Unit 2: Why did Mao launch the Great Leap Forward? Flashcards
In February 1958, the responsibility for economic planning had been moved from the state to the party.
What did this cause?
Instead of planners setting targets for specific industrial sectors to meet, they were left to the initiative of local cadres.
Targets were constantly raised by Mao or by keen officials trying to create a good impression.
What were the economic reasons for launching the great leap forward?
The speed in which farming had been collectivised and the encouraging early signs from the people’s communes seemed to indicate that agriculture was progressing rapidly by 1958 which encouraged Mao to accelerate the demands in industry.
But industry was not yet producing large amounts of consumer goods and the state could not afford to pay generous prices for food.
There was a debate between conservatives and radicals:
~ Conservatives advocated a system of rewarding high food producers with material incentives.
~ Radicals called for the punishment against low producers.
What were the personal reasons of Mao for launching the great leap forward?
Mao’s was highly confident because collectivisation had been achieved more rapidly than expected
There had been an impressive burst of activity on water Conservancy schemes during the winter of 1957 to 1958.
Anxious to prove their credentials, local cadres were eager to demonstrate their revolutionary vigour which helped convince Mao that more ambitious schemes would be possible.
What were the political reasons for launching the great leap forward?
Mao was determined to show the Soviet Union that he could act independently of them.
By moving from socialism to communism without following the Russian model, Mao hoped to demonstrate his credentials as the next leader of the communist world: the great leap forward would do just that.
What was the decentralisation of economic activity in the great leap forward?
It gave more freedom to the cadres to direct the masses so China could advance faster.
What was the backyard furnace campaign?
It urged every family to construct their own backyard furnace to melt down their metal objects to produce steel.
This was to meet the new steel target for 1958 of 10.7 mill tonnes.
What percent of China’s steel came from local furnaces?
49% in October 1958: This campaign was so popular that it turned the night sky red by the fires of so many kilns.
What were the negative impacts of the backyard furnace campaign?
Ecological damage - woodland destroyed to supply fuel for the furnaces which led to faster soil erosion and worse flooding.
Economical damage
Put a strain on food production, peasants had to be deployed into shock brigades in order to get in the harvest.
What were state-owned enterprises SOE?
The enterprises that had been nationalised in 1956.
What did state-owned enterprises bring to workers and employers?
Workers were guaranteed jobs and wages, as well as certain medical and educational benefits
Inefficient because it removed incentives to work harder and brought demotivation.
Why did Mao see the population of China, China’s main asset?
The large population could achieve the desired results without needing access to advanced machinery.
What was the Three Gate Gorge Dam?
It was designed to control the flow of the Yangtze river and reduce the damage caused by silt deposits.
What did the new irrigation systems cause?
caused disruption to the existing drainage patterns which led to an increase in salinisation, which reduced the productivity of the land.
Lots of lives lost
labour taken away from farming
Some of the small projects were relatively successful
What were the failures of the second five year plan?
Government officials wanted to advance their careers so they told Mao that his policies would achieve unheard of economic improvements to impress him. For example, in January 1958, the Minister of Metallurgy said the steel production would reach 20 million tonnes by 1962.
The steel produced in backyard furnaces were of extremely poor quality and was useless; Much of taken away and buried.
Many factories closed or reduced their production because of the shortage of raw materials. By 1962, industrial production had declined by 40% from the 1958-59 level.
What was the aim of the Lushan Conference?
To analyse the events of 1958 and to propose corrections to the Great Leap forward.
