Agriculture And Industry 1949-65

Question 1

What did the attacks on landlordism entail?

Answer 1

• 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.

Question 2

What was the 1950 ARL?

Answer 2

introduced a system of peasant land ownership; landlords had their legal protection removed and were attacked.

Question 3

What were the results of the 1950 ARL?

Answer 3

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

Question 4

What were MATs 1951?

Answer 4

Mutual Aid Teams: made up of 10 or fewer peasant households, rss were shared and labour was pooled. This helped poorer peasants.

Question 5

How large were APCs?

Answer 5

30-50 households

Question 6

What did APCs entail?

Answer 6

• 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.

Question 7

When did Mao demand an increase in the pace of reform towards collectivisation and an end to private property?

Answer 7

July 1955

Question 8

How many households were part of an APC in December 1955?

How many households were part of a higher-level APC?

Answer 8

63.3%

4%

Question 9

How many households were part of an APC in January 1956?

How many were part of higher-level APCs?

Answer 9

80%

30%

Question 10

What changes were there to APCs in 1956?

Answer 10

• Peasants now only compensated for their labour.
• Private property pooled.
• Membership compulsory.

Question 11

What % of peasants were in higher level APCs by the end of 1956?

Answer 11

88%

Question 12

How were communes organised and what was the first commune?

Answer 12

• Averaged 5,500 households in size.

- Sputnik Commune in Henan

Question 13

What was the vision of the communes?

Answer 13

• 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.

Question 14

What was the reality of the communes?

Answer 14

• 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.

Question 15

What was Lysenkoism?

Answer 15

• Soviet agrobiologist, whose ideas were acclaimed by Stalin.
• His methods became gov. policy: they were fraudulent and contributed to the famine.

Question 16

What were some of the causes of the Great Famine?

Answer 16

• 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’.

Question 17

Consequences of the Great Famine?

Answer 17

• 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.

Question 18

How did Shaoqi and Xiaoping reform agriculture?

Answer 18

• 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.

Question 19

Why did the first FYP rely on Soviet support?

Answer 19

Western powers trade embargo –> 30% decrease in foreign trade.

Question 20

What form did Soviet financial and technical support come in?

Answer 20

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.

Question 21

What were the FYP’s targets?

Answer 21

• Promote industrial growth; move towards self sufficiency.

- Modernise PLA’s weaponry.

Question 22

What were the successes of the First FYP?

Answer 22

• 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.

Question 23

What were the failures of the first FYP?

Answer 23

• 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.

Question 24

What were Mao’s reasons for launching the GLF?

Answer 24

• 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.

Question 25

What were SOEs?

Answer 25

State-owned Enterprises

• Industrial firms were taken over and SOEs formed.
• The Party dictated prices and set prod. targets.
• Wages were guaranteed and benefits were provided -> no incentives -> inefficient.

Question 26

What were the successes of the GLF?

Answer 26

• Massive irrigation terracing increased land fertility.
• Tiananmen Square remodeled
• Chinese society resembled Communal living

Question 27

What were the failures of the GLF?

Answer 27

• Absurd targets-> millions worked to death or died of malnutrition. Ministers made ridiculous claims.
• Huge projects like the 3 Gate gorge dam were poorly planned and causes env. damage.
• BFC failed miserably: useless steel produced -> peasants forced to use essential household items -> few worked the fields and crops rotted. Many died of exhaustion.
• 1962 industrial production dropped by 40%.

Question 28

When was the Lushan Conference?

Answer 28

1959 July

Question 29

Who replaced Dehuai?

Answer 29

Lin Biao

Question 30

How did Liu and Deng reform industry?

Answer 30

• Factories were made to prioritise profit making.
• Factories made products for agriculture like tools.
• Industrial output reached pre-GLF levels in 1965.
• Light industry grew at 27%, heavy industry at 17%.
• Experts released and returned to management.