China: essay plans Flashcards
how far was the hundred flowers campaign a significant turning point in the consolidation of Mao’s control over china?
p1: it was the most significant turning point - led to the anti-rightist campaign which massively consolidated mao’s personal/ideological power. could be argued the HF campaign was a ploy to root out critics of the CCP in order to consolidate power.
CA: the HF campaign itself was humiliating for mao - received far more criticism than anticipated. if it is to be argued that the HF campaign was a genuine attempt at introducing free speech, it failed in consolidating power.
p2: the anti movements were also a significant moment in consolidating power. Group criticism sessions were organised for employers either to confess their own crimes or denounce others. Mass meetings were scenes for public denunciations. Those found guilty faced enormous fines, the confiscation of their property and being sent to labour camps. 2 to 3 million took their own lives, rather than face humiliation. all this led to increased ideological fanaticism in the public, as well as fear to speak out against the CCP or Mao.
CA: the antis movment occured before the HF campaign, so mao must have thought it appropriate still to consolidate power further afterwards.
p3: korean war instilled patriotism within much of the chinese population. it also turned the chinese public against the US/the west due to the losses china suffered due to the war. was utilised as a way of drumming up support for the CCP.
CA: practically damaged china in several ways: 1m soldiers died, heavy economic losses suffered.
how far were Mao’s agricultural policies the main cause of the great famine?
p1: SF; lysenkoism (deep planting of crops, close together) led to significantly lower crop yields. four pests campaign led to destroyed ecosystem further lowering yields.
CA: consequences of lysenkoism were much less severe in the USSR, indicating that other factors must have been at play
p2: institutional failings of the CCP: failure of party to admit failure (28% grain requisitioning 1959) and exaggerated stats, over decentralisation leading to corruption
CA: party’s refusal to admit failure does not change the fact that crop yields were disastrous to begin with, although could be argued the famine may have been less severe had the party been honest.
p3: external factors: 1960 century worst drought, the sino-soviet treaty left china in debt to USSR
CA: severe weather may not have been nearly as much of an issue had better farming methods been implemented.
how accurate is it to say that mao’s hold over young people was responsible for the red terror?
p1: sf;
p2:
how accurate is it to say that the first five year plan improved people’s lives in china?
p1: increased economic prosperity - China’s economic growth rate of nearly 9% between 1953 and 1957 compared favourably with that of the USSR in the 1930s. stable incomes and job security were provided.
CA: heavy emphasis on industry meant that people in rural areas were often not much better off, also many farmers suffered a drop to quality of life after 1956 due to collectivisation
p2: women’s rights: marriage law of 1950 banned arranged marriages, as well as the payment of dowries to a husband and his family. between 1949 and 1976 the proportion of women in the workplace quadrupled from 8% to 32%
CA: Few women felt happy that their role as mothers and raisers of families was now to be written off as no longer being necessary. often men and women were seperated on collective farms, essentially removing family life in a conservative society. Women still had to fight deep-seated ingrained notions of female inferiority. There was a common prejudice against female babies. During Mao’s time, women made up only 13% of the membership of the Communist Party.
p3: education: Literacy rates rose from 20% to 70% from 1949-1976. by 1973 over a million new doctors had been trained. previously only 20% of people attended primary education - this increased massively.
CA: huge steps backwards in the CA in terms of education; all schools closedLess than 1% of working population had a university degree
Only 11% had received schooling after the age of 16
Only 26% had received schooling between ages 12-16
Only 6% of government officials had been formally educated beyond age of 16
