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Leadership in the PRC + Economic Developments - Coggle Diagram
Leadership in the PRC + Economic Developments
Mao's position in 1962
Liu Shaoqi, Peng Zhen, Chen Yun promoted pragmatic, less ideological economic recovery.
Mao’s withdrawal:
Withdrew from Politburo meetings since Jan 1958, gave up Chairmanship of the PRC but remained CCP Chairman.
Still revered as the “Great Helmsman,” protected from open criticism (Peng Dehuai’s 1959 purge ensured this).
Response: Focused on ideolgical writings attacking Krushchev revisionism
Increasing paranoia and doubts about Liu’s loyalty; believed Liu and Deng were challenging his position.
7,000 Cadre Conference (Jan) 1962 + two more in Aug & Sept 1962 examined the GLF failure.
Moved from Beijing (political hub of PRC) to Shanghai
Hai Rui dismissed from office play- unfair treatment of Peng Dehaui
Supports + Opponents
Supporters
Lin Bao
Civil War veteran, replaced Peng Dehuai (1959) as Defence Minister.
Strengthened PLA’s political role; officials held both political + military positions.
Jiang Qing + Shanghai Radicals
Early 1960s: Return to traditional art → condemned as revisionist.
Mao’s wife pushed for a Cultural Revolution in the arts.
Formed alliance with Shanghai radicals → Gang of Four (Jiang Qing, Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, Wang Hongwen).
Targeted “revisionist” cultural figures and moderates in the Party.
Wu Han’s play “Hai Rui Dismissed from Office” attacked pretext for purges.
Lin Biao supported Jiang: ordered PLA to “root out anti-socialist weeds.”
The campaign expanded → purge of the “Group of Five” (April 1966).
Opponents
Mao wanted to weaken opponents (Liu, Deng, Zhou) but had to act subtly their pragmatic policies were success and pop
Opportunity arose with the play Hai Rui Dismissed from Office (by Wu Han, 1961).
Story of a loyal Ming official dismissed for criticising the Emperor → parallels Peng Dehuai’s criticism of Mao during GLF.
Initially praised by Mao, but by 1965 he used it to attack his rivals indirectly.
Yao Wenyuan (Shanghai radical) published a negative review condemning the play as anti-socialist.
Wu Han → deputy mayor of Beijing, close to Peng Zhen, an ally of Liu and Deng.
Peng Zhen defended Wu Han, but both were soon forced to resign → branded as right-wing revisionists.
Result: Mao eliminated two key allies of the pragmatists, leaving Liu and Deng isolated and paving the way for the Cultural Revolution.
Cult of Mao
Little Red Book (1964):
“Quotations from Chairman Mao”, compiled by Lin Biao.
Mandatory reading for PLA recruits; spread Mao’s teachings (self-sacrifice, struggle, self-reliance).
Reinforced PLA’s loyalty to Mao → boosted Lin Biao’s power.
750 million copies distributed; core of education, workplaces, and propaganda.
Public figure worship → “Mao as source of all truth.”
Mao face decorated all workplaces
[65 million copies of Quotations of Chairman Mao distributed
Policies of Liu + Deng
3rd 5 year plan (Chen Yun)
Return to centralised control – state planning re-established; production targets reviewed annually.
Experts reinstated and financial incentives used to motivate workers.
25,000 of inefficient GLF projects cancelled; steel and coal targets made realistic.
Focus on quality, not inflated output figures.
Industrial reform:
Technical experts and intellectuals rehabilitated after earlier purges.
Light industry prioritised to meet consumer needs.
Focus on tools, carts, boats; light industry (e.g., clothes, furniture) grew 27% annually (1962–65).
Fewer but larger economic projects were developed with
stronger central State control, for example the oil fields at Daqing.
Pragmatic ideologly Deng made a famous speech which
stated ‘whether the cat is black or white, it is a good cat as long as it catches mice’.
Recovery
Urban communes dismantled + rural
communes subdivided into natural units, often centred around 1 villages.
Some areas returned to private farming, giving peasants greater incentive + profitability
Private plots became vital — by mid-1960s they produced ⅓ of peasant income.
Emergency aid (fertilisers, insecticides, farm tools) sent to rural areas.
Labour camp prisoners tasked with producing basic utensils to replace those destroyed during the GLF.
Grain imports from USA, Canada, and Australia in 1961–62 helped ease shortages.
Results
By 1965, agricultural output had recovered to 1957 levels.
Light industry grew 27% annually, heavy industry by 17%.
Consumer goods production doubled from 1957 levels.
The laogai labour camps contributed to small-scale industrial work
1960 budget deficit (8m yuan) → surplus (1m yuan) by 1962.
Failures + Limits
Food production increased but due to growing Chinese population, millions of grains imported from West
Lack of soviet support for success- infleunced expensive relocation of Chinese industries to west
Focus on Chinese economy remained on countryside + peasants- 20 million urban workers sent to countryside- additional labour
Propaganda continued to have major role
Political developments
7000 Cadres Conference (Jan 1962):
Mao attempted to warn against “revisionism” and loss of revolutionary zeal.
Liu Shaoqi boldly implied Mao shared blame for the GLF disaster.
Mao accepted responsibility as chairman, but not personally — his first real political setback.
Power effectively shifted to Liu, Deng, and Zhou Enlai.
Lin Bao supported Mao, remaining loyal
Mass mobilisation was replaced by planning and expertise by the gov.
Private trade and market mechanisms tolerated to incentivise productivity.
Foreign policy: more conciliatory towards USSR and USA to avoid costly confrontation.
Mao's reaction
Mao, feeling sidelined, re-emerged in summer 1962 to attack “revisionism.”
Warned: “Will China take the socialist road or the capitalist road?”
Launched the slogan: “Oppose Revisionism, Prevent Revisionism at Home.”
His fears of capitalist restoration and bureaucratisation set the stage for the Cultural Revolution.
Liu, Deng, Chen agreed to a rectification campaign against bureaucracy/corruption.
Power struggle