China theme 2

agrarian land reform law

1950 June

main aim to destroy the ‘gentry-landlord’ class

land redistributed to the ‘tiller’

1927 report in Hunan

report on peasants violent attempts to seize land

Mao- ‘the ruthless economic exploitation and political oppression of the peasantry by the landlord class could not fail to force the peasants to rise repeatedly in revolt against its rule’

Mao’s view on peasants

peasants not workers who could act as ‘vanguards of the revolution’ they were the most ‘responsive to communist party leadership’ noted Mao

which law stripped the legal rights from landlords

agrarian land law

why was intro of coherent national policy incoherent

• North- land reform had begun before 1949, but only 10-15% of farmers rented land so exploitation often not an issue

• South- GMD- land reform had not begun as CP organisation weaker and landlords more influential

• land ownership often organised in ‘clans’ family ties ect. so CP language around ‘class conflict’ and ‘feudal exploitation’ had less meaning

how many farmers were tenants

6%

work teams organised peasants into Poor Peasant Associations to help determine class, who were encouraged to round up landlords

were the tenant farmers poorer?

no

by then end of 1951, how many landlords had lost their land

10 million

summer 1952- Land to the tiller movement largely completed

• Est. 88% of households had taken part, 43% of land redistributed to 60% of population

impact of land reform- rural production

1950-2 total agricultural production increased at rate of 15% per annum

1-2million landlords est executed

attacks on landlords

work teams- often young people from newly liberated cities- organised peasants into Poor Peasant Associations and encouraged them to round up landlords and subject to struggle sessions

although Mao warned against ‘ultra-left deviations’

some peasants used as way to settle old scores

official death count for land reform in 1951

700,000

party ideas around agricultural cooperation

Mao- ‘the peasants want freedom, but we want socialism’

land reform 1st step in gradual collectivisation

gradualists in party denounced ‘premature’ establishment of APCs mid 1955

Mao disagreed and wanted ‘high tide in new socialist mass movement’ and criticized gradualist party members as ‘tottering around like women with bound feet’

date of families being encouraged to unite in MATs

1951 December

accepted as mirrored common practice, particular benefit to poorer peasants

how many families in MATs

10

1952 estimated 40% of all peasant households belonged to MAT

when were MATs encouraged to form APCs

1952- Communist leaders worried they still allowed continued existence of capitalist ideas e.g buying and selling of land, hiring of labourers

how many families in APCs

40-50

how many rural households in APCs by March 1955

only 14%

peasants did not want to share newly acquired land

APCs did not appear in the South until 1954

why did collectivisation slow down in 1953

local officials rushed it and went into debt

what delayed collectivisation in 1954

peasants start buying and selling as they would under capitalism

why did mao halt the APCs in jan 1955

gov requisitioned grain after poor harvests leading to rural protests

when did mao announce full scale collectivisation

july 1955- official reason was because of demands of the peasantry, but in fact the real reason was more likely to have been Mao’s fear that supplies to the cities would continue to be unreliable so long as peasants owned own land

how many households in APCs in July 1955

17 million

Mao criticized gradualist party colleagues for ‘tottering around like women with bound feet’

how many households in APCs in January 1956

80.3% of peasant households

30.7% of these were higher level APCs (200-300 households)

private ownership abolished and members only compensated for labour as land and equipment taken over by state, membership compulsory

how may farming as individuals at the end of 1956

only 3%

was collectivisation a political success?

yes - mao defeated zhou enlai, increased party control at a grassroots level (easier to extract grain from APCs than from individual farmers)

was collectivisation an economic success?

no - low labour productivity, food production insufficient

grain production only rose by 1% in 1957 and rationing of cotton cloth implemented

Maos early public endorsement of communes

August 1958 politburo resolution declared peoples communes to be ‘the basic social units of communist society’

1st commune- Henan ‘Sputnik’ July 1958, August- Mao - ‘the people’s commune is great’

acceleration of the communes

By the end of 1958 74,000 cooperatives had been reorganised into 26,000 communes (approx 5,500 households)

party claimed 99% of peasant population lived on communes

who had to be militia members in the communes

everyone aged 15-50

whose ideas did mao use in the great leap forward

lysenko

when did lysenkoism become official policy

1958 - mao drafted an 8 point programme for farmers

when did the great leap forward begin

may 1958

what did mao claim china could do in may 1958

overtake britain by 1965

when was the first people's commune established

april 1958, known as sputnik, in henan

how many households in the first people's commune

9,000 households

how many households put into communes from 1958 - 1960

120 million households

when was the great famine

1958-62

how many died in the great famine

30-50 million

how much of tibet's population died in the great famine

25%

how did the PRC try to wipe out tibetan cultural identity (making the famine worse)

stopped them growing barley, forced the nomadic yak herdsmen into communes

how much grain was requisitioned in 1959

28%

when did mao announce the whole country was collectivised

dec 1958

what record harvest did mao declare in dec 1958

430 million tonnes of grain (actually 200m)

how did mao's position change in dec 1958

stepped down as chairman of the PRC

date of the Lushan conference

july 1959

who told the truth about the glf at the lushan conference

peng dehuai

when were peasants able to keep provate plots of land again

nov 1960

when were Liu SHaoqi and Deng Xiaoping put in charge

1962

how many city dwellers forced to move to the countryside after the glf

25 million

when were food imports from the USA, canada and australia introduced

1961

dates of the first five year plan

1952-56- basic objective was industrialisation

industrial output in 1949- 10-20% of preWW2 output

Mao wanted China to be an autarky

what inflaton rate did the communists inherit in 1949

1000%

date of the sino-soviet treaty

1950

after Korean armistice of 1953- USSR began to support China’s 5YP

how many civilian technicians came to china as part of the sino-soviet treaty

11,000 soviets and eastern europeans

28,000 Chinese technicians invited to study in Russia in order to learn from ‘elder brother’

