The second five year plan and the Great Famine - Agriculture and Industry 1949-65

When was the second five year plan?

1958-62

What was the campaign slogan for the second five year plan?

more, faster, better, cheaper

Why did Mao launch the Great Leap Forward?

- competition with Krushchev
- the previous five year plan lead to 18.3 per cent rise in industrial production
- communists were winning the cold war

What were the successes of the second five year plan?

- irrigation made agricultural land more fertile
- tiananmen Square remodelled
- more communist societal structure eg no private property

What were the failures of the Second five year plan?

- atmosphere of competition
- Mao was overconfident, no one felt they could tell him the truth, atmosphere of lying
- due to lying, government bought grain at artificially low prices and grain was exported to USSR to pay loan
- The antirightist campaign meant there were no intellectuals to challenge the plan
- backyard furnaces meant metal was stripped from every source and made useless
- focus on industry meant food was left to rot, people starved
- grain production 1957: 185 million metric tons 1961: 147.5 million metric tons
- caused great famine

What was life like during the Great Famine?

30- 50 million deaths
- 1 million in Tibet died (greatest propotion of population)
- peasants attacked food stores, scavenged tree bark, frogs, toads etc
- anyone caught stealing was sentenced to death
- birth rates plummeted due to women's fertility dropping
- women sold into sex work
- many died from diseases due to weak bodies
- cannibalism

Why was the Great famine so terrible?

- Typhoons in South China, drought in other areas - 60% land affected + 2 million died directly as a result
- Krushchev called scientists back in 1960 meaning less intellectuals
- Anti-rightist campaign, atmosphere of lying

When was the Lushan conference?

July 1959

What was the Lushan Conference?

- conference where Minister of defence Peng Duhuai voiced doubts to Mao over second five year plan in letter given through door after hours
- Mao took this very personally
- resulted in Peng being strupped of his post and banned from politburo (later killed by Red Guard)

When was the economic reform of Liu and Deng?

1962-65

What were the economic reforms of Liu and Deng?

- Jan 1962 Liu gave speech to 7000 cadres dimissing Maos claim that the GLF had a ratio ot 9 successes to 1 failure.
- stated GLF was due to 30% natural disaster and 70% man mad
- adopted agriculture as the foundation of the economy
- communes scaled back, free market allowed
- factories encouraged to make a profit
- intellectuals and bureacrats given bigger inflience

What were the successes of the economic reforms of Liu and Deng? 1962-65

- 1965 agriculture had recovered, same level as 1957
- private production accounted for 1/3 peasant income
- light industry grew by 27% per year
- production of consumer goods doubled