Key Topic 2- Agriculture And Industry Flashcards
What is the agrarian reform law?
Re-distributed land from landlords to the peasants
What was the aim of the agrarian reform?
To destroy the ‘gentry landlord’ class who had been the traditional rural elite for many traditions
What would happen to the landlords that exploited the poor?
Would have their proper seized and many would be sent to death and their land re-distributed ‘ to the tiller’
Why was the aquarium reform of 1950 difficult to implement?
-In the north where the communist had already been in control before 1949 land reform had already begun
-In the south where GMD had retained control land reform had not yet begun. Communist party was weaker and the landlords more influential.
-Large numbers of clans were based on family ties or kinship. Many peasants were not convicted of the need to seize the land of family members in the claim and did not seek their deaths.
What happened during the land reform movement?
Party cadres were sent to villages to encourage peasants to seize land from their landlords and organise struggle meetings
How many landlords were killed?
1 million
What is the agrarian reform law successful?
Yes
-By summer 1952 ‘ land to the tiller’ movement was largely completed
-And estimated 88% of households with 43% of land re-distributed to 60% of population
-Rural production boomed-between 1950 and 1952 total agriculture production increased at a rate of 15% per annum
Why did the CCP introduce MATS?
-To have cooperative ownership of land
What did MATs do?
-In these teams, peasants pulled their resources such as tools ploughs and their own labour
-Animals were shared as was knowledge and experience
How big were the MATs?
-on a small scale
-Most consisted of 10 or fewer households often from the same extended family
Who were excluded from the MATS?
Richer peasants
Why were the MAT unpopular?
They mirrored an already common practice in many villages were peasants helped each other for the benefit of the community
Who were the MAT’s most beneficial to?
Poor peasants
By 1952, how many peasant households belonged to MAT
-40%
Why was the APCs introduced?
To reduce economic freedoms and to start the second stage of collectivisation
What did the APC do?
-land was reorganised into a single unit and the peasants were compensated using a point system according to the value of land labour and tools they contributed
-Once the harvest was collected and the state had taken their share, the peasants received either money or grain payment
How many households in the APCs?
30 to 50
What did the APC give poor peasants the chance to?
Gain access to wealthy neighbours property
Were APCs popular?
-They were less popular than the MATs
-Peasants did not want to share their newly acquired land and only 14% joined new units
By June 1955, how many people were in apc’s
17 million/110 million
Who were resistant to joining APC’s?
-Rich peasants, particularly where local cadres try to speed up the process by moving peasants to APCs before organising them in MATs
What did richer peasants do as a result of the APC?
-They slaughtered their animals rather than being forced to give them to APCs
What were the arguments over agricultural policy?
-gradualists like liu shaoqi and Zhou enlai claimed that China was not ready yet for large scale farming; it’s lacked mechanised equipment like tractors and there were shortages of chemical fertilisers
-Mao disagreed, he demanded an increase in the pace of reform towards full collectivisation at an end to all private property. He argued that collectivisation was a key step in advancing the revolutionary process towards the creation of a socialist society.
In December 1955, what percentage were part of APC’s?
-63.3% with 4% of those being higher level APC comprising 200 to 300 households sometimes encompassing villages
What did MAOC was possible in 1959?
-Possible that socialism will be realised in 1959
By January 1956 how many households were in APCs?
80.3%
30.7% in higher level
What was completely abandoned as a result of enforced collectivisation
-Pragmatism completely abandoned
-Private property abolished
What would members only be compensated for now?
Their labour
The land and equipment were simply taken over by the state
By the end of 1956, how many peasants were in higher level APC’s?
-88%
What were the communes?
Where peasants were forced to live and every aspect of their lives were strictly monitored and controlled
What were the communes going to look like?
-to be vast in size and incorporate both agriculture and industrial production
What did MAO call agriculture and industry working simultaneously?
Walking on two legs
What was declared in August 1958
That commune were to be basic social units of communism society
When was the first commune established and what was it called?
July 1958
-Sputnik commune
By the end of 1958 how many cooperatives had been re-organised into communes
-740,000 cooperative into 26,000 commune
What percentage did the party claim that lived in communes
99% of population
What did MAO believe that mass mobilisation of the people would do?
