Agriculture And Industry 1949-65 Flashcards
What did the attacks on landlordism entail?
- Depicted as feudal class enemies
- Party cadres organised into Work Teams and sent to the countryside to create Poor Peasant Associations to determine class.
- Peasants were encouraged to conduct struggle meetings.
What was the 1950 ARL?
introduced a system of peasant land ownership; landlords had their legal protection removed and were attacked.
What were the results of the 1950 ARL?
1952—> 43% of land redistributed to 60% of the pop.
Rural prod. boom –> within 2 years, prod. increased by 15% annually.
1-2 million landlords executed
What were MATs 1951?
Mutual Aid Teams: made up of 10 or fewer peasant households, rss were shared and labour was pooled. This helped poorer peasants.
How large were APCs?
30-50 households
What did APCs entail?
- Land remained privately owned, but reorganised into larger units -> more efficient farming.
- State took a share of the harvest, peasants paid.
- Richer peasants slaughtered livestock.
- 1953-4: grain prod. rose by only 2% compared to the 23% target.
When did Mao demand an increase in the pace of reform towards collectivisation and an end to private property?
July 1955
How many households were part of an APC in December 1955?
How many households were part of a higher-level APC?
63.3%
4%
How many households were part of an APC in January 1956?
How many were part of higher-level APCs?
80%
30%
What changes were there to APCs in 1956?
- Peasants now only compensated for their labour.
- Private property pooled.
- Membership compulsory.
What % of peasants were in higher level APCs by the end of 1956?
88%
How were communes organised and what was the first commune?
- Averaged 5,500 households in size.
- Sputnik Commune in Henan
What was the vision of the communes?
- Self-sufficiency (producing necessities like toothbrushes).
- Mess halls would provide food and crèches.
- Women would be freed of the drudgery of childcare, grandparents would live in ‘happiness homes’ and be free of grandchildren.
What was the reality of the communes?
- Crèches were poorly organised and had underqualified staff.
- Mess halls had very poor food quality.
- Women were forced to carry out heavy manual work; previously the job of men.
- Mao’s Four Pests Campaign; the belief that vermin hampered grain prod.
What was Lysenkoism?
- Soviet agrobiologist, whose ideas were acclaimed by Stalin.
- His methods became gov. policy: they were fraudulent and contributed to the famine.
What were some of the causes of the Great Famine?
- Cadres falsified and grossly exaggerated production reports which led to cadres setting even more ambitious targets.
- Land was left fallow as officials believed too much production would strain storage.
- Grain was sent to other Communist states as ‘gifts’.
Consequences of the Great Famine?
- 8 million starved to death in Anhui and the same no. in Henan.
- 9 million died in Sichuan and 1 million in Tibet.
- Cannibalism, peasants attacked grain stores, prostitution.
- Drought in Shandong, flooding in Southern China worsened conditions.
- 30-50 million deaths.
How did Shaoqi and Xiaoping reform agriculture?
- Communes reduced in size, peasant permitted to farm small private plots.
- They could decide what to grow and how much fertiliser to use.
- They could trade food at markets.
- 1965 levels were the same as 1957 levels.
Why did the first FYP rely on Soviet support?
Western powers trade embargo –> 30% decrease in foreign trade.
What form did Soviet financial and technical support come in?
MAT Treaty 1950: $300 million loan over 5 years, help with the construction of steel and iron plants, electric stations and machinery factories. 11k advisors sent.
What were the FYP’s targets?
- Promote industrial growth; move towards self sufficiency.
- Modernise PLA’s weaponry.
What were the successes of the First FYP?
- Annual growth rate of 9%.
- Engineering projects - Yangtze river bridge.
- Living standards and job security guaranteed.
- Urban population doubled to over 100mill.
- Greater people control - workers were organised into Danwei which granted permits for travel, welfare and marriage.
What were the failures of the first FYP?
- USSR loans had high interest rates; farmers were forced to sell grain to the state of very low prices, barely surviving at a subsistence level.
- Chinese workers poorly educated and lacked expertise.
- Admins lacked managerial experience -> poor coordination between factories and central managers caused production bottlenecks.
What were Mao’s reasons for launching the GLF?
- To show that China could ‘overtake Britain’ in 15 years by following a path independent of the USSR.
- The belief that sheer willpower and mass mobilisation could overcome technical shortcomings.
