Figures For Agriculture Before Communes

Question 1

By the end of 1951, how many landlords had lost their land?

Answer 1

10 million

Question 2

How much of the land had changed hands 1951?

Answer 2

40%

Question 3

During redistribution of land, how many died?

Answer 3

700,000-3 million

Question 4

When were MATs established and how many families encouraged to unite?

Answer 4

1951 and 10 or so

Question 5

When were successful MATs encouraged to combine and form APCs (Agricultural Producers’ Co-operatives) and how many families?

Answer 5

1952 and 40-50 families

Question 6

What did APCs allow?

Answer 6

More efficient cultivation

Question 7

What made APCs attractive to families with larger holdings?

Answer 7

Still allowed to keep some land for personal use, while renting the rest to the APC

Question 8

How was profit shared out APCs?

Answer 8

According to resources contributed and food produced

Question 9

How many rural households were in APCs by March 1955?

Answer 9

Only 14%

Question 10

What prompted Mao to call for a slowdown in the spring of 1953?

Answer 10

In a desire to respond to Mao’s wishes faster change, local officials rushed into creating APCs before properly planned so went into dept and had to borrow money to buy equip

Question 11

Why did Mao renew the pressure to join APCs?

Answer 11

1954 peasants started buying and selling their land and food, just as they would under capitalism- rejecting revolutionary values

Question 12

What did better-off peasants usually do when reluctantly joining APCs?

Answer 12

Slaughtered their animals and ate them

Question 13

What happened in 1954 when the harvest was poor?

Answer 13

Govt requisitioned grain to feed cities but so much rural protests that in Jan 1955, called for halt to APC development for next 18 months

Question 14

When did Mao make up his mind to go for all-out collectivisation and where did he announce this?

Answer 14

July 1955, to a Conference of Local Party Secretaries

Question 15

How much did the amount of households in APCs change July 1955- Jan 1956?

Answer 15

17mil households- 75 million then at end if 1956, only 3% farming as individuals

Question 16

What were the new APCS classed as and how many households did they consist of? The

Answer 16

HPCs and 200-300 households

Question 17

How were profits shared out in HOCs?

Answer 17

According to work points earned by the labour comtributed

Question 18

What did this mean (how profits were shared out in HPCs)?

Answer 18

Those who contributed the most land and other assets might find themselves receiving the same rewards for their labour as those who had surrendered the least

Question 19

Why was collectivisation a tremendous success for Mao?

Answer 19

The state now owned the means of production of food, the land, on which 90% of the population worked

Question 20

What did the actual process of carrying out the changes increase?

Answer 20

The control of the party exerted over local people at grass-roots level

Question 21

How did the relationship between the peasants and the CCP change because of collectivisation?

Answer 21

Became servants of the Party, rather than loyal allies whose support had to be earned

Question 22

How much had food production increased over the period of the First Five-Year Plan?

Answer 22

3.8% per annum- insufficient to sustain the growing industrial workforce

Question 23

What was low and why?

Answer 23

Amount of cultivated land per head of the population due to low labour productivity

Question 24

Why was labour productivity low?

Answer 24

Lack of state investment in agriculture

Demotivating as didn’t own own land so did not directly benefit from work they put in