Significance of Events post 1949 (China)

Question 1

Agrarian Law Reform

Answer 1

• initial improvement as people had more land (delivering on pre 1949 promises)
• violence was condoned against landlords and 2 million were killed
• however, some were given portion of land… brutality depended on where they were

Question 2

3 and 5 antis movements

Answer 2

• mao turned on civil servants and industrial managers
• fear was emerging as people didn’t know if their actions would later be considered counter revolutionary
• spying was encouraged, labelling became tool of social control
• tightened practices in business

Question 3

First 5 year plan

Answer 3

• economic goals from ‘on the people’s democratic dictatorship were being met’
• level of centralisation needed to achieve this displeased mao

Question 4

Hundred Flowers campaign and anti-rightist campaign

Answer 4

• ruthless anti rightist campaign was unprecedented at this point in time
• the hope of the people that transition to socialism would include popular democracy was ended.
• clear that opposition to CCP would’t be tolerated
• artistic and intellectual development could no longer occur independently.
• thought reform
• hard labour camps
• fear
• eradicated opposition

Question 5

Great Leap Forward

Answer 5

• collectivisation decreased peasants’ incentive to work.
• lysenkoism, steel furnaces and communes all failed which led to starvation and 13 million died
• mass famine
• destruction of tools
• breakdown of family life
• crops were left unattended
• work points system was implemented
• tendency to exaggerate grew
• demoralisation of peasants.

Question 6

Central Committee meeting in Lushan

Answer 6

• clear that Mao would not accept criticism

- from here on, was a split between radicals supporting mao such as Deng and Liu, and moderates.

Question 7

Liu and Deng restructured economy

Answer 7

• opening the markets admitted that communes were a failure.
• mao accused Liu and Deng of being Capitalist Roaders
• mao feared they were mounting challenge to his leadership.

Question 8

Social education campaigns

Answer 8

• this movement was an aspect of the power struggle between liu and Mao
• paved way for cultural revolution.

Question 9

little red book published

Answer 9

• key tool for mao in power struggle between himself and liu
• used to politics army which meant mao had support for future campaigns
• targeting youth meant mao had support for long term future.

Question 10

Cultural Rev.

Answer 10

• it ended power struggle between mao and liu
• communities and fams were destroyed as red guards turned on teachers, parents and neighbours
• culturally and historically significant artefacts were destroyed
• archival records often destroyed as well.
• mass suicide
• halted eduction
• increased violence
• leaders purged or killed
• successfully developed cult of mao

Question 11

Red guards being sent to countryside

Answer 11

• between 1967 and 1972, approx 12 million youths rom city went to rural regions
• showed mao still had ability to mobilise masses

Question 12

Sending of Deng Xiaoping to ‘correction labour’

Answer 12

• showed growing power of lin biao

- dents treatment allowed him to re-emerge in later stages of cultural rev to work way into party ranks before mao died.

Question 13

lin biao dies in plane crash

Answer 13

• mao’s greatest rival was eliminated
• public was suspicious about accusations that biao was a soviet spy, this was because political figures seemed to fall quickly from great heights often
• lib’s death indirectly allowed Deng to gradually re-emerge from banishment.

Question 14

Key ideologies

Answer 14

• power to the peasants
• improvement to health
• counter revolutionaries
• develop china and overtake other nations
• continuous revolution -using youth in later years