The People's Communes

Question 1

What were communes?

Answer 1

The merging of collectives into much larger units and making them responsible for a wide range of activities in addition to farming- industrial production, education, welfare provision and local defense

Question 2

Mao’s main reasons for launching Communes:

Answer 2

Mac food production to accelerate industrial growth (pooling if larger equip and labour so higher food yields and more peasants freed up to work on construction schemes)

Preventing revolution from losing impetus

Question 3

When and where was the Great Leap Forward announced?

Answer 3

The Eighth CCP Congress of May 1958

Question 4

When was the first People’s Commune established and where?

Answer 4

April 1958 in Henan province

Question 5

How many collectives were merged and how many households were brought under its control (Sputnik)

Answer 5

27 collectives and 9000 households

Question 6

How many collectives were merged to form 26,000 communes?

Answer 6

750,000

Question 7

Why were the communes dissimilar to collectives?

Answer 7

Villagers had no choice about being absorbed into the commune

Question 8

Why was private farming abolished?

Answer 8

Had to surrender all private property- land, agricultural equip, livestock, household possessions- without any form of compensations

Question 9

Why was motivation low in the communes?

Answer 9

No longer rewarded due to work points like under collectivisation

Question 10

What did everyone between the ages of 15 and 50 have to be?

Answer 10

Militia members

Question 11

When was Lysenkoism made official policy?

Answer 11

1958

Question 12

Example of some dangerous policies enforced under Lysenkoism:

Answer 12

Close planting, deep ploughing, increased fertilisation and pest comtrol

Question 13

Why was pest control so catastrophic?

Answer 13

Peasants wasted hours banging pots and pans together til they fell from sky, upset ecological balance.

Question 14

What was the result of pest control?

Answer 14

Insects and small creatures that the birds normally ate multiplied uncontrollably and destroyed the plants& rats and vermin destroyed grain stocks

Question 15

What did the focus on increased fertilisation of the soil lead to?

Answer 15

The destruction of thousands of peasants’ homes- ploughed into ground as the animal dung used in the construction of the walls was thought to be useful

Question 16

At the CCP Central Committee meeting in December 1958, what did Mao declare that the harvest figure for the year was?

Answer 16

430 mil tonnes of grain, Party had to revise this. Actually closer to 200 mil despite excellent weather