-Soviet Dispute, 1960 From 1960 onward, China and Russia had a great ideological quarrel. Mao asserted that the world was in a revolutionary situation. Mao expected revolution to come from the poor peasants of Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Sino-Soviet Dispute The Soviet Union was led in 1960 by Nikita Khrushchev and he insisted on the need for “peaceful coexistence” with the West. Khrushchev was against promoting revolution in Third World countries as China wished to do.

By 1959, it was obvious that the Great Leap Forward had been a failure and even Mao admitted this. He called on the Communist Party to take him to task over his failures but also asked his own party members to look at themselves and their performance.

The Great Failure Great Leap Forward was failure could not bring increase in agricultural and industrial production Paved the way for the Cultural Revolution Aroused conflicting opinions among the Party leaders Mao Zedong wanted to gain back his power and to remove the opposition within the Party

The Cultural Revolution
As the late 1950s moved on, China and the USSR competed to be the dominant Communist country in the world. Combined with the failure of the Great Leap Forward, Mao took a lesser role in China’s politics. Some policies were relaxed, and Chinese farmers could finally move back into their homes and work their own small farm plots. As his brand of Communism weakened, Mao felt that China had lost its revolutionary spark, and used the young adults of China to start his “Cultural Revolution.”

As a result of the failure on the Great Leap Forward, Mao retired from the post of chairman of the People's Republic of China His place as head of state was taken by Liu Shaoqi, but Mao remained important in determining overall policy

The Rise of the Moderates
“The 3 Bitter Years” Caused by Mao Party Leaders Blame Mao for the Damage The disaster was 70% manmade and 30% due to natural causes. - Liu Shaoqi More Moderate Leaders Assume Power…Mao Loses Power. Enter Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, & Deng Xiaoping The 3 Bitter Years, as the Chinese called the famine years of , were partly the result of Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward policies. As Deputy Leader of the Party, Liu Saoqi, put it: (Quote above). II. Not unnaturally, some Party leaders blamed Mao personally for what had happened, and demanded his resignation. However, Mao was too popular among the masses of Chinese people for them to get rid of him easily. So the Party leaders simply persuaded him to hand over the post of Head of State to Liu Shaoqi, leaving him with only one post, that of Party Chairman. This meant that Mao was no longer involved in the routine, practical work of governing China. That was left to three moderates: Liu Shaoqi (Head of State), Zhou Enlai (Prime Minister) and Deng Xiaoping (Party Secretary). Now that they controlled the government, the moderates introduced more realistic economic policies. In late 1960, they abandoned the Great Leap Forward. Communes were reduced in size to make them more manageable. Peasants working in backyard steel production were sent back to the fields. Private ownership of land was reinstated and peasants also had the incentive to produce as much spare food as was possible as they could sell any spare that they had a market. Town workers wages were increased.

The rise of the moderates The Chinese referred to the years of the famine as the ‘three bitter years’ They put part of the blame on the great leap forward Liu Shaoqi deputy leader of the party stated that : ‘The disaster was seventy per cent man made and thirty per cent natural causes

THE WANING OF MAO? Mao’s Power Gone?
Still Extremely Popular and the Face of the Revolution Mao Reaction to the Moderates…The Cultural Revolution Peasants have dirty hands and cowshit-sodden feet, but they are much cleaner than intellectuals. - Mao Although the moderates now ran the economy, this did not mean that Mao had lost his grip. These three moderates had restricted Mao’s power but his standing among the ordinary Chinese people was still high as he was seen as the leader of the revolution. And although the moderates did not allow Mao to have a say in the running of the economy, he continued to have great influence over the masses of the people. He used this influence in 1966 to get rid of the moderates by starting a new political revolution tha would soon be known throughout the world as the Cultural Revolution.

He’s Baaaaaaack! In the early 1960s Mao became highly critical of the foreign policy of the Soviet Union. He was upset that: Nikita Khrushchev denounced Stalin Khrushchev was the head of the communist world Khrushchev backed down over the Cuban Missile Crisis Mao staged this media event – him swimming in the Yangze River – to indicate that he was still vigorous and capable to lead China

MAO’S RED CHINA China Under Communist Rule

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