The Great Leap Forward Flashcards
What were the two main advances Mao wished to achieve through mass effort?
The collectvised peasants in communes would produce a surplus of food that could be sold abroad to support industry expansion.
The workers would physically build a modern industrial economy that would compete with the Soviet Union and Capitalist West
What were State-owned enterprises?
It was an attempt to bring industry under state control, where existing firms and companies would work for the state as SOEs.
Prices, output targets and wages would all be fixed by the state.
What were the pros and cons of SOEs?
+Provided workers with an iron rice bowl, with accommodation and medical benefits for their families.
-Removed any incentive for managers to make firms run efficiently and for workers to work hard as any profit made would go to the state, and all workers received the same pay.
Why was China unable to turn materials into manufactured goods?
There was a deficit in technical skills, managerial knowledge, efficiently run factories and plants, and an adequate transport system.
How did the production of manufactured goods fall from 1959 to 1962?
By 30% for light industry and 55.8% for heavy industry.
What were the main limitations of the Great Leap Forwards?
The quality of finished products fell short of China’s industrial needs.
Political interference made the plan impossible to manage purely economically.
Officials made high demands but few instructions as how to acheive the goals.
Despite setting up SOEs, much was left to local initiative, without any integrated national plan.
Effective organisation and quality control became difficult to acheive.
In 1959 the USSR withdrew technical assistamce, resulting in the closure of 150 industrial plants that the Soviets had sponsored.
How was Mao’s economic planning misconceived?
Mao had little understanding of economic planning, nor did anyone in his government, resulting in most of the planning simply being a collection of political slogans.
However, Mao would not believe that he was at fault, first denying bad results and then blaming them on sabotage by bourgeois elements.