-It would allow industry and agriculture to be developed simultaneously within the commune
What would each commune do
-it would produce its own food and have its own factories
-pooling resources would make it more efficient
What was the vision for commune?
-MAO believe that the commune moved life in China closer to the vision of a perfect society
-Communal eating would develop revolutionary passion. Crèches and boarding schools were provided.
- m.AO believed that with women no longer forced to toil in the kitchen they would be able to escape domestic drudgery and join men in fields and factories
-Propaganda celebrated these women as iron women for taking their full and equal role in economic production
What were the reality of the commune?
-Forced into one location, the party could easily target commune residents with propaganda further forging their revolutionary and militaristic spirit
-Policies had devastating results for family life-the traditional family meal was replaced by eating in massive mess halls surrounded by strangers
-Life in the communes was even harder-women were forced to carry out harsh physical labour that men previously did
-Still production did not rise enough; MAO believed it was due to the sparrows
When was the four pest campaign launched and what was it?
1958
-It was dedicated to ridding China of sparrows, rats, flies and mosquitoes
What did party activists do for the four pest campaign
Sent to villages to encourage peasants to chase Sparrows that eat grain by making a noise by banging drums or pounding pots and pans to scare them from landing
When was the first five-year plan?
1952 to 56
Why was there a Sino Soviet mutual assistance treaty?
To render the other possible economic assistance and carry out necessary corporation
What did the Soviet support include?
- Construction of 156 major industrial Enterprises, including seven iron and steel plants, 24 electric power plants and 63 machinery plant
- 11,000 Russian industrial experts sent to China to assist in developing industry and organising a central economy.
- 28,000 Chinese technicians to study in Russia in order to learn from the elder brother.
- A loan of US$300 million over the next five years.
What were six targets of the FFYP?
-High rate of growth, particularly heavy industries such as steel production
-Investment in advanced technology
-The construction of modern industrial plants
-self-sufficiency
-Very high level of grain procurement at fixed prices from rural areas to fund the industrialisation in the cities
-To stimulate the transformation towards a social society
Why was the FFYP a success for the regime
-party established greater repressive control over the population
-For people sol increased but at the cost of personal freedom
What were the five successes for the regime of the FFYP?
-c.CP could increase its influence over the population as the factories were organised into danwei
-danwei controlled access to welfare support and provided marriage permits and permits for travel so this allowed MAO to keep much greater control over actions of the population
-Railway freight volume more than doubled enabling raw materials to be moved around the country efficiently and the PLA could be moved around China quicker to control opposition as railway improved
-The plan was meant to accelerate the transformation of socialism. in 1953, the state began to convert private firms into joint state private ownership. By 1956 private sector industry had been abolished.
-The annual growth rate was 16%
What were the 4 FFYP successes for the people?
-Heavy industry output tripled-industrial production in Manchuria now beat its pre-civil War peak
-Geographical exploration discovered vital resource resources like oil uranium and minerals in Xinjiang which could be sold abroad
-Big investment in the new cities because the urban working class was growing so quickly. it grew from 6 to 10,000,000 during the FFYP. New steel centre at Anshan attracted 35,000 new workers. By 1957 producing 2/3 of China’s needs.
-Living standards of industrial workers improved
What were two failures of the FFYP for the people?
-Peasantry paid the price of improving urban lives as they were still surviving at substance levels despite prices being low
-Plan was dependent on loans from USSR which had very high interest rate. Farmers were forced to sell their crops at low price prices to meet repayment schedules.
Why did MAO launch the Great leap forward?
He wanted to transform China into an economic power making it the leading communist nation in Asia. the industrial rise of 18.3% gave MAO a good reason to be optimistic
GLF success
Economically-massive irrigation terracing helped make agricultural land more fertile while construction projects changed the face of Chinese cities such as Tiananmen square by remodelling it into modern oven space
What were 6 failures of the Great Leap Forward
-Target created were absolutely absurd. MAO created an atmosphere of competition.
-He lost all sense of reality as he convinced himself that the mobilisation of masses would overcome all practical obstacles. He announced ‘ make it snappy.’ Let’s make 11 million tons.
-He was overconfident
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