Agriculture and industry 1949-65 Flashcards
(10 cards)
The 1950 Agarian reform law
It laid down the framework under which land reform took place claiming that it would eradicate exploitation of the peasants by the ‘landlord class’ as a first step towards industrialisation.
What did the Agarian reform law do?
It is hoped the legislation would restrain overzealous activists from taking the law into their own hands, which is what had begun during the civil war. It is also clear that land reform meant redistribution not lower rents or low interests loans, what the communists had been experimenting earlier.
How did the army play a role in the role out of the Agarian reform law?
The army played a crucial role in the land reform process by silencing those who might of been hostile to the new government and helping the local officials create work teams.
Figures for the Agarian Reform Law?
By the end of 1951, 10 million landlords had lost
their land and 40% had changed hands. Official figures put the deaths at 700,000 while some estimate as high as 3 million.
How did putting the power in the poor and middle-ranking peasants help the party?
Putting the power into the poor, who had conducted these ‘speak-bitterness’ meetings and passed sentences against landlord, enabled the party underline their claims that this was a peasant led revolution against the old landlord class. By making sure that it was the villagers carrying out the killings, the communists were implicating them to such an extent there was no turning back.
Why did Mao move towards collectivisation so quickly?
He had seen what had happened in Russia regarding the shift to collectivisation and NEP. He didn’t want to let the peasants get used to owning land.
Mutual aid teams (MATs)
from 1951, groups of ten or so families were encouraged to unite to from Mutual Aid Teams, in which they could pool their labour, animals and equipment, while retaining their rights of private ownership
What happened a year later following the creation of MATs?
In 1952, successful MATs were encouraged to combine and form Agricultural Producers Co-operatives (APCs) of 40-50 families. Larger bits of land and resources could be pooled together. Families with larger holdings could keep back some of their land as long as they donated some to the use of APC, this incentivised richer families to join. Profits were shared out at the end of the yer, according to resources employed and food produced.
How did Mao feel about the APCs
Mao was frustrated with the slow pace at which the APC movement was developing (only 14% of rural areas by 1955). In their desire to respond to Mao, local officials rushed into the creation of some APCs before they were properly planned putting them already in debt.
What happened in July 1955?
Mao made up his mind his up to go for all-out collectivisation when he announced to a conference of local party secretaries that a full scale drive would be started immediately.
