Agriculture and Industry 1949-65

Attacks on landlordism and the redistribution of land

1950 the Agrarian reform law, claimed it would eradicate exploitation of the peasants, meant redistribution

Moves towards agriculture co-operation

• Party didn’t predict the peasantry to establish a new class of landowners, moved quickly to collectivisation

• 1951 groups of ten or so families encouraged to unite to form mutual aid teams where they pool their labour, animals and equipment while remain the rights of private ownership

• 1952 successful MAT encouraged to join APCs with 40-50 families

Change from voluntary to forced collectivisation

• July 1955 Mao called for a full scale collectivisation

• Lack of motivation/ productivity from workers

• food production increased 3.8 per annum

• ideologically a success

• weakened the party and peasant relationships

Reasons for launching the commune

• 1958

• Ideologically to push forward the revolution

• maximise food production and industrial growth

Communal living

• communal identity, peasants ate and slept together

• divided into different production brigades

The abolition of private farming

• low motivation as no work points and all rewards were the same

• villagers no choice about being in a commune

• loss of identity

• everyone 15-50 trained to be a militant with weapons

Lysenkoism

• 1958

• 8 point plan; development of new form tools, use of new breeds and seeds, improved field management, increased irrigation, close planting, deep ploughing, increased fertilisation, pest control

The great famine

• 1958-62

• July 1959 Lushan conference, Peng Dehuai openly criticised Mao, Peng replaced by Biao

• Caused by the lack of motivation of the peasants, trying to develop the communes at the same time as the second five year plan

• 30 million deaths

• led to widespread prostitution, canabilism, selling children

Why the first five year plan wasn’t introduced immediately

• 1952-56

• no major economic plans could be introduced until all nationalisation was eradicated and reduce the inflation rate of 1000%

The USSR’s financial and technical support of the first five year plan

• sino-soviet treaty 1950

• Russia gave $300million loan

• Soviet was an inspiration for China

The first five year plans targets

• 1952-56

• PRC self-sufficient in food and manufactured goods

• Targets would be set above from economic planners

• Heavy industry

Successes and failure of the first five year plan?

• Most sectors had succeeded

• growth rate 9% per year

• quantity over quality and figures unreliable

• showed a lack of literacy skills

• countryside suffered as their goods were being transported to Russia

Mao’s reason for launching the second five year plan

• 1958-62

• Mao’s confidence at a high, politically wanted to act independently from Russia

• Agriculture was increasing, Mao accelerated the demands of industry

How the second five year plan worked

Decentralisation

• decentralised economic planning

Backyard furnace scheme

• production of as much steel as possible

• families building their own backyard furnace in their gardens

• realised the quality was bad so buried the steel

• 1958 14% of China’s steel came from the backyard furnaces

Successes and failures of the second five year plans

• some increase in raw material

• greatly failed in productive manufactured goods

• lack of clear planning

• success in development of Tiananmen square and nuclear weapons

Lushan Conference of July 1959

• called by Mao to assess the progress of the great leap forward

Third Five year plan 1962-65

• Retreat from Great leap forward

• had more realistic targets Den and Liu

• relaxed persecution of scientists and intellectuals