Theme 2 Topic 4: The Second Five-Year Plan (The Great Leap Forward), 1958-62

Who had the first five-year plan been successful for?

Had been a success for Mao. Industrial production had increased greatly. However, agricultural production still lagged behind.

What did Mao want to transform china into?

Was obsessed with turning china into a modern nation in order to compete with Western democracies.

What did Mao want to increase?

He sought a way to increase both agricultural and industrial production simultaneously.

What had not worked for Mao?

The soviet model of central planning had not sufficiently increased agricultural production. He was also dismissive of what he termed a slave mentality towards so-called experts.

What was Mao’s solution?

He found a fundamentally Maoist answer: he would rely on the mass mobilisation of the masses. Economic realities or technical expertise were irrelevant; force of human will would be enough to drag Chinese economy into modernity. Instead of centrally planned targets, local people would be self-sufficient and organise their own economic production.

What was the campaigns slogan and what did it mean?

Under the campaigns slogan “faster, better, cheaper” the people of China were exhorted to focus all their energies on creating a massive increase in the production of both food and industrial goods.

What did the second five-year plan become known as?

The Great Leap Forward

What was the result of the second five-year plan?

Result was an economic disaster and human tragedy on an unprecedented scale. Mao’s overly ambitious ideologically driven radicalism proved disastrous. 1958-62 China suffered the greatest man-made famine in history. Perhaps as many as 30 million died. By the end of the period Mao had been effectively sidelined from political decisions.

What was the Soviet model of central planning?

In a centrally planned economy, production levels are set by a central authority. In Russia, this was the Communist Party. Instead of the needs of the market dictating what and how much is produced, the economic experts at the central authority set specific targets for output, based on what they believed were the needs of the nation.

Why did Mao distrust the Soviet model of central planning?

Mao distrusted experts, seeking to rely on initiative of mass of people. He believed that the efforts of ordinary people dedicated to communism, not educated planners and bureaucrats who lacked genuine ideological commitment, would make China economically powerful.

What did Mao want China to become through the second five-year plan?

Was desperate to transform China into a great economic power. Also wanted to place China as the leading communist nation in Asia.

What statement did Mao make to try and outdo Russia?

In 1957 Khrushchev made a dramatic speech in which he promised the USSR would overtake the US in industrial production in 1980. Not to be outdone Mao told the party “we must start a technological revolution so that we may overtake Britain in 15 or more years.”

How did previous successes influence Mao into launching the second five-year plan?

Mao had good reason to be optimistic. Although agricultural production had faltered, industrial production had risen by 18.3% during the first five-year plan. Success had convinced firm that very quick and very large improvement in agricultural production could be made. Maos optimism was further enhanced as it appeared that the communists were winning the Cold War. Communist technology appeared to be ascendant over that of the West. With the launching of Sputnik (1957) it looked as if the space race had been won.

What speech did Mao make on past successes?

In a speech in Moscow in 1957, a confident Mao declared that for East Wind is prevailing over the West wind. (See source D).

What is walking on two legs?

Mao wanted to achieve what was termed walking on two legs; increasing both agricultural and industrial production at the same time. The regime declared that general steel and general grain were in charge of the economy.

What did Mao believe would overcome challenges?

Believed that the peoples sheer force of will would be enough to overcome all technological obstacles.

Who would have control over what was produced?

The control of economic experts in the Party had to be loosened and the control of the economy decentralised. Instead of targets and regulations set from the central government, as happened in Soviet Russia, local people, in individual communes, should have more control over what they produced.

What else did the second five-year plan create apart from communes?

Industrial firms were taken over to create state-owned enterprises.

How were state-owned enterprises communist?

In one way they realised communist ideology. The Party dictated the prices businesses could charge and the production targets they had to meet, theoretically good for the nation, not for profit. Wages were set by the Party at a guaranteed level. Workers were given a home as well as healthcare and education.

What were disadvantages of state-owned enterprises?

Meant that the enterprises were inefficient. It did not matter how much effort a worker out in, he was still paid the same and had very little incentive to be productive. Managers were not rewarded for being efficient either. Any surplus they produced was taken away by the state anyway.

What were successes of the second five year plan?

Economically, it had a few successes. Massive irrigation terracing helped make agricultural land more fertile, while construction projects changed the face of Chinese cities. Tiananmen Square was remodelled into a modern urban space, though many historical buildings had to be levelled to make this possible. Ideologically, the Party believed that the people in communes lived more closely to a communistic model than ever before; lacking private property, they pooled labour, food and even parenting responsibility.

How did targets create failures for the second five-year plan?

The targets of the plan were absurd. Mao had created an atmosphere of competition. Government officials knew that the best way to advance careers was to impress Mao, and did this by telling him that his economic policies would achieve unheard-of economic improvement.

What is an example of competition of targets causing issues?

In January 1958 the Ministry of Metallurgy declared that it would more than double steel production to 20 million tonnes by 1962 and reached 100 million by 1977. Worried that his department would look slow in comparison, the chemicals minister claimed that it would construct 1000s of chemical fertiliser factories.

