Agriculture and Industry 1949-65 Flashcards
why did Mao want to reform agriculture?
- 1949: Mao told the world the “Chinese people had stood up” and they would no longer be the “Sick Man of Asia”, he wanted China to be a modern superpower
- ideological: Mao believed modern industry was needed to create a truly socialist nation so food supplies needed to e increased to feed the growing urban population working in factories
- collectivisation of farmland would bring the creation of true communism because everyone would have to share everything
- Mao’s unorthodox Marxist view that peasants, not workers could be “vanguards of the revolution” as their desperation to escape poverty made them useful reforming agriculture = more support from peasants
how did Mao reform agriculture?
- Agrarian Reform Law
- attack on landlords
- MATs
- APCs
what was the Agrarian Reform Law?
1950: land reform to destroy “gentry landlord” class who exploited the poor peasant renters
- many landlords sentenced to death, land redistributed to the tiller to “set free the rural productive forces”
why was the Agrarian Reform Law problematic?
- in the north: land reform already begun since communists in control, before 1949 and only 10-15 percent of farmers rented land so exploitation by landlords low
- in south: GMD had retained control before fleeing to Taiwan so land reform hadn’t begun
- often land ownership organised by clans based on family ties so “class conflict” with greedy landlords had little meaning and many didn’t want to seize the land of family members
how were landlords attacked to reform agriculture?
- peasants round up landlords, subject them to public struggle meetings where they admit to being “class enemies” and then often sentenced to death
- use of violence ranged: Mao sometimes urged caution and stated to adhere to the social unity outlined in the Common Program
- peasants used meetings to settle family feuds and seize land from a rich landlord to improve their own living standard
- landlords (couldn’t flee to Taiwan, their asset of land couldn’t be transferred) scapegoated by CCP to invoke a sense of class consciousness vital to sustain revolution
impact of land reform by 1952
“land to the tiller” movement mostly complete
-between 1950 and 1952 agricultural output increased at a rate of 15 percent per annum
- “gentry landlord” class destroyed with 1-2M dead
in what ways did CCP and the peasants have different expectations from land reform policy?
peasants: support for land reform wasn’t always ideological they wanted a greater living standard with less landlord exploitation and food security
CCP: land reform as a ideological stepping stone for creating a socialist, industrialised economy
- collectivise agriculture to create a surplus of food to feed industrial workers in factories
- Mao: “the peasants want freedom, but we want socialism”
- some cadres had a personal interest in collectivisation as it was easier for them to extract grain from APCs than individual farmers
what were Mutual Aid Teams (MATs)?
- Dec 1951: CCP introduce co operative ownership of land
- animals, labour, tools shared between 10 or fewer households (richer peasants excluded)
- popular: mirrored common practises in villages and by 1952 roughly 40 percent of all peasant households belonged to an MAT
what were Voluntary Agricultural Producers Co operatives (APCs)?
- 1953: reduce economic freedoms of MATs and furthers collectivisation
- 3-5 MATs joined together: land reorganised into a single unit and peasants compensated using a points system according to the land/ labour they contribute
- only 14 percent joined: less popular than MATs
- rich peasants resistant: slaughter their animals rather than be forced to give them to APC
- bad economic output: First Five Year Plan assumed a 23 percent increase in economic production, actually had risen less than 2 percent
why did some CCP members disagree with collectivisation?
- gradualists such as Shaoqi claimed China wasn’t ready for large scale farming
- Mao disagreed in 1955 he demanded an end to all private property
- argued grassroots enthusiasm could make up for shortfall in mechanical equipment
- feared slow agricultural growth could jeopardise industrialisation as food exports were how he paid for imports of advanced tech from Soviet Union
how did APCs grow and why was in significant?
- with Mao’s encouragement, 96 percent of peasant farmers in APCs by Dec 1956 with the majority in higher level ones (200-300 households)
- Mao was convinced peasant support meant agricultural mechanisation wasn’t necessary for large scale production and announced it was “possible socialism will be realised in 1959”
- change from Feb 1953 Party’s Central Committee when he declared “the peasants’ individual economy will exist… for a considerable length of time”
- pragmatism abandoned: private ownership abolished and only labour of peasants compensated for, equipment and land taken over by state
why did Mao want to create communes?
- Mao’s unorthodox Marxist view that peasants, not workers could be “vanguards of the revolution” meant he built communism in the countryside first by forcing them to live in communes
- communes were to be big and incorporate both agricultural and industrial production “Walking on Two Legs” - Mao
how were communes created?
August 1958: Politburo resolution declares communed to be the “basic social units of communist society”
- “Sputnik Commune” was first to be established, Mao declared “the people’s commune is great”
- Mao’s endorsement accelerates transformation from co operatives to communes
- party claimed 99 percent of peasants lived in communes by the end of the year
Mao’s vision of communes
-self reliant: approx 5500 households with agricultural + industrial production, healthcare, education all within it
- mess halls enabled communal eating which builds revolutionary fervour
- women can work fields instead of being side-lined to housework + 90 percent work in 1958-1959
- propaganda celebrates “iron women” for taking equal role in economic production
reality of communes
- communes organised into brigades and divided into platoons
- commune militia as police force to punish lazy workers
- destroyed traditional family life: forced to eat in mess halls, parents lose influence over children
- poor quality of food in mess halls
- women unused to physical labour were overworked
- production barely rose, Mao blames sparrows
