policies in PRC

Question 1

What were MATS and when were they introduced

Answer 1

1951. Mutual Aid Teams.
      Several peasant households were organised into a MAT for a season to plan or harvest a specific crop.
      Peasants were encouraged to share resources like tools, fertilisers and animals + discuss and make strategic decisions to improve agricultural production.

Question 2

How successful were MATs?

Answer 2

greatly helped the poorer peasants and was quite effective and popular. Around 40 per cent joined the MATs by 1952

Question 3

Why was collectivisation not working as expected?

Answer 3

communists like Lui Shaoqi and Zhou Enlai claiming that the lack of mechanised equipment made it difficult to introduce full-scale collective farming,

Question 4

What was the last stage of collectivisation?

Answer 4

started in 1955 with the transformation of the APC into collective farms.

Question 5

how successful were collective farms

Answer 5

By the end of 1956, only 3 percent of peasants’ households only farmed as private individuals, and Mao was able to confirm that collectivisation had been achieved.

Question 6

What were the impacts of collectivisation?

Answer 6

It reinforced the CCP’s control in the countryside.
Agricultural production did not achieve the expected results: between 1953 and 1957 the production increased by only 3.8 per cent.

Question 7

How happy were Chinese peasants and the CCP with the results of collectivisation by 1985?

Answer 7

top leadership was not satisfied with the results of collectivisation. Agricultural production did not achieve the expected results and some unhappy peasants even attempted to leave the system.

Question 8

When was the first five year plan introduced?

Answer 8

1953

Question 9

What was the first five year plan?

Answer 9

a plan supported by Stalin and the Soviet Union:
a loan of $300 million
sending engineers, scientists, technicians and planners – an estimated 6,000 Russian advisers came to China.

Question 10

What was the main aim of the first 5 year plan?

Answer 10

The main focus was on heavy industry – steel, coal and chemicals. The plan was that it would provide the raw materials to build new factories to replace the old ones.

Question 11

What were the results of the first five year plan?

Answer 11

Industrial output doubled with an annual increasing growth rate
Large engineering projects were launched such as the bridge across the Yangtze River.

Question 12

What held back economic growth?

Answer 12

Low literacy level of chinese workers

Question 13

When was the great leap forward launched?

Answer 13

1958

Question 14

What were the Great Leap forward’s aims?

Answer 14

to increase both agricultural and industrial production at the same time
revive the Yan’an spirit by mobilising the masses
to overtake Western economies such as Great Britain within fifteen years and America’s within thirty.

Question 15

How did the Great Leap Forward differ from the first five year plan?

Answer 15

did not have any clear proposals and policies.
Mao Zedong put all his attention on the attitude and determination of the people, instead of thinking in terms of financial investment and raw materials. not about skills/knowledge, but more about enthusiasm and commitment.
a shortage of experts despite the presence of Russian advisers.

Question 16

Why did General Peng express his concern to Mao Zedong about the Great Leap Forward?

Answer 16

due to food shortages in cities and failing grain production targets in rural areas.

Question 17

New production targets were set but did they manage to prevent an oncoming famine in china?

Answer 17

No.

Question 18

When was the great famine? Why did it occur?

Answer 18

1958-62
There was a refusal of the CCP to admit that the Great Leap Forward was not working and it continued to collect grain.

Officials kept inflated targets so the state kept requisitioning grain to feed the cities and export it to countries such North Korea

Question 19

Education policies under Mao Zedong

Answer 19

1957 and 1965, During the Great Leap Forward
part-work schools were opened at the primary and secondary levels to allow more flexibility with teaching hours.
idea was to allow pupils from rural areas to be able to attend school and work in the fields when they were needed.

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in the rural areas, some of the poorest villages still did not have any primary schools and when they opened, many found that the programme implemented was not adapted to the needs of the students in those areas.

Question 20

When was the Chinese communist youth movement created and what was it exactly?

Answer 20

1922. It was regarded as a school for the CCP to find the next generation of communist leaders

Question 21

When was the patriotic health movement created? + aim + results.

Answer 21

1950 to educate peasants in how to prevent illness.
Life expectancy rose but infant mortality declined, this was mainly due to the inequalities in health care in rural areas compared to urban areas.

Question 22

When was the marriage reform law introduced? What did the marriage reform law do?

Answer 22

1950 ended arranged marriage and child betrothals
ended concubinage and the payment of dowries
gave the right to divorce either by mutual consent or on the complaint of either the husband or the wife

Question 23

What other rights were women also given?

Answer 23

the right to own property
the right to vote (1953 Election Law)
the opportunity to join the government and the PLA
the opportunity to return to work after having a child
make school compulsory for girls.

Question 24

When was the All-China Democratic Women’s Federation founded? aims?

Answer 24

1949 to represent and ensure the rights and interests of women as well as promoting gender equality.

Question 25

What were the impacts of these laws on women??

Answer 25

number of women who worked increased from 8 per cent to 32 per cent, however, they were still expected to do their duty at home which meant that burdens for women remained unchanged.
There was a huge increase in the number of divorces. Statistics vary, however, an estimation of 1.2 million of divorce petitions was filed in 1953.
women were excluded from the party hierarchy, and women constituted only a small part of the party membership.

Question 26

How many minority groups were recognised by the communist government initially?

Answer 26

40 groups but this number increased over time to 54.

Question 27

When was The Enforcement of Nationality and Regional Autonomy introduced?
+ aim?

Answer 27

1952
to speed up the transition to socialism by educating the minorities and setting up People’s Governments in those areas.

Question 28

What did this program allow? The Enforcement of Nationality and Regional Autonomy

Answer 28

Authorised minorities to keep language, a form of self-government, administer their own finance, design and implement their own laws. (In most cases they could keep their leaders if they did not oppose socialism)

They were forbidden from breaking away from the PRC

Question 29

What were the consequences?of the enforcement of national and regional autonomy

Answer 29

1959; thousand of refugees fled to India
1968-1971; low presence of minorities in the PRC
1971; policy relaxed more, books in minorities language were published again and the media encouraged people to learn minority languages