Peoples Republic of China (1949-1963)
Economy
Agriculture
Social Reforms
Political Reforms
Consolidating Control
1949 PRC Established
Moa's early Reforms
1st 5 Year Plan-1952-57
2nd 5 Year Plan-1958-1957
'Great Leap Forward"
Great Famine
Industry
1950 agrarian Reform Law
In December 1952 Mao released his first 5 year plan It consisted of
1952 Mutual aid Teams
Consists of 10 or more households
1953 Agricultural Produces Cooperates
The Land was still owned by the peasants but was run by APC's.so they could get more animals and equipment
It was encouraged by Mao because he believed it would increase production of food
The APC's were managed centrally and were told to grow particular things
1955 Collectives + Communes
2000-3000 households
NO Private ownership
All Land and Equipment were owned by the Collectives
Mao believed that the peasants were harming his effort to industrialise China.
By the end of 1958 700 million people had been placed in Collectives
It was a Taking land from the Land lords and giving it to the peasents
1 Million landlords were beaten
Peasants Now Support Moa even More
the Great Famine 1958-62
The Results of Collectivisation- Factors that contributed
As many pesants were forced into collectivisation there was a huge decline of effort which therefore led to a huge decline in production which led to a famine
No Incentives
The peasants no longer had a reason to produce more food than would meet there immediate needs
They could not sell there extra food for profit
The Four Pests Campaign (Noise)
Mao launched a campaign to get rid of sparrows flies and mosquitoes and rats because they ate the crop
The peasants were encouraged to make as much noise as possible to scare the birds
This led to the number of caterpillars increasing because no birds were there to eat them, this led to more crop being eaten
Political Pressures
Mao believed the poor scientific claims of the Soviet scientists who said they developed methods to increase grain production. by 16 times the traditional methods
Peasants who tried to use traditional methods were denounced by communists officials as enemies of the state
Fear
Communists officials did not dare speak out about the failures of production
They lied about the production to try impress Moa
Natural Causes
There was a drought in the north which effected the flooding and harvesting in the south
Deaths
the famine caused 50million deaths
Parents sold children and husbands sold wives to get food
Some people reverted to cannibalism
It stated in 1953 and went on till 1957
China was a land rich in natural resources that could be exploited
Rapid Expansion of Coal, iron, steel and petroleum
Some things that came out was the Rail bridge over the Yangzi River
What happened
Coal Production doubles
Electric power production increased by three times its previous level
Steel production increased by four times the previous level
The Second 5 Year Plan Or Known as The Great Leap Forward (1958)
At the 8th party congress in May 1958 Lui Shaoqi called upon the people to change China overnight
Mao was enthusiastic and said that in 15 years China would overtake Britain as an industrial power
Reasons for the Great Leap
Mao desired to continue the industrial progress started in the first 5 year plan
Mao wanted to bring an end on China's dependence of the Soviet Union to develop their industry
Mao's enthusiasm and faith that anything could be done if the will to succeed existed
The belief the socialism was superior to capitalism driven by Soviet achievements
The collectivisation of agriculture would provide sufficient food to feed the expanding work force and surplus to sell abroad and buy machinery
Key Features of The Great Leap Forward
The involvement of the whole population to achieve targets
Backyard furnaces- the whole of China was involved in the campaign to produce steel as many as 600,000 furnaces were set up in backyards.
Privately owned businesses were taken over by the state this allowed the CCP to control what was produced by the industries
Massive Projects- Giant bridges, canals and dams were constructed. The Chinese newspaper praised the communist achievements