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History - Mao's China > Theme Two - Agricultural and Industrial Changes, 1949-65 > Flashcards

Theme Two - Agricultural and Industrial Changes, 1949-65 Flashcards

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1
Q

What were Mao’s aims for his early agricultural changes?

A
  • To increase food supplies
  • Avoid too much exploitation as in USSR
  • Enhance the CCP’s popularity in countryside
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2
Q

When was the Agrarian Land Reform Act introduced?

A

1950

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3
Q

What did the Agrarian Land Reform Act do?

A

Take away the legal protection of landlords so that their land could be seized.

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4
Q

What happened to the landlords during the Agrarian Land Reform?

A

Peasants were ordered to round them up and subject them to struggle sessions. At these sessions, the landlords were often sentenced to death.

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5
Q

What problems did Mao experience when trying to introduce Agrarian Land Reform across the country?

A
  • In the North Land Reform had already begun
  • Landlords were more powerful in the south
  • Land was often owned collectively by “clans” of different classes. As such, the CCP’s rhetoric didn’t have much relevance for them
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6
Q

What percentage of households partook in the Agrarian Land Reform?

A

88%

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7
Q

What percentage of land was redistributed under the Agrarian Land Reform?

A

43%

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8
Q

How much did production grow by a year between the years 1950-52?

A

15%

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9
Q

How many died as a consequence of the Agrarian Land Reform Act?

A

1 - 2 million

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10
Q

What does MAT stand for?

A

Mutual Aid Team

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11
Q

When were MATs introduced?

A

1951

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12
Q

What were MATs?

A

Teams of up to 10 households who shared tools, fertilisers, animals and labour.

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13
Q

How popular were MATs? Why?

A

Very as they helped poorer peasants make a living.

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14
Q

What percentage of peasant households were in MATs by 1952?

A

40%

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16
Q

What does APC stand for?

A

Agricultural Producers’ Cooperatives

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17
Q

What were APCs?

A

Teams of 30-50 households who shared land, equipment and animals.

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18
Q

Who owned the land the APCs worked on?

A

The people, but the Party called the shots and took a share of the produce.

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19
Q

Who was opposed to the APCs?

A
  • Peasants who liked MATs and didn’t want to have to give up their land
  • Rich peasants, who slaughtered their animals to stop the CCP getting their hands on them
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20
Q

What percentage of peasants enrolled to APCs?

A

14%

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21
Q

How much did production rise by between 1953 and 1954?

A

Less than 2%

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22
Q

How much did the Party estimate APCs would raise production by?

A

23%

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23
Q

What did the right of the CCP attribute the failure of the APCs to?

A

A lack of industrialisation. They pointed to Stalin’s attempts to collectivise too quickly which ended in failure.

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24
Q

How did Mao react to the opposition to the APCs in July 1955?

A

He called for an expansion of the programme and for an end to private property.

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25
Q

What percentage of households were in APCs by 1956?

A

80%

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26
Q

What were higher-level APCs?

A

APCs made up of 200-300 households in which the land was nationalised and to which membership was compulsory.

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27
Q

What percentage of households were in higher level APCs by the end of 1956?

A

88%

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28
Q

When were APCs introduced?

A

1953

29
Q

How big was a commune?

A

Around 5,500 households

30
Q

What was the name of the first commune?

A

The Sputnik Commune - named after the Russian satellite.

31
Q

When was the Sputnik Commune launched?

A

July 1958

32
Q

Where was the Sputnik Commune?

A

Henan

33
Q

What was Mao’s vision for the communes?

A

+ Production of products which had previously been scarce i.e. rope

+ Mess halls to provide food for all

+ Crèches and schools for children

+ Happiness Homes for the elderly

34
Q

What was the reality of the communes?

A
  • Poorly organised and staffed crèches
  • Long working hours
  • Mess halls worsened diets and destroyed family meals
  • Production didn’t rise
35
Q

What did Mao blame the commune’s lack of production on?

A

The Four Pests - mosquitoes, sparrows, rats and flies

36
Q

What was Mao’s strategy to remove the 4 Pests?

A

People were to eradicate them completely. Teams armed with drums would chase sparrows to stop them landing until they fell dead out the sky.

37
Q

What was the impact of the 4 Pests Campaign?

A

Without sparrows to hunt them, locust populations grew and they descended on the crops, destroying them completely.

38
Q

What percentage of people were in communes by the end of 1958?

A

99%

39
Q

How did Mao enforce an end to private trade and farming?

