theme 2: Agricultural And Industrial Change Flashcards
Agrarian reform law
1950
Redistributed land and established landlords as ruling class
MAT
Mutual aid teams.
Introduced 1951
10+ families pool together land and resources
Voluntary but those not in a MAT were disadvantaged
APC
Agricultural producers cooperatives
Introduced 1952
40-50 families pooled land and resources together
Grain production under APCs
Rose by only 2%
Reaction to APC
Some richer peasants didn’t want to join and slaughtered their animals
What did work teams do?
Taxed people based on land ownership
Everyone classed from landlord down to labourer
What happened to land lords?
Subjected to humiliation
Land redistributed
Zhou Enlai and Lou Shaoqi view on collectivisation
Favoured slow collectivisation
Collectivisation stats (1955 vs 1956)
1955: 63%
1956: 80%
High level APCs
300-500 households
Private land ownership abolished
Aims of communal living
Fix supply shortages
Make life easier
Increase production rates
Reality of communal living
Badly organised childcare
Communal eating broke traditional family unit
Grain production didn’t rise
Abolition of Private farming
Animals couldn’t be owned
Selling produce was labelled rural capitalism
By 1958 party claimed 99% of the population was in communes
Lysenkoism
Theory that seeds should be exposed to cold, damp conditions before being planted deep and close together
Cause of Great Famine
Agricultural policy
Fear of Mao
Too many focuses
Mao was prepared to sacrifice lives
consequences of the Great Famine
30 - 50 million died birthrates dropped Children and elderly more likely to die Women sold into prostitution Frogs, Bark and worms eaten
Why did Deng and Lui take over?
The Famine embarrassed Mao
He stepped back from the daily running of the country
Targets of the first 5 year plan
Quickly increase heavy industry
make China self sufficient
successes of the first 5 year plan
annual growth of 9%
population in cities doubled
Living standards and job security guaranteed
Engineering projects like the bridge over the Yangtze River
failures of the first five year plans
Quality sacrificed over quantity
Low literacy held back the economy long term
factory managers lacked experience
Exaggerated output levels
Reasons for launching the second five year plan
Agricultural rates low
Mass mobilisation
Mao wanted China to become an economic superpower
Mao wanted to overtake Britain in 15 years or less
Why was Mao optimistic about the second five year plan?
Communists winning the Cold War
Industrial growth in First five year plan
State owned enterprises
Party took over industrial firms
Dictated wages and pay
No incentive to work efficiently
Workers given a home and healthcare
Successes of the second five year plan
Tiannamen square remodelled
Private property abolished (ideological success)
