Economic planners - more Flashcards
(20 cards)
Why did the 3rd Five Year Plan not go ahead in the years 1963 - 1968?
It was evident that the Chinese economy needed to undergo a period of restructuring, following the
catastrophic failure of the Second Five Year Plan (GLF).
How was agriculture restructured 1962-66 (8)?
1) Large communes were broken down into smaller ‘production brigades’, and given more autonomy in
decisions regarding work.
2) Lysenko’s flawed farming methods were abandoned.
3) Communal canteens were abandoned, with peasants allowed to feed themselves at home.
4) Peasants were allowed to cultivate their own private plots, with 5% of land belonging to a commune set
aside for private plots.
5) Communes introduced financial incentives to encourage hard work.
6) Rural fairs and markets were permitted, and peasants encouraged to grow food for private sale.
7) Non-agricultural activities, taking men away from the fields during the GLF, were restricted.
8) Around 20 million peasants, who had drifted to towns in search of food and work, were returned to their
home villages.
How did Mao and the ‘pragmatists’ clash over oil production in Daqing (4 stages)?
1) In the late 1950s, a new oilfield was discovered in Daqing (northeast China), and production of oil began
in 1960.
2) A large oil refinery and a new city at Daqing were built, with production of refined oil products increasing
rapidly during the 1960s.
3) The pragmatists believed that this was due to their focus on specific projects to advance China’s
development.
4) Most of the equipment at Daqing was primitive, and workers compensated by improvising and with hard
work. Mao labelled this the ‘Daqing spirit’, encouraging others to learn from the example.
What was the truth about Dazhai (3), and when was it revealed?
In 1980, after Mao’s death, it was revealed:
1) Dazhai had received massive amounts of state aid.
2) PLA soldiers had helped in the rebuilding in 1963.
3) Grain production figures actually declined year by year.
What were the First, Second, and Third Line?
For defensive planning, Mao split China into 3 lines/fronts:
1) The First Line was China’s coastal regions, on the assumption any attack on China would involve a
seaborne invasion.
2) The Second Line was in central China.
3) The Third Line was in the far southwest, in Guizhou, Sichuan, and Yunnan provinces.
Why did Mao want to strengthen national defences in the early 1960s, and how did he aim to do so?
In the early 1960s, Mao was becoming increasingly concerned with the possibility of war, with increasingly
hostile relations with the USSR, and the escalation in Vietnam. Mao believed it essential to strengthen
national defences, with his priority the Third Line. He aimed to do so with he building of factories, research
institutes, roads and railways.
How did Mao strengthen the Third Line in the 1960s (5)?
1) At least 483 factories and 92 research stations were built in the Third Line provinces.
2) Most of Chinese nuclear research was undertaken in Sichuan province.
3) Many companies from coastal regions were relocated to western China.
4) After 1965, around 1.6 million workers were assigned to Third Line projects.
5) Under the Third Five Year Plan (launched 1966), the Third Line provinces were allocated the largest share
of state investment (approx. 70% 1966-70).
How effective was the development of the Third Line (4)?
1) Offered little in terms of security when nuclear war was the main threat to China.
2) The need to disperse factories and research institutes increased costs, and led to a lack of coordination.
3) Many factories were not completed.
4) High levels of wasted materials and labour.
What percentage of state investment was to Third Line provinces 1966-70?
Approximately 70%.
How was Mao’s authority challenged in 1962?
Following the failure of the GLF, Mao’s views on economic planning were brought into question. At the
7000 Cadre Conference in 1962, a growing divide was revealed in the CCP. Whilst Mao retained his position
as Chairman, the pragmatists believed economic policy had to be modified away from that of a radical,
ideologically driven, approach.
What was Mao’s slogan against the pragmatists in 1962?
‘Oppose revisionism abroad, prevent revisionism at home’.
What was the compromise between Mao and the pragmatists in 1962?
Mao had to accept many of the reforms to economic planning made by Chen Yun, whilst the pragmatists had
to agree with Mao that a rectification campaign was needed to rid the CCP of bureaucracy, corruption, and
complacency.
What was the Socialist Education campaign (2), and when did it take place?
1) A rectification campaign, intending to reintroduce basic socialist values into Chinese society, emphasising
class struggle through the ‘four clean-ups’.
2) 1000s of urban cadres were sent to the countryside to learn from the peasants and spread CCP propaganda.
(1963-65).
What were the ‘four clean-ups’ emphasised by the Socialist Education campaign?
To remove corruption in the countryside relating to:
1) Accounting procedures.
2) Grain supplies.
3) Property accumulation.
4) The system of allocating work points to peasants for their labour.
How did Mao and the pragmatists differ over the aims and methods of the Socialist Education campaign (2)?
1) Mao wanted the poor and middle peasants’ associations to be mobilised to supervise the Party cadres. He
also wanted the campaign to be directed against revisionist ideas.
2) The pragmatists believed the peasants’ associations were incapable following the damages of the GLF.
Instead they sent work teams of urban cadres to the countryside to conduct the campaign. It became a purely
internal CCP matter, focused on corruption, not ideological purity.
How did Mao reassert his vision of the Socialist Education campaign in 1962?
Mao issued directives that the SEC should be a general educational effort teaching the evils of revisionism.
He recalled the urban work teams, and reinstated many of the cadres punished by them.
How did Lin Biao regain control of the PLA, and increase their role in politics 1959-65 (5)?
1) He became Defence Minister in 1959.
2) He increased the number of CCP members in the PLA, and the number of officials who held key posts in
both the Party and the military.
3) Increased PLA control over the civilian population with the support of Mao.
4) The ideological purity of the PLA was enhanced when Lin abolished all military ranks in 1965.
5) The PLA took control of the PRC’s internal Public Security forces
How did Lin Biao and the PLA support Mao against the pragmatists in the Socialist Education Movement in
1965?
PLA cadres were installed on the Socialist Education Movement work teams.
How did the Shanghai radicals support Mao in the early 1960s (3)?
1) Jiang Qing spoke out against intellectuals who showed insufficient commitment to revolutionary values.
2) Jiang Qing convinced Mao that the cultural sphere of China and CCP leadership needed attention.
3) Mao moved to Shanghai in November 1965, surrounding himself with people who shared his view.
How did the CCP Propaganda Department promote Mao’s personality cult in the early 1960s (7)?
1) The promotion of ‘Quotations from Chairman Mao’ as the source of all truth and as the solution for all
problems.
2) The promotion of Mao as the Great Helmsman, who had saved China from feudalism, landlordism, and
the reliance of foreign powers.
3) Mao was shown to be the revolution, with people becoming more loyal to Mao than the CCP itself.
4) People were expected to attend political study sessions to discuss Mao’s works and why they were correct.
5) The press and radio promoted MZT constantly.
6) Posters and statues of Mao were put up nationwide, portraying him as superhuman.
7) Loudspeakers in public places, schools, workplaces, and on public transport conveyed Mao’s
invincibility/infallibility, and to disagree with him was to be mentally unstable.