How did Mao’s overconfidence create failures for the second five-year plan?

Mao let himself be convinced that the mobilisation of the masses could overcome all practical obstacles. He lost all sense of reality. Raised steel targets. He was overconfident and, after the purges of his enemies in the campaigns of the 50s, no one would dare to challenge him and tell him the truth.

What did Mao raise steel targets to (due to overconfidence)?

When reviewing the steel production targets to raise steel production from 6 million to 9 million tonnes, he announced “make it snappy! Let’s just double it! Why dilly-dally? Let’s make it 11 million tonnes!”

How did the Anti-Rightist Campaign create failures for the second five-year plan?

The Anti-Rightist Campaign meant that there was no intellectuals or experts left to offer advice of provide rational economic planning.

How did backyard furnaces create failures for the second five-year plan?

He encourage families to set up backyard furnaces through which they could contribute to steel production. Compelled by cadres who hoped to impress the Party leadership by meeting unrealistic production goals and driven by incessant propaganda, all possible sources of metal such as vital cooking implements and woks were melted in furnaces. Wood from furniture, doors and roofs were burnt to keep the furnace hot. Inevitably, the steel was of very poor quality and useless. Much of it was taken away and buried. With so many people working the backyard furnaces, the economy began to break down and food was left to rot in the fields.

How did production decline showing a failure of the second five-year plan?

Many factories were closed or reduced their production because of the shortage of raw materials. The famine meant that more and more workers died of starvation. By 1962, industrial production had declined by 40% from the 1958-59 level.

How successful was the second five-year plan for Chinese citizens?

For the actual people, a complete failure as it meant they had no money or motivation, and many starved to death. They lost the lad they had just been given. They had been screwed over by the Party they had helped get into power.

What was the Lushan conference?

In July 1959 the Party held a conference in the mountain town of Lushun in Jiangxi.

Who voiced doubts at the conference?

Minister of Defence Peng Dehuai voiced doubts about the reports of a record grain harvest (375 million tons). Peng, a former peasant, had travelled to his home village in Hunan province and had witnessed the plight of the peasantry. He wrote a private letter to Mao in which he raised the issue of exaggerated reporting.

What did Peng believe would protect him?

He believed that his status in the Party would protect him. He had long been a close colleague of Mao's, a brilliant military leader, a hero of the struggle against the nationalists and of the Korean War.

How did Mao take Peng’s letter?

Despite this, Mao felt betrayed by the criticism, interpreting it as a personal attack on his policies. He circulated the private correspondence to other Party leaders and accused Peng of forming a 'right opportunist clique.

What did Mao accuse Peng of doing with the USSR?

Knowing that Peng had recently visited the Soviet Union, Mao accused him of passing negative reports about the communes to the Soviets that had led Nikita Khrushchev to publicly ridicule anyone who advocated communes as having a poor understanding of what communism is and how it is to be built'. Mao denounced Peng for having gone 'behind the back of our fatherland to collude with a foreign country'.

What happened to Peng?

Peng was stripped of his ministerial post and barred from the Politburo. He was forced to leave his home and live in a run-down area of Beijing, where he spent his time gardening. During the Cultural Revolution he was attacked by Red Guards, tortured and imprisoned.

What warning did Mao announce?

If the criticism continued, he threatened to 'go to the countryside to lead the peasants to overthrow the government'. He would return to his life as a guerrilla fighter. 'If those of you in the Liberation Army won't follow me' he declared, 'then I will go and find a Red Army, and organise another Liberation Army’.

Why was Mao’s power consolidated?

Mao's power was further consolidated when he replaced Peng with subservient Lin Biao as Defence Minister and leader of the PLA.

What responsibility did Mao take for the communes?

Mao did take responsibility for some of the failings of the communes. "The chaos caused was on a grand scale and I take responsibility,' he declared. He admitted that backyard furnaces had been a 'great catastrophe' but he encouraged other leaders to also take the blame.

Who else did Mao want to take responsibility?

'Comrades, you analyse your own responsibility.'

Why did he use scatological language?

He used scatological language arguably in order to emphasise his simple peasant background in comparison to the other leaders: 'If you have to take a shit, shit! If you have to fart, fart!'

Why did Mao retire?

Despite his defiance, the failure of the Great Leap was too traumatic to ignore. Stung by the criticism, Mao chose to retire from day-to-day politics.

What did Mao never relinquish?

His role as Party Chairman.

Who took over as key policy makers?

Liu, as the new Head of State, and Deng, the General Secretary of the Party, took over from Mao as the key policy makers in charge of the daily management of the country.

What did pragmatism and rationality replace?

Pragmatism and rationality replaced fanaticism and utopianism.

Which of Mao’s focus’ was abandoned?

Mao's focus on local control of production and decentralisation were abandoned as central control and planning of national economic targets were reinstated.

What speech did Liu give in 1962?

In January 1962 Liu gave a speech to 7000 Party cadres that dismissed Mao's claim that successes outweighed failures by a ratio of 9 to 1 and rejected his argument that weather conditions had caused the Great Leap Forward to fail. He announced that the problems were due 30 % to natural disasters and 70% to man-made disasters. 'Natural disasters hit only one region of the country;' he declared. 'man-made disasters strike the whole country’.

