Agriculture and Industry - Early Changes in Agriculture

Question 1

Redistribution of land - agrarian reform law

Answer 1

• launched in 1950
• aimed to destroy the ‘gentry landlord’ class
• landlords would have their property seized and redistributed to peasants
• many landlords sentenced to death

Question 2

Agrarian reform law - problems of a national policy

Answer 2

• in the north only 10-15% farmers rented their land
• in the south where GMD had retained control before they fled, land reform had not yet begun
• many peasants didn’t want to seize land of family members in the clan

Question 3

Changes in agriculture - attacks on landlords

Answer 3

• work teams trained and sent out to organise land reforms
• work teams organised peasants to help determine class of different members of the village
• peasants encouraged to round up landlords and subject them to struggle meetings - often sentenced to death
• landlords easy target - used as a scapegoat

Question 4

The impact of land reform

Answer 4

• estimated 88% households taken part in
• rural production boomed - between 1950 and 1952 total agricultural production increased 15% per year
• estimated 1-2 million landlords executed

Question 5

Different perspectives of land reform - peasants vs CCP

Answer 5

For peasants…
• represented dream of owning land free from landlord exploitation and indebtedness
• greater security from threats like famine

For CCP…
• land reform seen as first step in creating a socialist, modern and industrialised economy

Question 6

Mutual aid teams (MATs)

Answer 6

• CCP introduced co-operative ownership of land
• MATs introduced across the country - peasants pooled resources such as tools
• MATs on a small scale - consisted of 10 or fewer households
• accepted amongst peasants as peasants already helped each other to benefit the community

Question 7

Voluntary agricultural producers co-operatives (APCs)

Answer 7

• CCP aimed to further reduce economic freedoms
• APCs meant the land was reorganised into a single unit and peasants compensated using a points system according to the value of their contributions
• peasants received either grain or money in payment
•APCs comprised 3 to 5 MATs joined together - roughly 30 to 50 households
• less popular - peasants didn’t want to share land - only 14% joined new units

Question 8

Disagreements over collectivisation - gradualists

Answer 8

• Liu Shaoqi and Zhou Enlai
• claimed China was not ready for large scale farming - China lacked mechanised equipment
• denounced the ‘premature’ establishment of APCs

Question 9

Disagreements over collectivisation - Mao

Answer 9

• Mao demanded an increase in pace of reform towards full collectivisation
• believed slow agricultural growth would hinder industrial progress as exporting food was China’s way of paying for imports
• with his encouragement participation in APCs reached 96%

Question 10

Growth of APCs

Answer 10

• by 1955, 63% peasant households part of APCs
• sometimes APCs encompassed whole villages

Question 11

Enforced collectivisation

Answer 11

• by 1956, 80% households in APCs
• pragmatism completely abandoned
• privatisation completely abolished
• members only compensated for their labour