china- topic 2 A+I

Question 1

what was the first five year plan

Answer 1

an attempt to improve China’s economy quickly and efficiently. It was going to make a new currency- the yuan- was introduced and prices and wages were fixed to reduce inflation. Similar to the soviet model, heavy industries liked coal steel or oil were the focus and targets for their improvement. As part of an agreement with Russia( sino-soviet treaty), they sent a lot of experts to support China’s economy. Millions went to live in the cities to find work in the new factories. Overall, the first five year plan was a success with a high growth rate of 9% and most production targets were met.

Question 2

what year was the FFYP

Answer 2

1952-56

Question 3

how many russian experts were sent to China for the First five year plan

Answer 3

10,000- due to their specialist knowledge for example in engineering and industry

Question 4

FYP targets

Answer 4

to improve China’s economy to be self-sufficient, with the priority of heavy industry. Additionally, they wanted to move the resources away from consumer goods and towards heavy industry.

Question 5

success and failures of FFYP

Answer 5

most areas were able to reach their or exceed their targets, with a growth rate of around 9% per year. Another success was that urban living standards improved as there was an increase in job security. As a failure, the figures are unlikely to be completely reliable- because officials were unlikely to be fully truthful- in order to please everyone and ultimately make Mao happy. Similarly to Russia, there was more emphasis on quantity over quality. Another failure is that soviet expertise highlighted the weakness of illiteracy and education of the Chinese people and therefore the need for education reform. Finally, the advice from the soviets wasn’t completely correct, due to their Lysenkoism theory which was a complete failure.

Question 6

the agrarian reform law 1950

Answer 6

Mao wanted to work in interests of the peasants at the beginning of the regime as he new their support would be very important. He done this by attacking the landlord class who had been the traditional elite who would exploit the peasants on their lands. Their land was to be seized through this law, with many of them being sentenced to death or experiencing struggle meetings. It would include land ‘to the tiller’ meaning their land was redistributed to the peasants. Mao still had an aim to achieve collectivisation, however he explained this law as a slow step towards achieving his socialist goal. Work teams would be sent out to organise the land reform. As a result, in 1952 the landlord class had been destroyed( 1-2 million) , with their land being equally distributed to the peasants that worked for them.

Question 7

agricultural co operatives

Answer 7

was seen as the next step towards collectivisation, meaning they were encouraged to start sharing and pooling their resources together. This was set up in 1953 with land being shared out. The state would take their share and then the peasants in return would receive a payment or grain. Although, the management of land was controlled by the local party organisation, the land was still privately owned by the peasants. The APCs consisted of around 40-50 households sharing their resources.

Question 8

how many households were in co-operatives in 1955

Answer 8

63.3%

Question 9

MATS

Answer 9

mutual aid teams, consisting of 10 families pooling their resources together. This was developed in 1951 as a more gradual and voluntary approach compared to Stalin’s. eg animals were shared, farming was more efficient for the households. By 1952, a year later, nearly 40% of households were in a MAT.

Question 10

How many households were in APCs in 1956

Answer 10

80.3%

Question 11

collectivisation 1956

Answer 11

Mao’s ultimate aim was to achieve collectivisation where that there will be an end to private property, arguing it as a step towards a full socialist society. Mao thought that the enthusiasm from the cooperatives meant it was correct to go into collectivisation. This meant that all private farming would be abolished.

Question 12

the communes

Answer 12

peasants property would be taken away, with every aspect of their lives being strictly monitored and controlled. The communes were to be vast in size, incorporating both agriculture and industrial production ( walking on two legs). The call on communes led to one of the worst famines in the world from 1958-62.

Question 13

what was the name of the first commune

Answer 13

the sputnik commune- in honour of the soviet satelite.

Question 14

how was the communes organised?

Answer 14

this would include approximately 5500 households, which organised both agriculture, industry, healthcare and education. Markets were denounced as capitalist and therefore banned alongside private ownership of land. Each commune would produce its own food, whilst having limited access to their shared resources.

