Great Leap Forward

launched in January 1958
1958-1961
AIMS
1. POLITICAL
  1. to achieve economic independence and freedom from USSR
  2. to become fully Comminist
  3. overtake Britain and the USA in 15 years
    1. to become "one of the richest, most advanced and powerful countries in the world"
  4. to decentralise political control to local party cadres
    1. those would mobilise workforce
2. SOCIAL
  1. to group agricultural cooperatives into larger units - communes (about 20 000 people each)
  2. for communes to become military units
    1. every commune member age 15-50 would become a member of a platoon
  3. to abolish the private sphere of peasant life
    1. children would be cared for in kindergardens, meals provided in mess halls
3. AGRICULTURAL
  1. to produce 430 million tonnes of grain a year.
    1. a surplus can be sold abroad to support industries
  2. to force peasants to follow Mao's eight point agricultural constitution ased on Lysenko methods
    1. to increase production
4. INDUSTRIAL
  1. to produce 700 million tonnes of steel per year by early 1970s
    1. only 5.35 tonnes per year by 1958
  2. to mobilise labourers to build bridges, canals and dams
more, faster, better, cheaper!
FACTORS that influenced Mao's thinking
1. ECONOMIC
  1. agricultural production had risen by only 3.6% during the First Five Year Plan
    1. needed more efficient way
      1. mass mobilisation of peasant - the best/cheapest option
        peasants - 70% of population
2. POLITICAL
  1. Mao - undisputed leader of CPC
    1. does what he wants
  2. Consequences of the Hundred Flowers campaign
    1. no intellectuals
    2. party members fear Mao
      1. no one could stand up to him
  3. Feb 1958 - responsibility for economic went to CPC
    1. party cadres replaced experts
3. INTERNATIONAL
  1. USSR
    1. the launch of soviet Sputnik demonstrated Soviet superiority to Mao
    2. Soviet methods didn't work for China
      1. had to find his own way
    3. Mao wanted independence from USSR
  2. Mao wanted China to become superpower
4. IDEOLOGICAL
  1. Mao thought economical laws may be ignored by mass mobilisation
    1. believed in power of human will
WHY DID IT FAIL
1. MAO'S FAULT
  1. the anti-rightist campaign 1957
    1. crucial experts purged
    2. party cadres were afraid of Mao
      1. did not stand up
      2. lied to protect their position
  2. huge demands
  3. break with the USSR
    1. experts withdrawn
    2. loans withdrawn
    3. debt still had to be paid for
      1. in grain
        a lot of harvested grain was sent to the USSR
2. NOT MAO'S FAULT
  1. weather conditions
    1. 1959 - floods in the south and drought in the north
  2. peasants could not work that efficiently
  3. peasants were lazy/unwilling to cooperate

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Great Leap Forward

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	Created by Lada Zhdanova almost 9 years ago

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