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The Great Leap Forward (Why it failed? (Natural disasters - worst drought…
The Great Leap Forward
Reasons
Mao wanted another revolution after 10 years of Communism, mainly to change the way agriculture and industry were being run (believed it was being run by a group of middle class 'experts' similar to the mandarins.
The strength of the huge population was no being harnessed and there were significant levels of unemployment. Therefore, Mao aimed to achieve the plan through mass mobilisation to combat both issues. Employment would be found in both large irrigation and flood control projects for the peasants as well as smaller scale industries.
Mao was determined to turn China into an industrial power, claiming that within 15 years China could overtake Britain in the production of Steel and the USA within the next 20-30 years
Key Features
Propaganda
Posters, slogans and newspaper articles were everywhere promoting mass enthusiasm and long working hours in all conditions for the good of the people.
In the communes motivational speeches and music was played to encourage peasants to work harder and beat targets.
Industry
New industries were set up, in cities and in the countryside to solve unemployment.
Small communal factories were set up to produce cement, ball bearing and fertilisers
Targets set grew rapidly and instigated frenzy, most were completely unrealistic and founded on unsound principles. Mao's confidence forced people to attempt to produce more when actually it failed.
Communes / Agriculture
People were organised into huge communes, 24,000 of them with an avg. population of 30,000.
By the end of 1958, everyone was organised into 26,578 communes, housing all 700million of the population.
Everything was communal, nothing was the property of the peasants, not even a small plot of land.
Family life was attacked, and there were no money incentives as everyone received the same wage. Therefore, most didn't work as hard as they should've.
Results
Industry
Failed because the small factories were inefficient and an ineffective way to promote industry. The manufacturing processes were founded on unsound principles whilst the processes were lacking the sophisticated technology to be effective.
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Officials urged people to work harder and faster, by 1960 the population were exhausted.
Agriculture
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Flood and drought in two provinces, bad weather severely damaged crops and reduced the yield by 144MILLION tonnes in 1960.
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Why it failed?
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Mao fell out with Khrushchev, therefore they no longer had soviet technology or expertise to help the, achieve the targets.
Main failures lay with Mao, his hurry and determination for a revolution meant the practical problems were not considered.
Nonsensical - they had no capital investment, technology or planning. He refused to let these in for fear of them creating an expertise class and him losing control of the revolution.
The targets set were insane and lead to crop failure and competition between the communes. Also falsified figures made the government believe they had significantly more food than they did.