theme 2: Agriculture and Industry 1949-65 Flashcards
when was agrarian reform law and what did it do
1950, redistributed land and portrayed landlords the ‘ruling class’ in the countryside
formed work teams
what did work teams do
taxed people according to how much land they owned.
assigned every villager a label; landlord, rich, middle, poor, labourer
what happened to those labelled as landlords
their land and possessions were confiscated and redistributed
they were accused of exploitation and humiliated, beaten and executed often by villagers themselves
by 1951 how many landlords lose land and what percentage of land changed hands
10 million landlords
40% land changed hands
how could communists claim peasant- led revolution
making villagers carry out ‘speak-bitterness’ meetings and killings
what were MATs
- Mutual Aid Teams. groups 10+ families. pooled land and resources while retaining rights of private ownership. managed by peasant associations
voluntary but those who did not join had difficulties and ran risk of persecution
when and what were APCs?
- MATs encouraged to form APCs of 40-50 families
land was pooled but those with large holdings could keep some for themselves
why and when did mao first call for slow down
1953 as rushed formation of APCs caused many to go into debt
what happened in 1954 that caused mao to change his agricultural policies
peasants began selling and buying land and resources like capitalism so mao put pressure back on collectivisation. poor harvest of 1954 meant government had to requisition food, so much protest mao changed policy
what was maos agricultural policy in 1955
“stop, contract and develop” halted collectivisation for 18 months but only lasted 6 months
end of 1955 numbers (collectivisation)
3% peasants farmed as individuals
17 million households in APCs in july 1955, 75 million by January 1956
when and what were HPCs?
1955 onwards
groups of APCs 200-300 households. work points allocated according to labour in HPCs
how was collectivisation a success ideologically
state owned the means of food production
how was collectivisation a success and failure politically
success because speed of implementation and outmanoeuvring opponents showed maos authority
failure as peasants became servants of CCP and made mao dangerously overconfident leading to catastrophe of GLF
how was collectivisation a failure economically
food production insufficient for industrial workforce
3.8%increase per annum in food production during first five year plan (1953-57)
why was the system of communes introduced
enthusiastic cadres in hanan claimed APC wanted to merge
mao went on tour of countryside in spring 1958 where china staged abundancy of crops and success
when was the great leap forward announced
may 1958
what was used to describe advancing agriculture and industry at the same rate
walking on two legs
over 2 years how many collectives merged
1958-60
750,000 collectives merged into 26,000 communes containing a total of 120 million households
what was abolished under communes
private farming. villagers had no choice they had to surrender all land and possessions
what were communes supposed to provide
canteens and dormitories (couples could only sleep together on arranged visits)
education, health care and childcare
what did management teams do
divided peasants up into production brigades and allocated them jobs
how much sleep did mao think was acceptable on communes
6 hours every 2 days
what was the military dimension of communes
everyone aged 15-50 had to be militia members and trained with weapons periodically
when was lysenkoism made a policy
1958
examples of bad Lysenko schemes
1- killing sparrows by making noise so they could not rest in trees and died of exhaustion to prevent them eating crops, caterpillars just replaced them
2- plough peasants mud huts into the fields as they were made from animal dung. thousands lost their homes
when was there a great famine?
1958-62
great leap forward, second 5 year plan
when was the lushan conference
july 1959
