Theme 2 - Key evidence

Question 1

Sino-Soviet Mutual Assistance Pact

Answer 1

-Feb 1950: 11,000 Russian industrial experts sent to China + loan of $300m over 5 years

Question 2

Agrarian Reform Law

Answer 2

-1950: land to the tiller: landlords’ land was redistributed to peasants
-By 1952, 43% of land redistributed to 60% of population
-Rural production increased 15% per annum
-However, 1-2m landlords killed

Question 3

Mutual Aid Teams (MATs)

Answer 3

• 1951, gradual collectivisation to avoid famine
  -MATs = 10 or fewer households + pooling of resources and labour
  -Popular: by 1952 40% of peasant households belonged to a MAT

Question 4

Agricultural Producers Co-operatives (APCs)

Answer 4

-1953 (voluntary): land became single unit + points system introduced
-30-50 households but peasants didn’t want to share newly acquired land, 14% joined APCs
-1953-4, agricultural production rose <2%
-Mao pushed APCs despite gradualists’ hesitation: Dec 1955, 63.3% of peasant households were part of APCs
-Private ownership abolished. By end of 1956, 96% of peasants were in APCs

Question 5

Beginning of communes

Answer 5

-Reasons for launch: Grain production rose only 1% in 1957, Mao thought communes would boost production + build socialism
-70% of party were peasants so grain requisitioning not done in order to keep support
-July 1958, ‘Sputnik commune’ becomes 1st commune
-By the end of 1958, 740,000 co-operatives were reorganised into 26,000 communes +99% of peasants in communes
-Approx 5500 households large + included agriculture and industry (walking on 2 legs)

Question 6

communal living - vision vs reality

Answer 6

-Mess halls + creches (daycares) would relieve women of domestic duties so ‘Iron women’ join men in fields and factories
-90% of women worked in agriculture 1958-9
-Made it easier for CCP to target peasants with propaganda
-All able bodied people 15-50 served in commune militia
-Tore apart families, parents weren’t able to see there children for weeks sometimes

Question 7

4 pests campaign

Answer 7

-Production had not rised enough so Mao blamed the 4 pests: sparrows, rats, flies + mosquitoes
-Crops rotted in fields while peasants chased 4 pests + Less sparrows meant more caterpillars that ate the grain
-Lysenkoism adopted as agricultural policy which reduced production too
-Communes and GLF simultaneous + led to greatest man made famine in history killing 30-60m

Question 8

Launch of 1st Five Year Plan

Answer 8

-1952-6, aimed to industrialise, make china autarkic (self-suffiecient) + high levels of grain procurement
-Workers organised into danwei (work units) which controlled access to welfare support and permits for marriage + working class grew from 6-10m
-Private sector industry had been abolished in 1956

Question 9

Successed of 1st 5YP

Answer 9

-Investment in industrial projects created jobs: new steel centre at Anshan attracted 35,000 new workers. By 1957, it was producing 2/3 of China’s steel
-Railways improved allowing the PLA to move around China
-Annual growth rate averaged 16%
-Industrial output grew 15.5% per year (above target)
-Heavy industrial output nearly tripled

Question 10

Failures of 1st FYP

Answer 10

-Relied on Soviet loans (not self-sufficient)
-Crops sold at artificially low prices to keep food costs low which reduced peasant income
-Lack of co-operation between industries created bottlenecks in production
-Investment in healthcare + education remained low, disproportionaltely impacted rural areas

Question 11

Launch of 2nd FYP (Great Leap Forward)

Answer 11

-1958-62
-Mao wanted China to be leading communist country in Asia
-1957: Khrushchev made speech claiming the USSR would overtake US in industry by 1980. Mao didn’t want to be outdone so claimed China would overtake Britain in 15 years
-USSR was winning space race with launch of Sputnik in 1957 which made Mao optimistic

Question 12

Successes of GLF

Answer 12

-Irrigation schemes made land more fertile
-Communes were an ideological success

Question 13

Failures of GLF

Answer 13

-Communes became very competitive with cadres claiming high levels of production leading to gov taking large amount and raising targets = famine (30-60m died)
-Mao believed mass mobilisation could overcome ostacles, eg: he raised the steel production from 6m tonnes to 11m
-Backyard furnaces + 4 pests campaign distracted peasants from farming, crops left to rot
-By 1962, industrial production had declined by 40%
-Typhoons caused flooding, 60% of farmland affected by either floods or drought causing 2m deaths

Question 14

Anti-Rightist Campaign

Answer 14

-Hundred flowers campaign (May 1956) and subsequent Anti-Rightist campaign meanteconomic experts had been purged
-1959 Lushan Conference: Peng Dehuai was removed as leader of PLA for raising the issue of exaggerated reporting.

Question 15

Impacts of GLF

Answer 15

-Rural death rate rose 11.1-28.7 per 1000 by 1960
-Kindergartens and canteens collapsed placing domestic burden back on women + cases of children being stolen for cannibalism
-Prostitution increased in order to make money for food
-Mao withdrew from day to day politics being replaced by Liu and Deng
-Jan 1962: Liu said problems were 30% natural disasters and 70% man-made disasters (criticising Mao)

Question 16

Liu + Deng’s policies

Answer 16

-Communes scaled back and private plots introduced = incentive. By mid-60s, private production made up 1/3 of peasants’ income
-Chemical fertilisers, farm tools + food sent as aid to rural areas. By 1965, agricultural production had recovered to 1957 levels
-Industry emphasised profitability so managers + experts given more control
-Labour camps used to make utensils to replace those that had been melted in backyard furnaces
-Consumer goods double 1957 levels