MAO Industry Flashcards
What was always Mao’s overriding aim for the economy?
Modernise country through urbanisation and industrialisation
What had Mao made his overriding aim for China’s economy clear in?
Common Program
Why did Mao not launch his FYPs straight away?
Economy had to be stabilised first
What was the annual inflation rate in China when Mao inherited it?
1,000%
What had the annual inflation rate been cut to by 1951?
A manageable 15%
What was the old Chinese dollar replaced with to combat inflation?
Yuan
What was Mao’s 1FYP based on?
Soviet model
How was Mao’s task of introducing a centrally planned economy made easier?
There had been some degree of state involvement in Chinese industry since imperial times; accelerated under Chiang
What had Chiang established to control industrial investment and encourage urban migration?
National Resources Committee (NRC)
What was a vital part of the Sino-Soviet Treaty of 1950?
Arrangement for Soviet advisers to come to China and teach them how to run a Communist state
How many Soviet civilian technicians were brought to China as a result of the 1950 Sino-Soviet Treaty?
Over 10,000
How did Russian ideas penetrate education as a result of the Sino-Soviet Treaty of 1950?
Russian was the only foreign language taught in schools
As a result of the Sino-Soviet Treaty of 1950, what became the main source from which the Chinese newspapers gathered their information?
TASS- official Soviet news agency
How did the early influence of the Soviet Union on Chinese cities become clear to see?
Classical Chinese buildings were replaced with ‘Soviet brutalist’ style
Why were the Soviet experts that came to China because of the Sino-Soviet treaty of 1950 a burden?
Their high salaries were paid by the Chinese; housed, at China’s expense, in closely guarded compounds outside main cities
What was the overall aim of the 1FYP?
Make PRC as self-sufficient in food and manufactured goods as possible to protect it from a potentially hostile capitalist world
When were the principles of the 1FYP in place by?
1952
How would the targets of the 1FYP be set?
From above by economic planners, rather than in response to consumer demand
What were the priorities of the 1FYP to be?
Heavy industry
What was added to the targets of the 1FYP for propaganda value?
Spectacular public works projects, like new bridges across the Yangtze at Nanjing
Where were the basic ideas of the 1FYP given a dry-run before being applied to the whole nation?
Manchuria
What was one of the reasons that the 1FYP placed less emphasis on consumer goods?
Hoped that people would be more willing to invest in patriotic savings schemes, if there were few consumer goods to tempt them
What did the government plan to do with money put it patriotic savings schemes?
Direct it into industrial investment
How did the government hope to keep industrial workers’ wages low under the 1FYP?
By forcing the collective farms to sell food at low prices to the government
Which industries were nationalised initially?
Those belonging to foreigners; those in banking, gas, electricity and transport sectors of economy
When were industries first nationalised?
1949
When was private ownership brought to an end completely?
1956
What allowed Mao to bring private ownership in China to a complete end?
Fear generated by the ‘five antis’ campaign
How did Mao plan to finance the 1FYP?
Food requsitioning from APCs; patriotic savings schemes; higher taxation in cities; loans from USSR
What was the annual growth rate under the 1FYP?
9%
How did China’s urban population change as a result of the 1FYP?
57 million in 1949 to 100 million by 1957
What were the successes of the 1FYP in terms of urban living standards?
Improved wages and job security
What was the improvement of urban living standards under the 1FYP at the expense of?
Freedom to change jobs or travel
What suggests that most sectors of the economy reached their targets under the 1FYP?
Official statistics
What did the emphasis on reaching targets under the 1FYP do?
Quantity over quality
What were the drawbacks of Soviet guidance under the 1FYP?
Exposed shortcomings in the skill and literacy levels of Chinese workers
How many Chinese children under 16 were in full-time education by the time the 1FYP ended?
Less than 1/2
What restricted the success of the 1FYP from a managerial level?
Experts had been driven out by the ‘anti’ campaigns of 1951-52
Before the ending of private ownership, what problem did the state have?
Competition for resources between private and state-owned enterprises (SOEs)
Where was the 1FYP mostly unsuccessful?
Countryside
Why were the rural Chinese in the communes going short on food under the 1FYP?
It was exported to Russia to pay for Soviet advice and sold cheaply to cities to feed urban workers
When was the 1FYP?
1952-56
When was the 2FYP?
1958-62
What did the 2FYP form part of?
Great Leap Forward
When was the Great Leap Forward announced?
Eighth CCP Congress in May 1958
Why did Mao launch the GLF?
Impatient with the relatively slow pace of economic progress made so far
Why was the 2FYP not a ‘plan’ in the strict sense of the word?
Responsibility for economic planning was moved from the state to the Party
When was economic planning moved from the state to the Party?
February 1958
What encouraged Mao to increase the demands on industry with the 2FYP?
Speed at which farming had been collectivised; encouraging early signs of new People’s Communes
Which Party conservatives advocated a ‘carrot’ approach to industry with the 2FYP?
Zhou Enlai; Chen Yun
How many Party members were peasants at the time of the launching of the 2FYP?
