unit two

• Early attempts at change- Chinese agriculture was the foundation of the economy yet was inefficient. He also needed to modernise industry to increase living standards and boost the economy to prepare for communism. Food supplies also had to feed the new urban population.
• Beginning land redistribution- Marx said industrial workers needed to be the force of the revolution but China wasn't modern enough to have urban workers. Mao instead wanted the peasants to be radicalised and wanted them to lead the attacks on landlords. The Agrarian Reform Law in 1950 allowed peasants to seize land from the gentry who had exploited them. Many landlords were executed and it was seen as the first step towards socialism.
• Problems with the Agrarian Reform Law (1950)- In the North, landlords weren't a problem as communists had been in control before. Many peasants already owned land and hoped the new regime would provie stability and peace that wasn't present under the nationalists. In the South, the GMD had retained control and land reform hadn't begun due to dominating landlords.
• Attacks on landlords- Work teams that were comprised of cadres, officials and young people were trained to organise land reform in the countryside. They encouraged peasants to hold struggle meetings for landlords and forced them to admit to being 'class enemies' and were often sentenced to death. This helped to develop a sense of class consciousness that sustained the revolution. The communists whipped up anger against the exploiting classes to generate popular support for socialism.
• The impact of land reform- 88% of households had participated in land redistribution. 43% of land had been redistributed to 60% of the population. Between 1950-52, agricultural production increased by 15% per year and 1-2 million landlords had been executed. The landlord class had been wiped out completely.
• Mutual Aid Teams (MATs)- Although landlords had been eradicated, richer peasants still had more land so further reform was needed. In 1951, the CCP introduced co-operative land ownership. Voluntary Mutual Aid Teams had beenb set up previously for peasants to pool together tools, animals and labour to become more efficient. MATs consisted of 10 households and wer4e accepted as it was already a common practice. BY 1952, 40% of all peasant households belonged to MATs.
• Agricultural Producers Co-operatives (APCs)- 1953, APCs were introduced as the second stage of collectivisation. Land was reorganised into single units and peasants gained points based on the value of their work and were issued grain or money in payment after the harvest. APCs consisted of 30-50 households and allowed the poorest peasants access to richer land. They were less popular than MATs and only 14% of new peasants joined. Rich peasants resisted and often slaughtered their animals rather than sharing them causing production to only rise by 2%.
• Disagreement over collectivisation- Gradualists in the CCP like Zhou and Liu said China wasn't ready for large-scale farming due to lack of machinery like tractors and limited fertiliser. Mao disagreed and in 1955 demanded an increase in pace to collectivisation to continue the revolution. In 1956, Mao had managed to get 96% of peasants in APCs. Party cadres also helped to come closer to collectivisation as they had more control over APCs than MATs and could outstrip their quotas, allowing them to be promoted.
• Growth of APCs- In 1955, 63% of households were in APCs and Mao was impressed with the enthusiasm for agricultural co-operation. He was convinced that peasant support meant that China was ready to progress to large scale production without machinery. He said socialism may be fully realised by 1959.
• Enforced collectivisation- In January of 1956, 80% of households were in APCs and pragmatism had been completely abandoned. Private ownership was abolished and peasants were now only compensated for their labour as land and tools belonged to the state.
• The abolition of private farming- In 1958, Mao thought that private farming had been abolished and proceeded with creating communes. The first commune was the 'Sputnik Commune' in Hunan, named after the Soviet satellite. Mao's slogan 'the people's commune is great' was printed in papers across China. At the end of 1958, 740,000 co-operatives had created 26,000 communes. The party claimed 99% of the peasants lived in communes.
• The organisation of the communes- Communes were comprised of 5500 households and were organised into agriculture, industry, healthcare and education. Industry would be developed within communes to help them become self-sufficient. They would produce their own food, industrial goods from factories and farm machinery. Consumer goods like toothbrushes were often lacking.
