theme 2: Agriculture and Industry 1949-65

Question 1

when was agrarian reform law and what did it do

Answer 1

1950, redistributed land and portrayed landlords the ‘ruling class’ in the countryside
formed work teams

Question 2

what did work teams do

Answer 2

taxed people according to how much land they owned.

assigned every villager a label; landlord, rich, middle, poor, labourer

Question 3

what happened to those labelled as landlords

Answer 3

their land and possessions were confiscated and redistributed
they were accused of exploitation and humiliated, beaten and executed often by villagers themselves

Question 4

by 1951 how many landlords lose land and what percentage of land changed hands

Answer 4

10 million landlords

40% land changed hands

Question 5

how could communists claim peasant- led revolution

Answer 5

making villagers carry out ‘speak-bitterness’ meetings and killings

Question 6

what were MATs

Answer 6

1951. 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

Question 7

when and what were APCs?

Answer 7

1952. MATs encouraged to form APCs of 40-50 families

land was pooled but those with large holdings could keep some for themselves

Question 8

why and when did mao first call for slow down

Answer 8

1953 as rushed formation of APCs caused many to go into debt

Question 9

what happened in 1954 that caused mao to change his agricultural policies

Answer 9

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

Question 10

what was maos agricultural policy in 1955

Answer 10

“stop, contract and develop” halted collectivisation for 18 months but only lasted 6 months

Question 11

end of 1955 numbers (collectivisation)

Answer 11

3% peasants farmed as individuals

17 million households in APCs in july 1955, 75 million by January 1956

Question 12

when and what were HPCs?

Answer 12

1955 onwards

groups of APCs 200-300 households. work points allocated according to labour in HPCs

Question 13

how was collectivisation a success ideologically

Answer 13

state owned the means of food production

Question 14

how was collectivisation a success and failure politically

Answer 14

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

Question 15

how was collectivisation a failure economically

Answer 15

food production insufficient for industrial workforce

3.8%increase per annum in food production during first five year plan (1953-57)

Question 16

why was the system of communes introduced

Answer 16

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

Question 17

when was the great leap forward announced

Answer 17

may 1958

Question 18

what was used to describe advancing agriculture and industry at the same rate

Answer 18

walking on two legs

Question 19

over 2 years how many collectives merged

Answer 19

1958-60

750,000 collectives merged into 26,000 communes containing a total of 120 million households

Question 20

what was abolished under communes

Answer 20

private farming. villagers had no choice they had to surrender all land and possessions

Question 21

what were communes supposed to provide

Answer 21

canteens and dormitories (couples could only sleep together on arranged visits)
education, health care and childcare

Question 22

what did management teams do

Answer 22

divided peasants up into production brigades and allocated them jobs

Question 23

how much sleep did mao think was acceptable on communes

Answer 23

6 hours every 2 days

Question 24

what was the military dimension of communes

Answer 24

everyone aged 15-50 had to be militia members and trained with weapons periodically

Question 25

when was lysenkoism made a policy

Answer 25

1958

Question 26

examples of bad Lysenko schemes

Answer 26

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

Question 27

when was there a great famine?

Answer 27

1958-62 | great leap forward, second 5 year plan

Question 28

when was the lushan conference

Answer 28

july 1959

Question 29

what did peng dehuai do at the lushan conference

Answer 29

wrote letter outlining concerns which mao published and sacked him as a result, replacing him with lin biao

Question 30

how many died in the great famine (1958 - 62)

Answer 30

anywhere between 30-50 million

Question 31

effect of great famine (1958 - 62) on Tibet

Answer 31

1/4 population wiped out. | government worsened situation by making them plant unsuited crops, intended to destroy Tibetan identity

Question 32

effects of great famine (1958 - 62)

Answer 32

husbands sold wives, parents sold kids for food prostitution and banditry reappeared reports of cannibalism

Question 33

what did mao admit to his doctor

Answer 33

he had no idea how communes should work in practiced and blindly accepted lysenkoism

Question 34

reason for great famine (mao wanting too much reason)

Answer 34

mao wanted peasants to work on food production, backyard furnaces, water conservancy projects and engineering projectsat the same time. he also assumed communes would somehow increase the amount of grain being farmed

Question 35

reason for great famine (fear and peasants reason)

Answer 35

party cadres were too afraid of reporting failures due to climate of fear created from anti-rightist campaign peasants were unmotivated because no matter how hard they worked there was the same amount of food in commune canteens

Question 36

reason for great famine (mao not giving a damn reason and evidence of this)

Answer 36

mao viewed peasants as expendable and valued convincing the world that Chinese-communism was a success was more valuable than their lives evident as despite famine, china continued to export food

Question 37

what happened in 1960 that did not help the famine

Answer 37

there was a severe drought followed by severe flooding

Question 38

what did mao do in 1962 to help famine

Answer 38

asked president liu and general secretary deng to restore food production

Question 39

when and what did liu and deng do to restore food production

Answer 39

1962-65 encouraged restoring local markets allowed peasants to have private plots broke up communes forced 25 million city dwellers to move to the countryside imported grain from Canada, Australia and even USA

