MATs, APCs

Question 1

Why did peasants support agriultural cooperation?

Answer 1

• The support from peasants for argicultural cooperation came from the pratical benefits they recieved like higher crop security again natural threats.

Question 2

How did the CCP’s beliefs differ from the peasants

Answer 2

• Peasants werent supportive for the same ideological reasons of the party. Such as socialist, modernised economny.
• Vice chairman Liu Shaoqi said the objective of land reform in order to ‘develop agricultural production and and open the way for the new chinas industrialisation

Question 3

Reasons for Mutual aid teams

Answer 3

In December 1951the CCP decided to introduce a gradual approach to collectivisation in order to bridge the gap between richer and poorer peasants.

Question 4

MATs
How did they work?

Answer 4

Peasants pooled reasources such as tools, labour, experience, knowledge and animals. Households with more land than labour could efficiently combine with families that had more labour than land. Therefore both would benefit.

They consisted of 10 or fewer housheold, richer peasants were excluded.

Question 5

MATs
Why were they welcomed?

Answer 5

They reflected the common pratice in vililages where families helped each other for the benefit of the whole community. They particullarly benefited the poorest of peasants.

By 1952 an estimated 40% of all peasant households belonged to a MAT

Question 6

APCs
Why were they introcduced?
How did they work?

Answer 6

• In order to reduce economic freedoms, in 1953 APCs were set up. Now land was reorganised into a single unit and peasanst were compensated by a points system according to the land, labour and tools the contributed.
• Once the harvest was collected and the state had taken its share peasanst recieved either grain or money in payment.

Question 7

APCs
How big were they?
Where they as popular as MATs?

Answer 7

• Comprised 3 to 5 MATs joined together (30-50 households).
• They were less popular than MATs as peasants did not want to share thier newly aquired land. Only 14% of peasants joined the new units. By June 1955 they were only 16.9 million peasant households in APCs out of a total of 110 million.

Question 8

APCs
Who resisted joining?
Production levels?

Answer 8

• Rich peasants resisted joining APCs espcially when cadres tried to skip organising families into MATs first. Some cadres undervalued poroperties and richer peasants killed animals rtaher than contribute them to the APC
• Results were disspointing, the first fiver year plan assumed a 23% increase in agirultual production, but output was falling far short. In 1953 and 54 production has risen less than 2%

Question 9

The groth of APCs
How much did they grow?

Answer 9

The pace at which APCs began to form was impressive, in dedember 1955 63.3% of peasants household were part of APCs,. 4% of which were high level APCs compirising of 2-3 hundred households. Somtimes encompassing whole villiages.

Question 10

The growth of APCs
The CCPs approach to the groth of APCs

Answer 10

• Mao wad greatly impressed bu the enthisiasm of peasants for agricultural cooperation. ‘we must guide the movement boldy’ he declared. He said that we ‘must no fea dragons ahead and tiger behind’.
• Mao was convinced that peasant support meant that is wasnt necessary to esait for agirulcutal mechinisation before moving to large-scale production. He announced tjat it was ‘possible that socialism will be realised in 1959’

Question 11

Enforced collectivisation

Answer 11

By Janurary 1056, 80.3% of households were in APCs, and by now 30.7% of those were higher level APCs. Private ownership was completley abolished, members would only be compensated for thier labour, thier land and equipment were simply taken over by the state.

By the 1956 almost 88% of peasants were in higher level APCs.