• Communal living (the vision)- Mao thought communes brought China closer to communist utopia. Wages took into account the needs of the resident. Mess halls enabled communal eating to help develop revolutionary attitudes. Nurseries and boarding schools were also provided. Mao thought that the schools and mess halls would allow women to escape the private sphere and join the agricultural or industrial workforce. China celebrated iron women as 90% of women were in agriculture between 1958-9.
• Communal living (the reality)- Communes were organised into brigades and production teams. All able-bodied citizens between 15-50 belonged to the militia that enforced commune rules. The militia punished those who didn't work hard enough or stole food. The traditional family meal was replaced with mess halls. Parents lost control of their kids and grandparents were isolated from relatives. Mess hall food was poor quality. Women had to carry out hard labour and production didn't rise enough. Mao blamed this on sparrows and launched the Four Pests Campaign.
• The Four Pests Campaign- Launched in 1958, it aimed to rid China of sparrows, flies, mosquitoes and rats whom Mao blamed for production failures. Cadres were sent to villages to encourage peasants to chase sparrows, bang pots and pans to scare them from landing to they would die of exhaustion. Crops lay rotting as villagers wasted time chasing these pests. Also, by removing sparrows, there was no natural predator for caterpillars who attacked crops.
• Lysenkoism- The effects of the 4 pests were continued with the decisions to follow the soviet scientist, Lysenko. His theories were made up to gain political influence in the USSR. He said that agricultural production would increase though exposing seeds to moisture and low temperatures alongside planting them close together. This led to production decreases and cadres lying about exceeding their quotas leading to eventual famine.
• Introducing the 1st 5-Year Plan (1952-6)- The CCP focused the first plan on industry like the USSR and the party would set targets, ignoring market forces. Mao hoped to transform China into an industrial powerhouse like Russia. The decision was practical too as the USSR was China's only ally so had to remain in their favour for any economic help.
• The USSR's support (1FYP)- After the Korean Armistice in 1953, the USSR bean to fund China's five year plan. This included constructing 7 iron and steel plants, 24 electric power stations and 63 machinery plants. 11000 industrial experts were sent to supply technical knowledge to the Chinese and train them. 28000 Chinese students were sent to learn from 'elder brother' in Russia. A loan of $300 million was also given over the course of the plan.
• Targets (1FYP)- The overall target was industrialisation. They wanted a high rate in growth of heavy industry, like steel and coal production. Investment in advanced technology was key alongside becoming a self-sufficient state. They wanted enough grain for peasants and workers in industrial cities like wanting 22 million tons of grain in 1953. Mao wanted a large industry to fully transform into a true socialist society as Lenin argued industry was the foundation of this.
• Successes (1FYP)- Annual growth was 16% and industrial growth was 15%, 1% more than the target. Heavy industry output tripled and resources like oil and uranium were discovered in Xinjiang. The industrial working class grew from 6 to 10 million and by 1956, the private industrial sector had been fully abolished. Coal output grew by 115% and electric power grew by over 120%.
• Failures (1FYP)- The plan was dependent on loans from the USSR and they had huge interest rates. Grain was needed to repay the USSR and feed industrial workers so peasants in the countryside barely survived. Agricultural output only grew by 2% due to the plan's focus on industry and the supply of consumer goods was low. The standards of living fell due to a poorly balanced budget and there was no investment in healthcare or education.
• Introducing the 2nd 5-Year Plan (1958-62)- Agricultural production still was lacking and to compete with Western nations, this had to change. He said that the mobilisation of the masses would produce 'more, faster, better, cheaper'.
• Reasoning (Great Leap Forward)- Mao wanted to beat Britain's industrial production in 15 years like the USSR was doing with USA. The success of 1FYP left him confident in achieving economic growth and Mao wanted China to be 'walking on two legs' with increases in industry and agriculture. 'General Grain and Steel' were in charge of the economy alongside the communes and will of the people.
• Successes (GLF)- Irrigation made agricultural land more fertile and construction projects changed the face of Chinese cities. Tiananmen Square was built into a urban space and the communes moved China ideologically closer to communism.
