The Great Leap Forward 1958-1961
The Great Leap forward
Mao's new economic plan after five years lans criticized
China organized into 28,000 communes
Main factors:
Great industrial and scientific activity
Muscle power used to build,dams, and irrigation
Small communal factories
Famine a huge problem 30,000,000 deaths)
Mao's new economic plan after five years lans criticized
China organized into 28,000 communes
Main factors:
Great industrial and scientific activity
Muscle power used to build,dams, and irrigation
Small communal factories
Famine a huge problem 30,000,000 deaths)
An army without culture is a dull-witted army, and a dull-witted army cannot defeat the enemy
Quote by: Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-Tung)
Mao had toured China and concluded that the Chinese people were capable of anything and the two primary tasks that he felt they should target was industry and agriculture. Mao announced a second Five Year Plan to last from 1958 to 1963. This plan was called the Great Leap Forward.
The Great Leap Forward planned to develop agriculture and industry. Mao believed that both had to grow to allow the other to grow. Industry could only prosper if the work force was well fed, while the agricultural workers needed industry to produce the modern tools needed for modernisation. To allow for this, China was reformed into a series of communes.
The geographical size of a commune varied but most contained about 5000 families. People in a commune gave up their ownership of tools, animals etc so that everything was owned by the commune. People now worked for the commune and not for themselves. The life of an individual was controlled by the commune. Schools and nurseries were provided by the communes so that all adults could work. Health care was provided and the elderly were moved into "houses of happiness" so that they could be looked after and also so that families could work and not have to worry about leaving their elderly relatives at home.
The Great Leap Forward planned to develop agriculture and industry. Mao believed that both had to grow to allow the other to grow. Industry could only prosper if the work force was well fed, while the agricultural workers needed industry to produce the modern tools needed for modernisation. To allow for this, China was reformed into a series of communes.
The geographical size of a commune varied but most contained about 5000 families. People in a commune gave up their ownership of tools, animals etc so that everything was owned by the commune. People now worked for the commune and not for themselves. The life of an individual was controlled by the commune. Schools and nurseries were provided by the communes so that all adults could work. Health care was provided and the elderly were moved into "houses of happiness" so that they could be looked after and also so that families could work and not have to worry about leaving their elderly relatives at home.