Question 15

mass mobilisation

Answer 15

in order to fulfil collectivisation, Mao knew the power of his numbers of population would achieve his goal. He believed that reducing central control of the bureaucrats and and experts could be replaced by mass mobilisation of the people, therefore allowing them together to be ideologically committed.

Question 16

communal living the vison vs reality

Answer 16

it was meant to be Mao’s vision of a perfect communist society: mess halls all accommodating communal eating, creches and boarding schools being provided, women being able to experience the world of work, propaganda celebrated them as iron women for taking their full role in economic production. However, in reality, communes were divided into brigades and platoons which were production teams. This meant the amount you made would reflect the food you would receive at the end of the day. The family life started to lose its influence, as parents did not have that influence of raising their children, grandparents were separated in their happiness homes, women were far from liberated as they were put through a lot of hard work, with harsh physical labour.

Question 17

the 4 pests campaign

Answer 17

this was a failure during the collectivisation of China. This was aimed at getting rid of the sparrows and other animals that ate the grain. Party members were sent into the communes to encourage peasants to chase sparrows and let them die of exhaustion. However, this meant a lot of time was wasted waiting for the sparrows or attempting to chase them, This was a failure as when the sparrows died, this meant more caterpillars would survive as that was their food source and therefore they would then attack the crops.

Question 18

lysenkoism

Answer 18

this was an example of a failure during the agriculture period during collectivisation. From the soviet model, it was meant to increase agriculture production by farming crops closer together and the introduction of backyard furnaces. The making of the backyard furnaces took a long time, attempting to make more steel, however this failed and caused a lot of physical exhaustion. People were also too scared to mention this as a failure, as they sensed fear of being accused of going against the regime, and so they kept quiet about the lack of production.

Question 19

Why did Mao launch the great leap forward ( SFYP)

Answer 19

he was desperate to transform China into a great economic power, he was being optimistic after his success in the first five year plan, he wanted to achieve ‘walking on two legs’.

Question 20

how much did industrial production increase by in first five year plan

Answer 20

18.3%

Question 21

the failures of the great leap forward

Answer 21

the targets were way too absurd and unrealistic, government officials would just lie about targets being met as they would want to impress Mao, Mao let himself be convinced and solely believed in mass mobilisation for it to work meaning he lost sense of all reality, the anti rightists campaign meant that there was no experts left to provide them with actual intellectual knowledge to increase production in the correct way, many factories were closed or reduced their production bcs of the shortage of raw materials. Ultimately, this was Mao’s greatest failure, making him take a step down from politics, admitting to some of the failures.

Question 22

The great famine 1958-62

Answer 22

peasants began to starve in inhumane events, meaning there was increase in cannibalism, with people going as far as killing their children to have them for food, birth rates dropped massively for women, many were malnourished and physically exhausted from working on the backyard furnaces, many children died and became vulnerable due to malnutrition, men even sold their wives for money to get food.

Question 23

how many people did dikkotter predict to have died during the great famine

Answer 23

40-50 million

Question 24

the lushan conference 1959

Answer 24

Peng Dehuai raised his voice about the concerns of production, raising an issue about the communes, Mao reacted in a feeling of betrayal from his criticism and had him denounced. During the cultural revolution, Peng was attacked by the red guards.

Question 25

liu and dengs support in 1962

Answer 25

in 1962, Mao slightly withdrew from politics, meaning that Liu and Deng could rise to deal with the issues after the great leap forward. A lot of problems about the GLF were announced and new reforms were put in place.

Question 26

liu and dengs reforms

Answer 26

they scaled back the communes, allowing peasants to produce what they wanted on small private plots, allowing to trade on a free market, emergency aids were sent out to villages, in industry, profitability was emphasised in the factories, technical knowledge was promoted again, with many of those who were imprisoned being set out. Overall their reforms were a success with agricultural production recovering from the disasters of the GLF. The opportunity to work on private plots meant that the incentive to work would rise and there was more productivity. By the end of 1962, there was also availability to tools, boats and carts, returning to the levels prior to the communes.