The Communes Flashcards
Why was it impossible for Mao to rely on a working class revoultion?
In Marxist rhetoric, it states that the socialist revolution would be most enthusiastically supported by the working class.
Mao saw this would not be possible in China, so he focused on creating true communism in the countryside with the peasants, forcing them to live and work together in communes. Their lives were strictly monitored and much of their property was taken away.
Why did Mao introduce the communes?
By 1956, He was emboldened by the success of moving peasants into co-operatives, but production figures remained disappointing. Agricultural output had only risen 3.8% over the past year.
Requisitioning grain was a precarious ideal as 70% of the CCP’s members were peasants and doing so was risking alienating a large amount of their support.
Instead of taking grain to increase production figures and feed the workers in the cities, Mao turned to communes.
The communes were large in size and incorporated both industry and agriculture, Mao called this focus on both aspects of the economy “walking on two legs”.
Describe the abolition of private farming
Mao judged that as co-operation farming was a success, all private farming should be banned.
In August 1958, a politburo resolution declared that communes were “the basic social units of communist society”
In August 1958, “Mao stated the peoples commune is great” catalysing the conversion of co-operatives to communes.
By the end of 1958, 740,000 co-operatives had been reorganised into 26,000 communes. The party claimed that 99% of their peasant population lived in communes – almost half a billion people.
The first commune was established in July 1958, the “sputnik commune”
Splitting people up into said communes further refined and tightened the control Mao and the CCP had over the peasants whilst simultaneously implementing communism within the nation.
Describe The Organisation of the Communes
Average commune size was around 5500 households.
In addition to industry and agriculture, communes took care of healthcare and education.
land and livestock ownership was banned, Markets were also banned as an element of rural capitalism.
Each commune would produce its own food as well as having its own factories producing industrial goods. The pooling of recourses would make industrial production more efficient.
What was Mao’s communal living dream?
Communes were a step closer to Mao’s perfect communist dream. Income was now based on the needs of the resident rather than how much work the person did, which is how it worked in APCs.
Creches and schools were provided, Mess halls were also built in the hope to create revolutionary fever.
It was time for women to not be stuck with domestic duties, from 1958-1959 over 90% of women laboured in agriculture – Propaganda celebrated these iron women.
Grandparents lived with other elderly people in “happiness homes”
As large masses of people where all in one location, the party could easily target them with propaganda which forged further militaristic and revolutionary attitudes.
What was Mao’s communal living reality?
These communes devastated family life,
People ate with strangers in mess halls,
Parents lost influence over raising their children,
Women were forced into hard labour,
Communes were organised into brigades and divided them into production teams or platoons. Able bodied citizens between 15 and 50 served in a militia which was essentially a police force punishing those who did not work hard enough.
Time was wasted travelling long distances to mess halls and the food was of a poor-quality worsening diet and overall health.
Who was Lysenko and what was the four pest campaign?
Despite all this production did not rise, Mao concluded that it was sparrows, rats, flies and mosquitoes that ate the grains produced.
The four pests’ campaign of 1958 which was designed to kill these pests made matters worse, they only lead to the increase in caterpillars which ate the harvest. matters were made worse by the policies of Trofim Lysenko, a quack Soviet scientist whose policies were fraudulent. Lysenko drafted an 8 point agricultural constitution that all farmers had to follow, some of the suggestions in the constitution were idiotic.
Finally, matters were made worse by cadres lying to officials about production output as they were too scared to get on the wrong side of Mao
