Mao Policies Flashcards
Agrarian Land Reform
1950
- 200 mil acres redistributed to 75 mil peasants
- By 1953, 90% of agricultural land had changed holdings
- Jack Grey- ‘‘Greatest act of expropriation in human history’’
Evidence of moderation: most middle and lower class peasants kept land to maintain crop yield
What were speak bitterness meetings?
Suppression of counter-revolutionaries
1950
Aim:
- strengthen state control of regional layers of bureacracy
- Mobilize popular support
- Start of Korean war in 1950 led to harsher punishment of internal enemies
Targets:
- GMD
- Bandits, Gangs
Results:
- Executions, Arrest, Labour Camps
- Wrongly convicted many
Three-Anti Campaign
Aim: punish corrupt local leaders
1951
Targets:
CCP
GMD
Bureaucrats
Three antis imposed were:
- corruption
- waste
- bureaucracy
Results:
Mao ‘‘must execute 1k to tens of thousands of embezzlers
Solidify rigid socialist political structure
Weaken remaining capitalist
Five Anti Campaign
1952
Aim: Destroy enemies, especially capitalist class
5 Antis:
- bribery
- theft of state property
- tax evasion
- cheating on government documents
- stealing state economic info
Result:
- Commoners [20k] and trained workers asked to spy on bussiness owners
- Employers notify government of suspicious activity
- End of 1953-> 450,000 cases, 340,000 found guilty
- Private bussiness collapse, psycological distress for entrepeneurs
- Enriched government, suppressed opponents
Shifting tone at this era?
Mass movements- emphasis shifting from reassurance to tightening control
Korean War- increase isolation and tension- tendency for paranoia, search for traitors
Goal of First Five Year plan
1952- 1957
Goal: develop heavy industry [steel, coal, petrochemicals, infrastructure]
Follow Soviet Model
Challenges of First Five Year Plan
Cost of Korean War
US Embargo 1053
Overall Lack of funds
SUccesses of First Five Year Plan
People were eager to work ->Exceed planned output of steel of 4.1 million in 1957 by more than 1 million tonnes
Life expectancy increased
Number of children in primary school increased
Coal output doubled from 1952-1957
Urban housing standard grew, consumption and wages increased
100 Flowers Campaign
1956
What was the 100 Flowers Campaign
'’Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend’’
Why: recitfy discontent, progress in art, science, literature
- Encouraged criticism by lifting restrictions on people
- Hesitant at first, by SPring 1957 there were articles, rallies, letters demanding freedom
and democracy
Fierce repression
Mao halted campaign- forced officials to retract statements and go through re-education
Anti Rightist Campaign- 300,000- 600,000 intellectuals and CCP lost jobs and- condemmed as rightists including author Deng
Collectivization and Cooperatives
1951- 958 Redistributed land taken back and collectivized for GLF
In the beginning many families combined their land- benefits from the state like cheaper grain prices
This system increased production
State noticed this- Forcibly Collectivized all rurul peasants 1959
- Lived in communes seperate from family
- Long hours, no individual benefits- no motivation
- Pressure for higher production
- No social mobility- passports for communes
Results of forced collecitvization?
1958- 1960, grain production fell from 200 to 143 m tonnes and meat from 4- 1 metric tonnes
Terrified officials reported huge increased- Famine- Mao resigned 1959
Bad policies- winter wheat in boggy frozen ground, planting seeds too close, killing sparrows
Great Leap Forward
1958- 1962
Social and economic campaign to turn China from agrarian society to socialist society
Overtake economic achievements of Britain in 15 years ‘‘Overtake England and catch up to America’’
Economic Development prioritized over well-being of people
Collectivization- unreasonable production targets- inflation- famine 20-40 million dead
Backyard Steel Production
Lysenko Planting- severed agricultural setbacks
Mass-collectivization- low morale, workers exploited to meet goals
Credit collecitves-
Restricted private economic opportunities for rich peasants, encourgaged cooperatives
Second FYP- `1958-1962
Agriculture fell almost 40%
Heavy industry fell 65%
Industrial outputhalved
Second Five Year Plan
1958- 1962
