Early changes in Agriculture, 1949-1957 Flashcards
What was Mao’s agricultural vision?
The Chinese economy was largely backward and inefficient, Mao had great dreams of turning China into global superpower but to do this he first had to develop China’s industry and agriculture as soon as possible.
Because of this, Mao did not aim to increase food production to improve the lives of the peasantry rather, increase surpluses to feed those working in factories.
Similarly, the policies of collectivisation were not designed to provide economic growth, instead they aimed to create true communism as a result of people living together and sharing everything.
What was the Agrarian reform law?
Introduced in June 1950, the law’s main aim was to destroy the ‘gentry-landlord’ class who had ruled for generations. Landlords who exploited the labour of the poor would have their lands seized and redistributed “to the tiller”.
Work teams containing young (and therefore inexperienced), people from urban areas would be sent to organise the reforms, they would also oversee the rounding up of the landlords. Many landlords were subjected to struggle meetings where they were labelled as ‘class enemies’ and were executed.
At this stage, the socialist transformation of the countryside was a slow one.
What was the impact of the Agrarian reform law?
By summer 1952, the ‘land to the tiller’ movement was widely completed. Work terms measured out plots of land to ensure the distribution was fair.
Roughly 88% of households had taken part, with 43% of the land redistributed to 60% of the population.
Rural production boomed, between 1950-52 production had increased by 15% per annum.
However the gentry landlord class had been destroyed, between 1-2 million landlords were executed.
How did the views of the peasantry and party differ on matters of agricultural co-operation?
For the peasants, it was about the completion of the long-held dream of owning their own land free from exploitation of the cruel landlords. It was a chance at a better life with a new autonomy in choosing how to manage the land and prepare for such things as famines and droughts. Their support for land reform did not necessarily mean a commitment to Mao’s ideology.
As for the CCP, land reform was the first step in creating a modern yet truly socialist economy. The new system would be based on ending private ownership and increase food production to feed the new urban workforce. Mao admitted “The peasants want freedom, but we want socialism.”
What was a Mutual Aid Team (MATs)?
Despite the death of the landlords, there was still disparity among peasants in terms of wealth, so in December 1951 the CCP decided to introduce the co-operative ownership of land.
The party was also mindful of the pace at which the countryside was transformed as rapid change caused a disaster in the USSR.
There were a few MATs already set up in communist-controlled parts of China before 1949, In said teams peasants pooled tools, ploughs livestock, their own labour and their own experience.
households with more land than they could farm teamed up with households that had more labour than they needed, it was rational and benefited both parties.
MATs were enthusiastically accepted as in many places, they mirrored what was already a common practice. They were small scale, usually 10 or less households. By 1952, 40% of peasant households belonged to a MAT.
What were Voluntary Agricultural Producers Co-operatives? (APCs)
MATs were popular, yet senior communists were worried they left too much room for capitalist ideas such as the buying and selling of land.
In order to reduce these freedoms, In 1953 the second stage of collectivisation began. The land the peasants had recently acquired was now shared alongside animals and tools. Land was reorganised into a single unit and peasants were compensated based on what they contributed.
APCs were much bigger than MATs, consisting of around 30 to 50 households. However, APCs were much less popular. Peasants didn’t want to share their new land and only 14% of peasants joined the new units. By June 1955, there only 16.9 million households out of 110 million organised into APCs.
Richer peasants were unhappy with the changes and cadres would often undervalue the land, in 1953 and 1954 agricultural production had risen a disappointing less than 2%.
What were some of the disagreements around collectivisation and why did they happen?
An argument broke out within the party, gradualists like Liu Shaoqi and Zhou Enlai claimed that China was not yet ready for large scale farming as it lacked the mechanised equipment needed to do so, they denounced the “premature” establishment of APCs.
Mao disagreed, in July 1955 he ordered an increase in the pace of reform towards full collectivisation. Many Cadres supported Mao to benefit their own careers, they could prove their loyalty to Mao by outdoing their own quotas for grain requisition and having the peasants in APCs made this easier.
With the backing of the cadres, Mao was able to overrule the gradualists and with his encouragement, membership of APCs reached 96% in December 1956.
What was enforced collectivisation?
By January of 1956, pragmatism was completely abounded, private ownership was abolished, members would only be compensated for their labour and their tools and land would simply be taken over by the state.
30.7% of those in APCs were now in higher level APCs, which contained around 200-300 households and in some cases, encompassed whole villages.
Membership was now compulsory and privately owned land ceased to exist.
