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HURDDLES FACED IN CHINA DURING 1949 - Coggle Diagram
HURDDLES FACED IN CHINA DURING 1949
POVERTY
The vast majority of the Chinese population was living in extreme poverty.
There was limited access to education, healthcare, and basic necessities like food and clothing.
The Chinese economy was primarily agricultural, with most people working as farmers and having little opportunity for social mobility.
LAND INEQUALITY
Small group of wealthy landlords owned most of the land in China
Poor peasants were often forced to rent land from these landlords
Landlords charged high rent rates, which left many peasants in poverty
Peasants lacked ownership and control over their land
Landlords had power to raise rent or evict peasants at any time
This led to widespread discontent among peasants
Land inequality played a role in supporting the communist revolution.
COLLECTIVIiSATION
During the early years of China's Communist era, the government implemented a policy known as collectivization, which obliged individual peasant had to give up their land and work on collective farms.
Collectivization in China required peasants to give up their land and work on collective farms, which significantly reduced their freedom and power over their own lives and means of subsistence.
Opposition to collectivization by peasants was frequently punished, and some were even put to death.
Collectivization contributed to widespread famine in China in the late 1950s ,as the government's focused on other priorities led to neglect of agricultural production and inability to respond effectively to food shortages.
POLITICALLY WEAK
Years of conflict and violence had split China and damaged the nation's power.
The Nationalist government was weakened by corruption, conflict within it, and an inability to deal with urgent social and economic issues.
China was cut off from foreign trade and investment due to political unrest and ongoing war.
The Chinese Communist Party used this weakness to gain support and establish the People's Republic of China.
Consolidating control and resolving massive hunger and poverty posed difficulties for the developing communist regime.
POPULATION PRESSURE
China's population had grown to over 500 million people by the mid-20th century
The large population put immense pressure on the country's resources and infrastructure
Providing basic necessities like food, housing, and healthcare to the entire population became challenging for the government and people resorted to cannibalsim and murder to feed their extreme hunger.
The government struggled to keep up with the demands of a rapidly growing population.
POLITICAL DESPOTISM
Thousands of people were imprisoned, tortured, and died as a result of its ruthless repression of opposition.The Nationalist government was famous for this.
Under the Nationalists, political repression was used to keep their hold on power and crush any resistance.
The Nationalists persecuted and imprisoned communists, labour activists, and other political rebels.
Many of those who were the targets of political repression were put to death or passed away while being held as a consequence of torture and abuse.
The Nationalists' attack on politics created a culture of fear and distrust among the Chinese people, which fuelled their support for the Communist Party.
LIMITED INDUSTRALIZATION
China's economy was largely based on agriculture and traditional handicrafts, with little investment in modern industry.
China was mostly an agricultural nation before the Communist Revolution, with no substantial industrial growth.
It was difficult for China to modernise and compete with other countries on the world arena because of its lack of industrialisation.
Due to its lack of industrialization, China had a difficult time maintaining its balance of payments since it was so dependent on importing manufactured goods from elsewhere.
Due to the uneven distribution of the advantages of economic progress, China's lack of industrialisation also played a role in the country's pervasive poverty and inequality.
Since the advantages of economic progress were not evenly distributed, China's lack of industrialisation also contributed to widespread poverty and inequality.
NATURAL DISASTERS
Natural disasters in China can result in deaths, damage to infrastructure, and a disruption of the economy.
Disasters can worsen poverty and hunger by causing crop failures( China's economy was largely based on agriculture), food shortages, and other problems.
Disasters can affect a person's mental health for a long time, especially if they cause trauma or the loss of a loved one.
LACK OF UNISON
The Communist Party had internal conflicts amongst leaders who held various ideas, plans, and methods.
These break ups made it hard to create a united party and may have made it less able to take on the Nationalist leadership.
The lack of unity within the party necessitated managing complicated political relationships and making compromises to win over various constituencies.
Despite these difficulties, the Communist Party eventually overcame them and built a significant following among rural peasants and urban workers, which helped them to succeed in creating the People's Republic of China.
INDEBTEDNESS
Before the revolution of 1949, the Chinese economy was severely indebted and had taken out several loans from foreign nations like the United States, Britain, and Japan.
The repayment of these loans put a lot of strain on China's already-struggling economy, which was already suffering from the consequences of war and political unrest.
The Communist Party aspired to reduce dependency of foreign loans and to build the local industry to increase self-sufficiency because they considered the problem of debt as a serious barrier to economic progress.
In order to better manage debt and promote economic growth, the Chinese government nationalised banks after the revolution and put laws in place to limit lending and interest rates.
FAILURE OF THE SOVIET MODEL
Before the revolution, China attempted to imitate the Soviet model of socialism, which included centralised economic planning and state control of agriculture.
The Soviet model, nevertheless, had drawbacks and difficulties, including as inefficiency, corruption, and a lack of innovation.
Leaders of the Chinese Communist Party in the 1940s, such as Mao Zedong, started to doubt the Soviet model's suitability for China's particular circumstances and requirements.
As a result, Mao's idea of revolutionary socialism came into being, emphasising the necessity of organising China's rural people and encouraging independence and local autonomy. The Communist Party's triumph in the 1949 revolution was significantly influenced by the effectiveness of this strategy.
CULTURAL REVOLUTION
Mao Zedong started the cultural revolution to get rid of the Communist Party of potential rivals and spread revolutionary ideas.
Young people were urged by Mao to join Red Guard groups and engage in violent class wars against individuals who were viewed as "bourgeois" or counterrevolutionary.(He basically got young people to protest against the rich farmers and these ruthless young people were against the old weathly landlords ).
Political punishment was frequently practised throughout the Cultural Revolution, historical and cultural artefacts were destroyed, and economic and educational initiatives were disrupted.