Collectivisation and Famine Flashcards
What was Mao’s view of the peasants?
Despite leading a peasant-based revolution, Mao saw the peasants as obstinate and backward, blaming much of the food shortages on peasants hoarding grain and overeating.
How many communes were formed in 1958?
The 750,000 pre-existing collectives were merged into 26,000 communes.
How many people were living in communes during the great leap forward?
600 million
How did communes restrict the peasants’ freedom?
Private farming was ended so they could not choose to work for themselves and provide for their families, also discouraging people from producing surplus food, and passports were required to pass between communes.
How did grain production decrease from 1958 to 1962?
200 MT to 160 MT
What was the death toll in Tibet from the famine?
A quarter of its 4 million people.
How did the CCP bring the famine to Tibet?
After a resurgence of the Tibetan resistance movement in 1959, the CCP chose to extend the famine to Tibet. Traditional Tibetan farming methods of barley growing and yak rearing were prohibited, and people were collectivised. Instead people were forced to plant wheat and maize, which was unsuited to local conditions, and so Tibetan food production plummeted.
What reasons did Mao give for the Great Famine?
The hoarding of grain by peasants.
Mistakes by local officials.
The exceptionally bad weather of 1958-61