70%
Why would it be wrong to see the launch of the GLF as purely the result of rational economic logic?
Arguments about the best way forward had not yet been won
When had there been an impressive burst of activity on water conservancy schemes?
Winter of 1957-58
How well had Mao’s provincial tour of 1958 gone?
Enthusiastically received
How did the 2FYP satisfy Mao’s ideological preferences?
Relied on mass peasant mobilisation; greater degree of decentralisation
What was the biggest difference between the 1FYP and the 2FYP?
Move to decentralise economic activity; consolidation of earlier move towards state ownership of businesses
Why did Mao believe that decentralisation was important in the 2FYP?
Would give more power to local Party officials to harness the energies of the masses; Mao convinced that if state bureaucrats continued to control planning, it would hold back pace of change
What was the chief method by which industry was to ‘leap forward’ under the 2FYP?
Production of as much steel as possible
What was the steel target for 1958 increased to at the Party Congress in May?
Raised from 6 to 8 million tonnes
Why did Mao launch the backyard furnaces campaign?
It became evident that steel targets could not be met by the conventional steel plants
What was the target for steel increased to in September 1958?
10.7 million tonnes
How many peasants had been involved with the water conservancy campaign of winter 1957-58?
100 million
How much of China’s steel came from local furnaces by September 1958?
14%
At the peak of the backyard furnaces campaign, how much of the population had abandoned their normal activities to take part?
1/4
How much of China’s steel came from local furnaces by October 1958?
49%
How did the backyard furnaces campaign interrupt normality for the Chinese people?
Put unsustainable strain on food production; closed schools; deployed peasant shock brigades
When did it become apparent to the Party leadership that the backyard furnaces campaign was unsuccessful?
Spring 1959
How did the backyard furnaces campaign impact negatively on the environment?
Led to destruction of woodland for fuel; faster soil erosion and worse flooding; increased need for water conservancy schemes
Why was the system of SOEs inefficient?
Removed incentives
What was positive for workers about the system of SOEs?
Guaranteed jobs and wages; certain medical and educational benefits
What was the most ambitious (and unsuccessful) water conservancy scheme?
Three Gate Gorge Dam
In many areas, what did the disruption of existing drainage patterns lead to?
Salinisation- reduced productivity of land
What were the successes of the 2FYP?
Some increases in output of raw materials; construction of Tiananmen Square; 1964 development of nuclear weapons
How did the 2FYP fail alarmingly?
In terms of producing manufactured goods; quality control
How did production of manufactured goods change under the 2FYP?
1/4 less
What lay at the heart of the failure of the 2FYP?
Lack of clear planning
When was the Lushan Conference?
July 1959
Why did Mao call the Lushan Conference?
To assess progress of GLP
What shows that Mao was expecting trouble at the Lushan Conference?
Brought Jiang Qing
Who stood up to Mao at the Lushan Conference?
Peng Dehuai
What effect did the Lushan Conference have on the economy?
Meant GLP would continue swiftly
What was a sign that Mao had been planning on moderating aspects of the 2FYP before the Lushan Conference?
Reining in the development of backyard furnaces
What impact did the Lushan Conference have politically?
It became clear that the only person who could criticise Mao was Mao himself
When was the 3FYP?
1962-65
When did the retreat from the GLP begin?
1960
When did the retreat from the GLP hasten?
1962
Who orchestrated the move away from the GLP?
Liu Shaoqi; Deng Xiaoping
Who was mostly responsible for the drawing up of the 3FYP?
Chen Yun
How did the leadership move away from the GLP?
Allowed communes to be broken up; thousands of inefficient projects closed down; announced more realistic coal/steel targets; relaxed persecution of scientists/intellectuals
What decisive shift did the 3FYP mark?
Back to centralised control
What were the successes of the 3FYP?
Agricultural production recovered to 1957 levels; oil and natural gas production rocketed; manufactured goods were produced in greater quantities
How did the leadership ensure that the 3FYP would be more successful than its predecessor?
Experts were back in favour; financial incentives were restored
When did scientists succeed in exploding China’s own atomic bomb?
1964
When were Soviet advisers withdrawn from China?
1959
Why was Mao reluctant to attribute the economic improvements of the early 1960s to the retreat from GLP?
Revisionism
When did Mao summon the 7,000 cadre conference?
January 1962
Why did Mao summon the 7,000 cadre conference?
To prevent any further drift away from strict communist principles
Why did Mao withdrew from public life after the 7,000 cadre conference?
First time his aura of infallibility had been damaged
What happened at the 7,000 cadre conference?
Liu praised Mao for his correct leadership but implied he should share some blame for China’s past mistakes
Why did Liu feel confident enough to criticise Mao at the 7,000 cadre conference?
Knew he had approval of conference
How did Mao react to Liu’s suggestions at the 7,000 cadre conference?
Admitted responsibility as chairman but stopped short of admitting any personal mistakes
Who took the pragmatic view about the economy?
Liu, Deng and Chen Yun
When was a clear difference of opinion about how the economy should be run becoming apparent?
After the 7,000 cadre conference
When did Mao return to the political fray?
Summer 1962
