1968 Rustication Programme Flashcards
What did it involve?
The compulsory movement of 5 million young people from cities to the countryside 1968-70
Why did this scheme help? (5)
Eased urban unemployment
Dispersed many former Red Guards to areas they would cause less trouble
Taught urban young about peasant life (reminding them that revolution based on peasantry)
Hardened the new class of young urban intellectuals and bureaucrats by introducing them to the realities of manual labour
Reinforced army’s control over young (farms run by military)
What contributed to a miserable time?
Hostile peasantry who had little extra food to feed them with
How were rural conditions?
They were primitive and standards of living were lower than most newcomers used to
What did it lead to?
They became disillusioned with Mao, feeling they had been used as pawns in his power struggle