• Failures (GLF)- Targets of GLF were absurd and created competition where cadres lied about their success for political gain. In 1958, the Ministry of Metallurgy said they could double steel production and in spirit of competition, chemical minister said he could build 1000 new fertiliser plants despite neither target being possible. Mao also increased targets by the day such as increasing steel targets from 9 to 11 million tons whilst saying 'let's make it snappy'. The anti-rightist campaign also meant there were no experts to provide rational economic planning.
• Failures 2 (GLF)- Backyard furnaces to increase steel production meant that all sources of metal that were used to cook were melted and all wood sources like roofs and doors were burnt to fuel these furnaces. The steel was of poor quality and of no use. Time spent by the furnaces meant there was no one on the fields so food was left to rot. By 1962, industrial production had fell by 40% due to starvation. Grain output fell by 50 million tons from 1958-62.
• The Great Famine- Local cadres feared backlash from the party over the reality of situations in the countryside so lied about grain quotas. This meant that all grain was taken from the countryside to the cities leaving peasants starving. The land used for crop production fell by 9% and 1/3 of farmland was used for storage.
• Life during the Famine- By 1960, 26.6 people per 1000 were dying due to starvation. The province of Anhui was self-sufficient before the GLF but so much food had been taken that 8 million people starved. In Tibet, 1 million died as more food was taken from them as they were loyal to Buddhism rather than the CCP. Peasants resorted to eating tree bark, rats, frogs and toads. Birth rates fell due to starvation and cases of cannibalism were reported. Women were often sold to prostitution to survive and at least 30 million people died in the famine.
• Causes of the Famine (natural)- Typhoons had caused flooding in Southern China. Droughts also had reduced the flow of the Yellow River by 2/3 and eight of twelve rivers in Shandong had dried up. More than 60% of cultivated land was affected by either flood or drought and 2 million died through drowning or starvation due to natural disasters.
• Causes of the Famine (USSR)- Khrushchev decided to recall all Soviet economic and scientific advisers from China as Mao hadn't used Soviet central economic planning. Khrushchev had also widely criticised the use of communes and all 1400 Soviet specialists had returned home by 1960. Because of this and the anti-rightist campaign, reliance on clueless cadres increased and they continued to lie about their quotas, causing greater food shortages.
• Causes of the Famine (Mao)- The terror campaigns meant no person would speak up about the famine. Local officials kept the famine secret and aid therefore was not sent to peasants. Individual party leaders also contributed as in Hunan, the local party boss built 7 villas whilst the people starved. In Sichuan, the population fell by 6 million. Also, in the Lushan Conference, Mao saw attempts to bring up the famine as personal attacks, ignoring concerns.
• The Lushan Conference (1959)- Minister of Defence, Peng Dehuai brought up concerns over grain reports in a private letter to Mao, raising the issue of exaggerated reports. Mao felt betrayed by this and accused Peng of forming a rightist clique and passing negative reports to Khrushchev whilst visiting the USSR. Peng was removed from the politburo and live in a run-down area of Beijing where he was attacked by Red Guards in the Cultural Revolution.
• Withdrawal from politics- Mao took some responsibility for failings in the communes and admitted backyard furnaces were a 'catastrophe'. He did want other party leaders to take blame too but ended up receiving the majority of criticism. He then retired from day-to-day politics but never gave up his role as party chairman.
• Liu and Deng took control of the party when Mao stepped down and moved it to a more pragmatic direction. Liu gave a speech to 7000 cadres saying the famine had been 30% natural disasters but 70% man-made. They removed the 'walking on two legs' policy and said agriculture was the foundation of the economy.
• Communes were scaled back to small private plots to increase incentives, a free market was established, profit became key in industry and those who had economic knowledge were promoted. Prisoners in labour camps made new utensils to replace those that had been melted and many imprisoned under the anti-rightist campaign were freed.
• Successes of Liu and Deng- Agricultural production returned to 1957 levels and private plots provided incentive for harder working peasants to improve their lives. Private plots became 30% of peasants' income. Production of consumer goods was double the 1957 level and light industry increased by 27% per year.