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
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
what were HPCs
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
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
when was the lushan conference
july 1959
what did peng dehuai do at the lushan conference
wrote letter outlining concerns which mao published and sacked him as a result, replacing him with lin biao
how many died in the great famine
anywhere between 30-50 million
effect of great famine on Tibet
1/4 population wiped out.
government worsened situation by making them plant unsuited crops, intended to destroy Tibetan identity
effects of great famine
husbands sold wives, parents sold kids for food
prostitution and banditry reappeared
reports of cannibalism
what did mao admit to his doctor
he had no idea how communes should work in practiced and blindly accepted lysenkoism
reason for great famine (mao wanting too much reason)
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
reason for great famine (fear and peasants reason)
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
reason for great famine (mao not giving a damn reason and evidence of this)
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
what happened in 1960 that did not help the famine
there was a severe drought followed by severe flooding
what did mao do in 1962 to help famine
asked president liu and general secretary deng to restore food production
what did liu and deng do to restore food production
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
when was grain harvest back to levels of 1957
1965.
imports from other countries remained into 1970s
why wasn’t mao completely happy with deng and liu in agriculture
thought they were going to used their popularity to overthrow him
when was the first 5 year plan
1952-56
by 1951 what was the inflation rate
15%
when was the sino-soviet treaty and what did it do
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
how much did Russia lend china
$300 million but this loan had to be paid back with interest
how were targets set in first 5 year plan
according to economic planners, not supply and demand. prioritised heavy industry and saw consumer goods as less important
when did private ownership end
1956
what was the annual growth rate during the first 5 year plan
9%
how did city population increase during the first 5 year plan
57 million in cities in 1949
100 million by 1957
successes of first 5 year plan
urban living standards improved in terms of job security and wages
failures of first 5 year plan
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
when was the second 5 year plan
1958-62
why did mao launch second plan without soviet model
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
what was the organisational structure of the second plan
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
why were backyard furnaces introduced
started in 1958 (GLF) to meet increasing targets for steel
national movement of peasants melting down any metal they could find
effects of the backyard furnaces
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
what was realised about furnaces and when that made them useless
spring 1959 realised temperature was not hot enough so none of the steel produced could be used as it was to brittle
why was backyard furnace scheme not abandoned
to prevent them from losing face
what were state owned enterprises?
all enterprises were nationalised. they had their wages, targets and prices set by the state. no incentive for people to work
example of failed project of second 5 year plan
the three gate gorge dam. it had to be rebuilt within a year. such a failure that mao prevented foreign visitors from seeing it
what was maos criteria for success of these projects
tonnage of soil moved
example of successful project of second 5 year plan
Tiananmen square in Beijing
failures of second 5 year plan
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
was the second five year plan continued after the lushan conference
yes even though mao showed signs of moderating aspects. peng sacked for complaining so no one addressed failures
when was the third five year plan
1962-65
who were in charge of the third five year plan
deng Xiaoping and liu shaoqi
what was done under third five year plan
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
what ‘success’ happened in 1964
china exploded their own atomic bomb
what happened in the conference of January 1962
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
what did mao think of deng and lius reforms
welcomed successes but thought of it as dangerous revisionism
how did reforms cause political power struggle?
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.
when was the Sino-soviet split
1960
