The Great Leap Forward

1958 — policy of forming communes to boost agriculture, to increase industrial production, and to make the “great leap” towards communism

mao zedong ( mao tse - tung; 1893 - 1976 ) — chief political leader and theorist of chinese communism
peng dehuai ( peng te - huai; 1898 - 1974 ) — minister of defense who challenged mao’s economic policies
zhou enlai ( chou en-lai; 1898 - 1976 ) — premier of china who was in favor of material incentives to encourage peasant production
chen yun (1905 - 1995) — economic planner who helped china’s recovery from the economic fiasco of the great leap
liu shaoqi ( liu shao-ch’i; 1898 - 1969) — vice chair of the chinese communist party, listed as mao’s probable successor in the early 1960s

as china’s first five year plan (1953 - 1957) was coming to an end, mao and other leaders worried how industry had grown 18.7% and agriculture just 3.8%
- grain production had only increased 1% over the year while population grown 2%
1957 - jan 1958 — 100 million peasants were mobilized to tackle gigantic projects such as building irrigation canals and dams, resulting in 7.8 million hectares of land being opened up for agriculture