Topic 13 - The Great Leap Forward and The Great Famine Flashcards
What was the GLF goal and when was it proclaimed?
In the 1958 New Year’s editorial of the People’s Daily, the Chinese Communist Party proclaimed the GLF goal of surpassing the United Kingdom in industrial production in 15 years and the United States in 20–30 years.
When was the Great Leap Famine?
1959 - 1962
What is the range of deaths during The Great Leap Famine? Reference the bounds.
Lower bound - 16.5 million (Coale, 1981)
Upper bound - 30 million (Banister, 1987)
Where does the TGF rank in terms of absolute human loss all time?
It is the largest
Why was the severity of the TGF relatively unknown within China?
The government prohibited scholarly inquiries into the subject
Why can natural disaster not be fully blamed for the TGF?
Similar weather was seen in the past without the same catastrophic effects
How did food availability contribute to the TGF?
China exported millions of tons of grain, mainly as payments for machinery and equipment for the GLF. Famine and death were the worst in grain-producing provinces while grain-importing/urban areas were not as affected.
What role did provincial leaders play in the famine?
Some of these leaders were overzealous and committed to submitted too much grain while there was starvation in their own areas
Between food entitlement and the level of food availability, which was the more important factor in affecting the famine statistically? State the statistics.
The population. The effect on excess death rate from a given change in food entitlement is about 72% bigger than from the same percentage change in food availability.
Why were some provincial leaders so overzealous?
Career incentives (Kung and Chen, 2011)
Why was grain procurement excessive during the GLF?
Over-optimistic expectations on collectivization and the increase of grain output
What were the 2 main causes of the Great Leap Famine?
1) Food availability decline
2) Distribution failure - Urban were more able to get food
Why did food availability decline during the GLF?
- Lower factor input (land, labour, capital) as these were now focused on heavy industry
- Lower productivity (lower efficiency due to collectivisation so there was no incentive)
- Natural disaster
When was the Great Leap Forward?
1958-61
What was agricultural collectivisation and when did this campaign begin?
This is collective labour, resources and income pooling in rural areas (In China’s case). It has been happening since 1952.
