Lesson 3: How and why did the system of land ownership change, 1949-57? Flashcards
Define collectives
Areas where the peasants farmed communally rather than for themselves individually
Define collectivisation
The act of distributing the land so it is farmed communally rather than for the individual
Define communes
Organised regions where collectives were grouped
What is an agronomist?
Agricultural scientist
What is an APC?
Agricultural producer co-operatives.
Made up of 40-50 families.
These were created from successful MATs.
What are Khampas?
The nomadic herdsmen of Tibet.
What is an MAT?
Ten or so working together within Mutual Aid Teams.
What is Lysenkoism?
The Soviet theories of improved crop yields which earned the support of Joseph Stalin.
Who are Lysenkoism theories created by?
Trofirm Lysenko
What was supplied to China through the Sino-soviet treaty?
Advisors, manufacturing equipment, loans and ammunitions
What problems did the supplying of resources to China through the Sino-soviet treaty create for China?
Had to repay the soviet debt
When did the Chinese government begin land redistribution?
Less than a year after coming into power
1950
What happened during land redistribution 1950?
Class violence and the execution of over a million landowners
Why were the years between 1950-52 positive for the peasantry?
Had self sufficiency, could grow their own food
What happened from 1953?
Peasants advised to combine their land into collectives of 50 families
What happened in 1956 and what did this lead to in China?
Khrushchev criticised the Stalinist model of collectivisation
Led to Hundred Flowers Campaign
How did the Hundred Flowers Campaign aid Mao with the Great Leap Forward?
Removed opposition to his policies
What was the campaign against sparrows?
Sparrowcide
Where was the first commune introduced?
Henan
What was the size of the first commune in terms of number of families?
1958- contained up to 2000 families
some plans of communes that combined up to 10-20 thousand households
When did the working day start and end?
Dawn and after dark
What did the communes experiment with/introduce?
Collective life geared towards production
Private land abolished
Women freed to work
How much land was redistributed?
More than half of cultivated
How many poor peasants were benefitted by the land redistribution?
300 million
What did Sparrowcide lead to?
A growth of insects
What had initial reforms of the early 1950s been introduced?
In the excitement accompanying the 1949 formation of the PRC.
During the early process of collectivisation, who was land seized from and who was it given to?
Seized from landlords
Given to peasants.
What were peasants urged to do when given land?
Urged to pull resources in farm collectives.
By the end of 1951, how many landlords had lost their land?
some 10 million
By the end of 1951, what percentage of land had changed hands?
about 40%
From what year were groups of ten or so families encouraged to unite to form MATS?
1951
What would families do in MATs?
Pool (merge) labour, animals and equipment
Define pool in this context.
To merge
Who were MATs run by?
Peasant associations
Although peasant associations were thought to be voluntary, what happened to those who were not involved?
Often persecuted.
What happened in 1952 to successful MATs?
Encouraged to combine and form APCs consisting of 40-50 families.
What happened to land after APCs were introduced?
Pooled (merged) and consolidated (united) into larger units.
Land was cultivated as a group.
During the early process of collectivisation, when were profits shared out?
At the end of the year.
List in chronological order the process of collectivisation.
- Agrarian Reform Law
- MATs
- APCs
- Forced collectivisation
- Communisation
- Abolition of private farming/communal living
What is bigger: collective or commune?
Commune-bigger version of collectives
Communes were combinations of collectives.
What year was the Agrarian Reform Law?
1949
What was the Agrarian Reform Law?
This Law gave the legal framework to remove the landlord classes.
What were the landlord class portrayed as?
The ruling class.
Due to the Agrarian Reform Law, what happened to landlords?
Publicly humiliated and accused of exploitation.
After the Agrarian Reform Law, how many landlords had died by the end of 1951?
700,000
Despite being put into MATs, what did the peasants still retain?
Rights to private ownership.
After moving into APCs, what were families who had larger holdings still allowed to do?
Keep back some land for personal use.
When did the MATs come into being?
1951