Mao's China: 2. How far had Communist rule changed China by the mid-1960s? Flashcards
o Modernisation of China began under Communists in this decade
- Nationalisation (state ownership) of large businesses, industries and banks
- Cities cleaned
- Free healthcare
- Women given right to divorce and treated more equally (Marriage Reform Law)
- Increased literacy – by 1960s, 90% of Chinese people could read and write
- Better basic education for the workforce (lack of universities)
1950s
o This decade saw the
- Creation of totalitarian dictatorship
- Propaganda, Censorship and Terror – removal of opponents
- Cult of Mao
1950s
o Mao’s Agrarian Reform Law
- Village land shared between all peasants
- Landlords put on trial at ‘People’s Courts’ set up by Communist Party and run by peasants
- Others were sent to ‘Re-education Camps’
1950
o One million landlords executed
1949-53
o Marriage Reform Law
1950
o Mutual Aid Teams set up
- Peasants helped each other and worked on each other’s land
1951
o Mao spread 1.5m ‘propagandists’ through China to maintain support for him and Communism
1951
o Co-operatives formed
- Land became jointly owned (communism) and equipment shared
- Unpopular with many peasants but Communist Party force and propaganda worked
- Within four years, over 90% of Chinese peasants belonged to co-operatives
1953
o ‘The First Five Year Plan’ (copied from Stalin’s USSR)
Focus on heavy industries and transport links
Amazing results – was this propaganda or the truth?
1953-57
o Industrialisation and urbanisation – increase of 60%
1953 – 1964
o Start of ‘The Great Leap Forward’ (the 2nd ‘Five Year Plan’)
1958
o Mao resigned as President of China but remained Chairman of Communist Party
1959
o Mao quarrelled with USSR leader Khrushchev who withdrew USSR advisors from China
1960
o Leadership rivalry between Mao and Liu Shaoqui
1960-65
o Great Leap Forward was abandoned
- Mao humiliated by Great Leap Forward’s failure
- Deng Xiaoping and Liu Shao-qi now controlled China
- Mao remained Chairman of the Communist Party
- Communes made smaller and land returned to peasants
1962
