Land Reform Flashcards
Who was the land taken from and given to? How much land was reasigned?
The land was redistributed from the landlords to the peasants. (Much like Yan’an). The landlords were often put on public trial and announced as enemies of the people. 300 million peasants were given 47 hectares of land, (so plots were small).
How many landlords were killed in the early 1950’s? What were ‘people’s courts’?
2-3 million landlords were executed. Peoples Courts were sessions held by the peasants to publicly shame and accuse the landlords who would then be beaten or executed afterwards.
Why was the peasants victory short lived?
After only 2 years of having their land back it was taken from them again during the ‘collectivisation of the peasantry’?
What groups were peasants organised into? What order did the ‘collectivisation of the peasantry’ go in?
Mutual aid teams (1952)
Co-operatives (1953)
Collectives
Communes (After 1956 though)
What was the aim of cooperatives? How big were they?
To produce much more food, by farming on a large scale, by using better equipment and by reclaiming land.
Some had as many as 600 peasants in them.
By the end of 1954, how many cooperatives were there in China?
650,000
Why were most of the peasants against joining cooperatives?
It meant the peasants would no longer own their own around of land and would be guided by a party official who would oversee the work they were doing.
What year was the Agrarian Reform Law put in place?
1950