What was criticised?

The policies of the Great Leap Forward were criticised, but never Mao personally. 'Everyone knew the policies were Mao's,' wrote Zhisui Li, the Chairman's personal physician, and therefore to criticise the policies was to criticise Mao.

What reforms did the new leaders announce?

The new leaders announced a number of important reforms in order to restore agricultural production. This was clearly a retreat from the Great Leap Forward.

What motto did the Party adapt?

Rather than a focus on 'Walking on Two Legs', the Party adopted the motto 'agriculture as the foundation of the economy’.

What was the economic priority?

Party leaders recognised that the economic priority was the revival of rural production, even if that meant reduced industrial growth.

What happened to the communes?

The communes were scaled back in favour of greater freedoms for peasants to produce what they wanted on small private plots. Although the peasants still had to meet quotas of food to give to the state, individual households were now able to make their own decisions about what to grow and how much fertiliser to use.

Where could peasants trade?

They were allowed to trade what they wanted on the free market.

What were peasants allowed to claim?

Peasants were allowed to claim any unused land, and cultivate it.

Where was emergency aid sent?

Emergency aid was sent from the factories in the cities to the rural areas. Insecticides, chemical fertilisers and small farm tools were sent.

What was emphasised in industry?

In industry, profitability was emphasised. It was important for factories to make a profit, not just be run on strictly communist lines. Industrial production was changed to support agriculture. Materials like steel, wood and bamboo were used for producing hand tools, carts and boats.

How was the role of cadres changed?

The role of the low-level rural cadres was downgraded in contrast to urban managers, and provincial and regional Party bosses.

Who were promoted?

Those who possessed technical knowledge or administrative expertise to organise an efficient economy were promoted.

Who returned to influence?

Experts, intellectuals and Party bureaucrats had been purged or ignored because of Mao's trust in the power of the masses. Many had been imprisoned during the Anti-Rightist Campaign. Now they were returned to influence.

What were managers given more control over?

Managers were given more control over the state-owned enterprises.

What did the production targets have a focus on?

The production targets set now had a focus on making sure factories were profitable.

Who were replaced?

Urban Party cadres were sent to the countryside to replace the Maoist local rural cadres.

What did prisoners in labour camps do?

Prisoners in labour camps were put to work making cooking utensils to replace the ones melted in the backyard furnaces.

Were the reforms a success?

Yes.

When did agricultural production recover?

By 1965 agricultural production had recovered from the disastrous Great Leap Forward, back to the same level as 1957. 

What did private plots provide an incentive for?

The opportunity to work private plots provided an incentive for the harder working, more experienced and entrepreneurial peasants to improve their lives. They grasped this chance and by the mid-1960s private production accounted for approximately one-third of peasants' incomes.

When was the availability of tools, boats and carts restored?

By the end of 1962 the availability of tools, boats and carts had been restored to the level that they had been before the communes.

How quick did light and heavy industry grow?

Light industry such as clothes and furniture was growing at a rate of 27% per year and heavy industry at a rate of 17%.

What happened to the production of consumer goods?

Production of consumer goods was double the 1957 level.

Why was Mao appalled by the shrinking of the communes?

He believed that policies to stimulate economic improvements such as wage differentials and advancement based on educational merit were re-establishing class inequalities His fears were only heightened when, in 1961, Liu was publicly announced as his successor. He felt respected but marginalised, his policies ignored. 'They treat me like a dead ancestor,' he grumbled.

How far was Mao responsible for the Great Famine?

How far Mao was to blame for the Great Famine remains a source of debate between historians.

Which historians blame Mao?

Chang and Halliday (2005) have no doubt. They blame Mao for bringing 'utter misery'. He ordered grain requisitioning even when 'he knew perfectly well that the peasants had no food to hide'. By continuing to export grain during the height of the famine in order to fund his industrial modernisation programme, Mao 'knowingly starved and worked tens of millions of people to death'.

Which historians are less convinced?

Jin Xiaoding (2005) blames the exaggerated information regarding harvests given to Mao by ambitious Party cadres that caused the leader to believe that harvests made high levels of grain requisitioning possible. This might have been poor judgement, admits Jin, but 'bad judgement is not the same as starving people to death'.

Is Jin correct?

Although Jin has a valid point, it was Mao's own policies that created the political atmosphere in which there was incentive for the cadres to lie about the harvests. Even if he didn’t manage its minute details, he was the architect of the Great Leap Forward whose vision the cadres sought to realise. While it is also true that terrible weather conditions played a role in the famine, they exacerbated shortages rather than created them.

How did Mao’s pride and hubris harm people?

Mao's motives might not have been to damn so many people to death, but his angry rejection of Peng, the one leader brave enough to tell Mao the truth, meant that his hubris and pride stopped those suffering from the famine from receiving the help that might have saved their lives.

As a final analysis, was Mao responsible?

In the final analysis it was Mao's policies that led to the famine, his vision acting as a legitimating catalyst for what is arguably the single worst disaster in recorded human history.