MAO Agriculture Flashcards
Why was it decided that agriculture had to be collectivised?
To feed industrial workers; release peasants from land to work in industry
Why had arguments broken out within the Party about the Jiangxi Base Area and Yanan?
Landlords had been driven out and their land redistributed, but richer peasants weren’t targeted because they were the most productive
When was the Agrarian Reform Law?
1950
What did the Agrarian Reform Law make clear?
Land reform meant redistribution, not lower rents/low interest loans
Who played a crucial role in the land reform process?
Army
How many landlords had lost their land by the end of 1951?
10 million
What did official figures put the number of deaths at by the end of 1951?
700,000
What were the Mutual Aid Teams (MATs)?
Groups of 10 or so families were encouraged to unite; to pool labour, animals and equipment; while retaining rights of private ownership
Who were the MATs managed by?
Peasant associations
Were the MATs compulsory?
Membership was ‘voluntary’
What were the Agricultural Producers’ Co-operatives (APCs)?
Successful MATs were encouraged to combine and form APCs of 40-50 families
How many rural households were in APCs by March 1955?
14%
When was the great famine?
1958-62
Who was private farming restored by?
Liu Shaoqi; Deng Xiaoping
When did Mao call for an initial slowdown of collectivisation?
Spring 1953
When did things stabilise enough again to resume collectivisation?
1954- peasants started buying and selling their food and land, just as they would under capitalism
What prompted the government to begin requisitioning grain?
Poor harvest of 1954
What happened as a result of the grain requisitioning of 1954?
Caused so much rural protest that Mao announced a policy of ‘Stop, Contract and Develop’
When did Mao decide to go for all-out collectivisation?
July 1955
Who did Mao announce his plans for all-out collectivisation to?
Conference of Local Party Secretaries
How many households were in APCs in July 1955?
17 million
How many households were in APCs in January 1956?
75 million
How many peasants were still farming as individuals by the end of 1956?
Only 3%
What was the official reason given for the drive to collectivisation?
Response to demands of peasantry
What was most likely the real reason for the drive to collectivisation?
Mao’s fear that supplies to the cities would continue to be unreliable as long as peasants owned the land
What were the new APCs created after July 1955 classed as?
‘Higher’ (HPCs)
What were the HPCs?
Consisted of 200-300 households; peasants no longer owned land/equipment
When did Mao return from his second visit to Moscow?
November 1957
How long did Mao plan for it take for China to overtake Britain as an industrial power and complete collectivisation?
15 years
How did Mao plan to overtake Britain as an industrial power?
By merging the collectives into larger units and making them responsible for range of activities as well as farming- industrial production; education; welfare provision; local defence
Who did Mao get to put their support behind the idea of the People’s Communes?
Liu Shaoqi (Vice chairman of the CCP); Deng Xiaoping (CCP secretary general)
What was a further, ideological reason for wanting to press ahead with the communes?
Mao’s determination to prevent the revolution from losing impetus
What was the Great Leap Forward officially known as at the time?
Three Red Banners
What would the GLP involve?
Developing industry and agriculture at the same time
Why was it a surprise that Mao managed to get the GLP endorsed by the Congress?
Faced bitter opposition from conservatives within CCP leadership during previous months
How long did Mao say it would take for China to overtake Britain as an industrial power after the announcement of the GLP?
7 1/2 years
Why was Mao eager to decentralise economic planning during the GLP?
Enthusiastic local officials could push changes forward without being restrained by government technical experts
What was the first People’s Commune called and where and when was it established?
The Sputnik- established in the Henan province in April 1958; involved the merging of 27 collectives and brought over 9,000 households under its control
How many collectives were merged into communes between 1958-60?
750,000 collectives were merged into 26,000 communes, which in total contained about 120 million households
What else were the communes supposed to be other than huge collective farms?
Unit of local government- took over responsibility for providing local services
How did the communes free up women for work?
By providing childcare and canteen facilities
What did the communes provide for the elderly?
‘Happiness homes’
What did the most advanced communes claim to offer people?
10 guarantees
What were the ten guarantees?
Meals, clothes, housing, schooling, medical attention, burial, haircuts, theatrical entertainment, money for heating in winter, money for weddings
Did villagers have a choice about being absorbed into the commune?
No
What happened when villagers were absorbed into the communes?
Had to surrender all private property without any form of compensation
How was a military dimension added to the communes?
Everyone between 15-50 had to be militia members and periodically train with weapons
When had Stalin relied on Trofim Lysenko’s theories?
In the aftermath of the Russian famine of the early 1930s
When was Lysenkoism made an official policy?
1958
Which points of Lysenkoism were common sense?
Development of new farm tools; use of new breeds and seeds; improved field management; increased irrigation
Which points of Lysenkoism were potentially dangerous?
Close planting; deep ploughing; increased fertilisation; pest control
What were the four pests targeted in the Four Pests Campaign?
Sparrows; rats; flies; mosquitoes