Life on communes

Question 1

What were communes?

Answer 1

• Groups of around 5500 households sharing land, equpiment, cooking and childcare
• ownership of land and markeys were banned

Question 2

The introduciton of communes

Answer 2

• The first commune was established 1958 in Henan, it was named ‘sputnik commune’
• by the end of 1958 740,000 APC’s had been reorganised into 26,000 communes, allmost 1/2 a billion people lived in communes
• Once established it was impossible to move elsewhere without an internal passport and membership was compulsory

Question 3

Mao’s motivations

Answer 3

• create self sufficiency
• increase food production
• make society more communsit
• improve lives of women
• enhance CCP control of the people

Question 4

Maos vision of the communes

Answer 4

• mess halls would develop revolutionary support
• creches and boarding schools would be provided
• women would be no longer forced to do domestic roles and would work with the men, propoganda celebrated them as ‘iron women’
• an estimated 90% of women laboured in argriculture between 1958-59

Question 5

the reality of communal living

Answer 5

• communes were organised into ‘brigades’ and divided into production teams or ‘platoons’
• all citizens between 15-50 belonged to the commune militia who punished people from taking too much food and lazieness.
• parents lost influecne and grandparents became isolated as people ate among stranger in the mess halls
• time was wasted travelling long distanced to the mess halls, food was poor quality cuasing terrible diets