theme 2 - agriculture and industry
Intro
Mao's aim - modernise through urbanisation and industrialisation
agriculture - had to be collectivised in order to feed the urban population
economics - mao dismissed experts, not his strong point
land redistributed from landlords to peasants quickly
collectivisation slow - accelerated in 1955 and completed by 1957
economy had to be stabilised by 1st 5yp - successful
2nd 5yp (great leap forward) - unsuccesful - led to famine
mao refused to take responsibility but allowed a retreat from the great leap forward -
more pragmatic approach 1960s onwards
How did the system of land ownership change during 1949-57?
Attacks on landlordism and the redistribution of land
1950 Agrarian Reform Law - laid down the legal framework under which land reform
took place - claimed to eradicate the exploitation of peasants
legislation needed to restrain overzealous activists from taking the law into their own
hands - what began to happen during civil war
land reform = redistribution
army played a crucial rile in the land reform process - silenced those who might have
been hostile to the new gov, organised work teams
labelling of villages into classes
party - whipped up anti landlord paranoia
'speak bitterness' meetings - denounced and sentenced landlords
image of a peasant led revolution - implicated the peasants
Moves towards agricultural co-operaration
collectivisation began rapidly - didnt want peasant landowners
wanted to learn from russias mistakes and act quickly - they were resistant to change
1951 - ten or so families encouraged to unite to form Mutual Aid Teams - could pool
their labour, animals and equipment
voluntary but those who remained outside struggled to get hold of resources
1952 - successful MATs encouraged to combine and form Agricultural Producers Co
operatives - 40-50 families
families with larger holdings allowed to keep back some land for their personal use -
incentive
The change from voluntary to enforced collectivisation
mao frustrated at slow pace in which the APC system was developing - continued a
cautious approach however
poor planning due to rushing - gone into debt - mao called for a slowdown in 1953
stablilisation in 1954 - peasants started buying and selling land and food - capitalism -
infuriated mao
, previous slowdown condemned - put pressure back on peasants to join APCs
resistance - slaughtering of animals etc
1954 - harvest was poor - increasing requisitioning to feed the cities - caused much
rural protest
mao did another u turn as a reslut and called a halt to APC development for the next
18 months
6 months later - Mao went all out on collectivsation - full scale drive to start
immediately - fear that supplies to the cities would cont to be unreliable if peasants
owned the land
most of the new APCs classed as HPCs - 200-300 households
peasants no longer owned the land or the equipment - profits of the year shared out
according to work points - unfair system
ideologically - massive success - state owned the means of production, the food, the
land
politically - more mixed - had been carried out quickly - showed maos authority
however - showed a change in the relationship between CCP and peasants (now
slaves)
made mao dangerously overconfident - led to catastrophic mistakes in the Great Leap
Forward
economic - impact dissapointing - agricultural production had increased insufficiently
could not sustain the urban workforce - urban pop outnumbered peasant pop
peasants demotivated
lack of state investment
What was the impact of the peoples communes after 1958?
reasons for launching the Communes
mao delighted with the speed of collectivsation
continued to seek ways to maximise food production - accelerate industrial growth
thought he had the support of peasants
maos determination to prevent the revolution from losing impetus
How the communes were organised
walking on two legs - development of agriculture and industry
labour force to be mobilised on water conservency and civil engineering schemes
production of steel and grain given equal priority
first commune in Henan province - involved the merging of 27 collectives - used them
as a model to inspire others
750,000 collectives merged into 26,000 communes
not possible to move elsewhere without an internal passport
Communal living
shift to the commune system - exercise in rebranding - extra sense of communal
identity
at together in communal canteens and slept in dormitories
peasants working lives directed by new management teams - divided into production
teams
Intro
Mao's aim - modernise through urbanisation and industrialisation
agriculture - had to be collectivised in order to feed the urban population
economics - mao dismissed experts, not his strong point
land redistributed from landlords to peasants quickly
collectivisation slow - accelerated in 1955 and completed by 1957
economy had to be stabilised by 1st 5yp - successful
2nd 5yp (great leap forward) - unsuccesful - led to famine
mao refused to take responsibility but allowed a retreat from the great leap forward -
more pragmatic approach 1960s onwards
How did the system of land ownership change during 1949-57?
Attacks on landlordism and the redistribution of land
1950 Agrarian Reform Law - laid down the legal framework under which land reform
took place - claimed to eradicate the exploitation of peasants
legislation needed to restrain overzealous activists from taking the law into their own
hands - what began to happen during civil war
land reform = redistribution
army played a crucial rile in the land reform process - silenced those who might have
been hostile to the new gov, organised work teams
labelling of villages into classes
party - whipped up anti landlord paranoia
'speak bitterness' meetings - denounced and sentenced landlords
image of a peasant led revolution - implicated the peasants
Moves towards agricultural co-operaration
collectivisation began rapidly - didnt want peasant landowners
wanted to learn from russias mistakes and act quickly - they were resistant to change
1951 - ten or so families encouraged to unite to form Mutual Aid Teams - could pool
their labour, animals and equipment
voluntary but those who remained outside struggled to get hold of resources
1952 - successful MATs encouraged to combine and form Agricultural Producers Co
operatives - 40-50 families
families with larger holdings allowed to keep back some land for their personal use -
incentive
The change from voluntary to enforced collectivisation
mao frustrated at slow pace in which the APC system was developing - continued a
cautious approach however
poor planning due to rushing - gone into debt - mao called for a slowdown in 1953
stablilisation in 1954 - peasants started buying and selling land and food - capitalism -
infuriated mao
, previous slowdown condemned - put pressure back on peasants to join APCs
resistance - slaughtering of animals etc
1954 - harvest was poor - increasing requisitioning to feed the cities - caused much
rural protest
mao did another u turn as a reslut and called a halt to APC development for the next
18 months
6 months later - Mao went all out on collectivsation - full scale drive to start
immediately - fear that supplies to the cities would cont to be unreliable if peasants
owned the land
most of the new APCs classed as HPCs - 200-300 households
peasants no longer owned the land or the equipment - profits of the year shared out
according to work points - unfair system
ideologically - massive success - state owned the means of production, the food, the
land
politically - more mixed - had been carried out quickly - showed maos authority
however - showed a change in the relationship between CCP and peasants (now
slaves)
made mao dangerously overconfident - led to catastrophic mistakes in the Great Leap
Forward
economic - impact dissapointing - agricultural production had increased insufficiently
could not sustain the urban workforce - urban pop outnumbered peasant pop
peasants demotivated
lack of state investment
What was the impact of the peoples communes after 1958?
reasons for launching the Communes
mao delighted with the speed of collectivsation
continued to seek ways to maximise food production - accelerate industrial growth
thought he had the support of peasants
maos determination to prevent the revolution from losing impetus
How the communes were organised
walking on two legs - development of agriculture and industry
labour force to be mobilised on water conservency and civil engineering schemes
production of steel and grain given equal priority
first commune in Henan province - involved the merging of 27 collectives - used them
as a model to inspire others
750,000 collectives merged into 26,000 communes
not possible to move elsewhere without an internal passport
Communal living
shift to the commune system - exercise in rebranding - extra sense of communal
identity
at together in communal canteens and slept in dormitories
peasants working lives directed by new management teams - divided into production
teams