how much did russia loan china in the sino-soviet treaty

$300 million

156 major industrial enterprises constructed e.g 7 iron and steel plants- some constructed in USSR and shipped to China

what was the only foreign language taught in schools

russian

example of a propogandic public works project in the first five year plan

bridge across Yangtze at Nanjing

when was private ownership ended entirely

1956- large retail firms came under state ownership whilst small shops and services e.g barbers into cooperatives

what was the annual growth rate in the first five year plan

annual growth rate averaged 16%

heavy industrial output nearly tripled

railway freight volume doubled- PLA and resources could be moved around country

dates of the second five year plan

1958-62

when was the responsibility for economic planning moved from the state to the party

feb 1958

what did mao announce in 1957

steel production would quadruple in the next 4 years

what happened to steel targets in may 1958

raised from 6 - 8 million tonnes a year

how much of china's steel was coming from backyard furnaces in sep 1958

14%

how much of china's steel was coming from backyard furnaces in oct 1958

49%

when did it become clear home made steel was useless

spring 1959

evidence of inflation of agricultural production figures during GLF

total announced by 1958 was 375mill tons, but this was revised down to 215mill tons when became clear figures were grossly exaggerated

local rural cadres refused to reveal real conditions in communes- ‘go-all out’ ‘aim high’ ‘faster results’

‘wind of exaggeration’- higher party officials responded by demanding even greater results based on inflated figures

emergency directive as result of famine

November 1960- allowed villagers to keep their private plots of land, side occupations and restored local markets

Li Fuchun- economic planner who told party Mao’s directives had been correct but cadres collectiveluy made mistake in carrying them out

Restoration of private farming by Deng and Liu

1962- Mao called on President Liu and Gen Sec Deng to take responsibility for restoring food prod, ending chaos in countryside - encouraged local officials to make full use of 1960 directive

Agricultural reforms under Deng and Liu

• communes broke into smaller collectives of around 30 households, return to collective style where peasants rewarded for individual inout

• 25mill city dwellers forced to move to countryside- likened to deporting pop size of Belgium

• 1961- massive grain imports from Canada, Aus, USA

• 1965- yield of Chinese grain harvest at 1957 level

• mid 1960s- private production accounted for 1/3 of peasants incomes

who was largely responsible for pragmatic approach to economic planning 1962-5

Chen Yun

Mao welcomed economic improvements of 1960s but reluctant to attribute to retreat from GLF which he described as dangerous revisionism

result of pragmatism in industry (Third 5YP 1962-5)

• factories told to make profit instead of following comm ideology

  • told to make steel, wood and bamboo to make tools carts and boats

• 1965- industrial output almost double 1957

• light industry e.g clothes and furniture- grew at rate of 27% per year

• Heavy industry growing at 17%

• experts sent to Laogai during anti-rightist camp- released and returned to management posts

• end of 1962- availability of tools, boats, carts returned to pre-GLF level

eyewitness to famine

Francois Mitterand- given stage managed tour, convincing him GLF great success (1960)

evidence of the success of deng + liu

agricultural production recovered to 1957 levels

chang and haliday estimate for deaths due to land reform (1951)

3 million

7,000 cadre conference

jan 1962

Liu praised Mao for correct leadership but implied he should share some blame

Mao took blame as Chairman of party but no personal mistakes- withdrew from public life

Short on the agrarian land reform

peasants now "wedded to the new revolutionary order"

how many communes had been set up in 1958

25,000

what were the four pests

sparrows, rats, flies, mosquitoes

how was peng dehuai punished after the lushan conference

put under house arrest for 16 years

when did the ussr withdraw financial support

1960

how did the sino soviet split impact the famine

loss of 300 industrial plants

how did the prc decrease inflation in the first five year plan

introduced the renminbi

what helped to finance industrial investment in the first five year plan

'patriotic savings' - chinese citizens forced to save money in state banks

how much did produce grow by up to 1958

3.8%

how much did grain production fall in the glf

1958 - 200m tonnes of grain, 1960 - 143m tonnes of grain

imports from canada

1961 - 6m tonnes

what did chen boda tell mao about the glf

"you are accomplishing in a day what took capitalism 20 years"

percentage of Tibetans died in famine

25%

negative of 1st 5YP 1949-57

dependence on Soviet investment- high interest rates weighted in Soviet favour

Steel target in 1958

Mao predicted steel output of 100 million tonnes by 1962 (40mill original target)

social contract

Iron rice bowl- workers enjoyed guaranteed jobs, wages and medical benefits (not for peasants)

by how much had industrial production declined by 1960

40% from 1958-59 level- factories had to close due to lack of raw materials (backyard furnaces)

evidence of Deng and Liu’s pragmatism

‘It doesn’t matter if a cat is black or white, so long as it catches the mice’

how was pragmatism of 3RD 5YP long term cause of cultural revolution

Mao returned to political fray summer 1962 at annual party conference, demanding to know whether China was going to take ‘socialist road or the capitalist road’, condemning revisionism of Liu and Deng

Liu and Deng criticized rural capitalism but continued with same economic policy

Political power struggle building up inside party, would come to explode in 1966