Question 40

when was grain harvest back to levels of 1957

Answer 40

1965. | imports from other countries remained into 1970s

Question 41

why wasn't mao completely happy with deng and liu in agriculture

Answer 41

thought they were going to used their popularity to overthrow him

Question 42

when was the first 5 year plan

Answer 42

1953-57

Question 43

by 1951 what was the inflation rate

Answer 43

15% | vs 1000% in 1949

Question 44

when was the sino-soviet treaty and what did it do

Answer 44

1945 had soviet advisers help china run a communist country over 10,000 technicians were sent from Russia but china had to pay their high wages

Question 45

how much did Russia lend china

Answer 45

$300 million but this loan had to be paid back with interest

Question 46

how were targets set in first 5 year plan (1953 - 57)

Answer 46

according to economic planners, not supply and demand. prioritised heavy industry and saw consumer goods as less important

Question 47

when did private ownership end

Answer 47

1956

Question 48

what was the annual growth rate during the first 5 year plan (1953 - 57)

Answer 48

9%

Question 49

how did city population increase during the first 5 year plan (1953 - 57)

Answer 49

57 million in cities in 1949 | 100 million by 1957

Question 50

successes of first 5 year plan (1953 - 57)

Answer 50

urban living standards improved in terms of job security and wages

Question 51

failures of first 5 year plan (1953 - 57)

Answer 51

city people unable to change job or travel quantity over quality caused problems exposed low literacy and skill levels of Chinese people (less than half kids under 16 where in full time education) peasants suffered as food was given to cities and used to pay back russia

Question 52

when was the second 5 year plan

Answer 52

1958-62

Question 53

why did mao launch second plan without soviet model (1958 - 62)

Answer 53

wanted china to be on the Chinese road opposed to the soviet road modernising agriculture would free up peasants fto work on industrial growth mao was overconfident after collectivisation

Question 54

what was the organisational structure of the second plan (1958 - 62)

Answer 54

organisational details were left to initiative of local cadres decentralised power and more freedom was given to local officials to harness the energy of the masses

Question 55

why were backyard furnaces introduced

Answer 55

started in 1958 (GLF) to meet increasing targets for steel | national movement of peasants melting down any metal they could find

Question 56

effects of the backyard furnaces | statistics and impact on society

Answer 56

September 1958 14% of steel came from furnaces, by October 49% came from these furnaces at peak estimated 1/4 of the population abandoned activities to get involved schools shut so kids could keep furnaces going large parts of woodland destroyed for fuel

Question 57

what was realised about furnaces and when that made them useless

Answer 57

spring 1959 realised temperature was not hot enough so none of the steel produced could be used as it was to brittle

Question 58

why was backyard furnace scheme not abandoned

Answer 58

to prevent them from losing face

Question 59

what were state owned enterprises?

Answer 59

all enterprises were nationalised. they had their wages, targets and prices set by the state. no incentive for people to work

Question 60

example of failed project of second 5 year plan

Answer 60

the three gate gorge dam. it had to be rebuilt within a year. such a failure that mao prevented foreign visitors from seeing it

Question 61

what was maos criteria for success of these projects

Answer 61

tonnage of soil moved

Question 62

example of successful project of second 5 year plan (1958-62)

Answer 62

Tiananmen square in Beijing

Question 63

failures of second 5 year plan (1958-62)

Answer 63

by 1962 producing 1/2 heavy industry goods and 3/4 light industry good of 1958 sacrificed quality for quantity damaged reputation of china as trader inadequate planning as mao thought mass deployment of man power would make up for this

Question 64

was the second five year plan continued after the lushan conference

Answer 64

yes even though mao showed signs of moderating aspects. peng sacked for complaining so no one addressed failures

Question 65

when was the third five year plan

Answer 65

1962-65

Question 66

who were in charge of the third five year plan (1962 - 65)

Answer 66

deng Xiaoping and liu shaoqi

Question 67

what was done under third five year plan (1962 - 65)

Answer 67

communes broken up power centralised with targets set and revised every year inefficient projects from GLF shut down set realistic targets for steel and coal relaxed attacks on rightists

Question 68

what 'success' happened in 1964

Answer 68

china exploded their own atomic bomb

Question 69

what happened in the conference of January 1962

Answer 69

liu implied mao should take some blame for failures. dangerous but he knew he had the approval of the meeting. mao took some blame as party secretary but refused to take nay personal blame. mao then withdrew from public life and left deng and liu in charge

Question 70

what did mao think of deng and lius reforms

Answer 70

welcomed successes but thought of it as dangerous revisionism

Question 71

how did reforms cause political power struggle?

Answer 71

mao wanted to continue revolution but deng and liu knew ideological concessions had to be made to restore economy. whilst they outwardly agreed with mao and criticised rural capitalism, they made no attempt to prevent farmers owning private plots of selling their produce for profit.

Question 72

when was the Sino-soviet split

Answer 72

1960