A

Every Commune had a militia to stop people from straying from communal living.

40
Q

Who was Trofim Lysenko?

A

An agrobiologist who was supported by the USSR in the 1930s. He created Lysenkoism.

41
Q

What is significant about Lysenkoism?

A

Mao made it official government policy to be implemented in every Commune. This wrecked production.

42
Q

What is an example of a Lysenkoist policy?

A

Planting all seeds in one place or burying crops 10 foot in soil.

43
Q

How did the quota culture lead to the Great Famine?

A

Cadres lied about their production so new, higher targets were continually being set, fields were left to fallow and more food gifts were sent abroad.

44
Q

How many died in the famine?

A

30-50 million

45
Q

What was life like in the famine?

A
  • Attacks on food supplies common. Made punishable by death.
  • Birth rate dropped
  • Young and old die from malnourishment
  • People ate frogs, tree bark and each other
  • Men sold wives as prostitutes
46
Q

What are the arguments in favour of Mao being responsible for the Famine?

A

+ Personally ordered requisitioning and collectivisation

+ Continued to send food abroad during the famine

+ Created atmosphere of terror

47
Q

What are the arguments against Mao being responsible for the Famine?

A
  • Cadres lied about production

- Floods in south and drought in Shangdong

48
Q

Who took over from Mao to save China from the Famine?

A

Liu and Deng

49
Q

What did Liu and Deng replace Walking On Two Legs with?

A

Agriculture as the foundation of the economy

50
Q

What reforms did Liu and Deng bring in?

A

+ Communes downsized

+ Private farming of small plots legalised

+ What to grow and how to grow it left to the peasants

+ Trade at market introduced

51
Q

What was the level of agricultural production in 1965?

A

Back to what the level had been in 1957

52
Q

When was the Mutual Assistance Treaty signed?

A

February 1950

53
Q

How did the USSR assist with the First Five Year Plan?

A

+ Loaned $300 million over five years

+ Sent 11,000 advisors

54
Q

When was the First Five Year Plan?

A

1952 - 1956

55
Q

What was the First Five Year Plan based on?

A

Stalin’s Plan which had helped him win the war.

56
Q

Why did China have few trading partners in 1952?

A

They had closed themselves to the West after the Korean War.

57
Q

What were Mao’s targets for the First Five Year Plan?

A

+ Increase heavy industry

+ Achieve self sufficiency

+ Prepare the PLA for attacks from the West

58
Q

What were the successes of the First Five Year Plan?

A

+ Annual growth of over 9% with most targets smashed

+ Engineering feats e.g. Yangtze bridge

+ Urban population doubled to over 100 million

+ Guaranteed living standards and job security

59
Q

What were the failures of the First Five Year Plan?

A
  • Many factories lied about production or sacrificed quality to meet targets
  • Lack of literacy and basic skills stunted long term growth
  • Lack of co-operation between industries and central planners
60
Q

Why did Mao launch the Great Leap Forward?

A
  • Overtake Britain in 15 years
  • Industrial production had improved by 18.3% a year. Mao wanted the same for agriculture
  • Mao wanted to walk on two legs with General Steel and General Grain
  • Mao believed in the power of people and their knowledge of the land
61
Q

What were the successes of the Great Leo Forward?

A

+ Small scale irrigation projects

+ Raw material production. Oil went from 2.3 million tonnes to 5.3

+ Tiananmen Square was remodelled to be bigger than the Red Square attracting propaganda opportunities

+ Ideological success

62
Q

What were the failures of the GLF?

A
  • Quota culture meant outrageous, unachievable targets
  • Backyard Furnace scheme
  • Factories forced to close due to lack of materials and workforce. By 1962, industrial output 40% of 1958 level
  • Huge projects such as Three Gate Gorge have huge environmental impact
63
Q

What problems did the Backyard Furnace Scheme cause?

A
  • Good quality materials burned to make worse products
  • People stopped going to the fields to tend to furnaces so crops withered
  • Steel production fell from 18.66 million tonnes in 1960 to 6.67 in 1962
64
Q

When was the Lushan Conference?

A

July 1959

65
Q

What position did Peng hold?

A

Defence Minister

66
Q

What did Peng do at the Lushan Conference?

A

He wrote to Mao expressing his concern over the statistics he was being told about the GLF. He had been to the countryside and had seen the devastation that was being caused.

67
Q

How did Mao react to Peng’s letter?

A

He placed Peng under house arrest and replaced him with Lin Biao. He intensified the targets for the GLF.

History - Mao's China (2 decks)

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