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Flashcards in Mao: Aims and results of policies Deck (21)
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1
Q

What were some examples of economic success resulting from the First Five Year Plan of 1952-6? [3]

A
  • Total industrial output of 65 million Yuan exceeded target by close to 20%
  • 5.35 million tonnes of steel were produced, exceeding the target of 4.12
  • Production targets for coal, electric power, and manufactured chemicals were also surpassed.
2
Q

What were some examples of economic failures resulting from the First Five Year Plan of 1952-6? [2]

A
  • The PRC only managed to produce 75% of their target of oil production
  • Only 167 locomotives were produced compared to the target of 200
3
Q

Overall, what was the result of the First Five Year Plan? [3]

A
  • On paper, some impressive results (possible figure massaging)
  • It was not a complete success, some targets were not reached.
  • Heavy dependance of Soviet aid lessened achievement.
4
Q

What was the problem with Soviet aid during the First Five Year Plan?

A
  • The USSR agreed to provide aid in the Sino-Soviet agreement of 1950
  • Only 5% of aid was in the form of industrial investment, most was in the form of high-interest loans.
  • It had to be paid for by commercial concessions, eg. the PRC was required to pay a substantial portion of bullion reserves.
5
Q

When and what was the aim of the First Five Year Plan?

A
  • 1952-6
  • Mao attempted to develop China’s economy on par with the West and the USSR by following the model of Stalin’s Five-Year Plans.
6
Q

What were the aims of the Great Leap Forward 1958-62? [4]

A
  • Mao aimed to develop the economy as quickly as possible. He aimed to achieve this by:
  • Increasing crop production.
  • Doubling steel production in one year (1958)
  • Huge infrastructure projects such as the Red Flag Canal.
7
Q

How did Mao plan to develop the economy during the Second Five-Year Plan (the Great Leap Forward) 1958-62? [3]

A
  • He collectivised peasants in order to increase agricultural exports and raise money for the expansion of Chinese industry.
  • He aimed to use the manpower of workers to build a modern economy.
  • He aimed to increase industrial production with initiatives such as backyard furnaces and the creation of SOEs.
8
Q

What were the results of the backyard furnace initiative? [6]

A
  • Backyard steel was smelted from domestic items such as pots, pans, and bicycles.
  • Steel production more than doubled from 1957-60
  • It turned out to be worthless and unusable - blobby and brittle.
  • Large scale deforestation to fuel furnaces- long term desertification and impact on agriculture.
  • Lots of effort went into the project, but produced limited results.
  • Mao’s view that enthusiasm and revolutionary zeal were a substitue for expertise was unrealistic
9
Q

What were the results of the creation of SOEs?

A
  • Existing firms and enterprises were taken under state control, prices, output targets, and wages were fixed by the state.
  • Workers recieved guaranteed wages and so had no motivation to show initiative or work harder.
  • SOEs were inefficient because they lacked motivation to perform well.
  • Politically could be considered a success, and was of benefit to workers.
10
Q

What were Mao’s failings as an economic planner? [3]

A
  • Politics got in the way of proper industrial management - focus on political slogans and not effective planning or evaluation.
  • Mao reluctant to accept failure, and found scapegoates for economic failures such as the bourgeois, rather than blaming the policies themselves.
  • Finally, he lacked experience and knowledge of economic systems and processes.
11
Q

How did Mao attempt to reform agriculture during the Great Leap Forward of 1958-62? [2]

A
  • He collectivised peasants and abolished private ownership.

- All farming was controlled by the PRC, who managed farming methods, price setting, and the distribution of produce.

12
Q

What was Lysenkoism and what were the results? [4]

A
  • Mao made Lysenkoism an official policy in 1958.
  • Lysenko was a highly regarded Soviet scientist who claimed to have developed techniques to increase crop yield by up to 16 times.
  • Lysenko’s theories were fraudulent, and were applied aimlessly without careful consideration of varing conditions in different regions.
  • The whole of China was encouraged to kill birds as pest control, inadvertently allowed insects and other vermin to increase, destrong stocks of grain.
13
Q

What were some examples of agricultural failure, and it’s effects? [4]

A
  • Grain production fell by 20% from 1958-62. Previously increasing.
  • Meat production more than halved in the same time period.
  • Severe food shortages - around 50 million died in famine.
  • Problems such as slavery, prostitution and cannibalism became common.
14
Q

What were the reasons for agricultural failure and famine? [3]

A
  • A conspiracy of silence: many gov’ advisers were aware of failings of Lysenkoism and the famine.
  • From fear of repercussions, officials reported that production targets were being met. As a result, too much produce was taken by cities, leaving not enough food to feed peasants.
  • The end of private farming was a major cause for hunger: farmers discouraged from producing food for their own inmmediate needs.
15
Q

What were some examples of industrial failure of the Great Leap Forward? [2]

A
  • Heavy industry production fell by more than 50% from 1959-62.
  • Light industry down 30%
16
Q

When and what was the significance of the Lushan Conference? [2]

A
  • In 1959 intended to be the first step towards dealing with the famine.
  • Maor declared in effect that the famine did not exist, delegates ended up praising Mao’s leadership.
17
Q

What evidence is there to suggest that the lives of women improved under Mao? [3]

A
  • Women were freed from household tasks by the commune system — no longer had to prepare food.
  • In 1950 the PRC introduced a new marriage law which abolished concubinage, arranged marriages, and bride prices.
  • Mao was vocally a strong defender of women’s rights, condemned arranged marriages as ‘indirect rape’.
18
Q

What evidence is there to suggest that the lives of women did not improve under Mao? [2]

A
  • In practice Mao often failed to keep his principle of female equality - the CCP operated in a very male dominated system.
  • Women still did not have the advantages and opportunities as men.
19
Q

What evidence is there to suggest that education did improve under Mao?

A
  • Literacy rates rose from 20 - 70% of the population from 1949-79
  • The PRC introduced a standardized form of written Mandarin, pinyin
20
Q

What evidence is there to suggest that education did not improve under Mao?

A
  • Only 35% of the population had received schooling after the age of 12
  • The cultural revolution disrupted education, which was undermined by the attack on traditional learning.
  • 1966-70 130 million of China’s youth stopped attending school or university.
21
Q

What were some problems with improvement in health?

A
  • Held back by politics, plus the disruption of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Rev.
  • Doctors included in the professional class seen as selfish bourgeois.
  • Barefoot doctors were only given six months of intense training, and had limited equipment.