Which initiative describes the 'Great Leap Forward' launched by the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 1958 to 1962?

The 'Great Leap Forward' of the People's Republic of China was a transformative economic and social campaign by the Communist Party of China from 1958 to 1962. The campaign was led by Chairman Mao Zedong and aimed to rapidly transform the country from an agrarian economy into a socialist society through rapid industrialization and collectivization. However, it is commonly considered to have created the 'Great Chinese Famine'.

Significant changes in the lives of rural Chinese included the incremental introduction of mandatory agricultural collectivization also called communal farming. Private farming was prohibited and those engaged in it were persecuted and labeled counter-revolutionaries.

It is widely regarded by historians that the 'Great Leap Forward' resulted in tens of millions of deaths. A lower-end estimate is 18 million, while extensive research by Chinese historian Yu Xiguang suggests the death toll from the movement is closer to 55.6 million.

The failure of agricultural policies, the movement of farmers from agricultural to industrial work, and weather conditions contributed to a severe famine. Despite the harmful agricultural innovations, the weather in 1958 was very favorable and a harvest promised to be good. Unfortunately, the amount of labor diverted to steel production and construction projects meant that much of the harvest was left to rot uncollected in some areas. This problem was exasperated by a devastating locust swarm.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

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13 Comments

Robin Percival

If people are going to make political comments about China etc, I wish they first did some background reading first.

Charles Hunt

"This problem was exasperated by a devastating locust swarm." You need to learn the difference between exasperated and exacerbated.

Fred Mayes

we are told "they didn't do it right" and 'we know better now, so it'll work just fine'

Coral Harvey

We laugh but back in the day these plans were given credibility. Plans to curb the growth of families back fired . Chairman Mao was almost suffering from a persecution complex and formed the notion that other nations considered China to be an unsophisticated and uncultured State backward in terms of industry and in commerce and with sky high birthrates which he felt were destroying and sapping the economy. He certainly considered babies as a useless burden to the great Chinese State rather than the valuable and investable additions to any economic stragetic planning of a Country which any leader of insight would know them to be. To combat this he demoted any form of pride the Chinese had in noble family lines. Anyone found guilty of ancestral pride or of hanging on to the idea of greater nobility than his fellow Chinese counterparts were either executed or condemned to work in field or in factory. One of his many dangerous and misguided plans was to pay Chinese citizens s few yen to kill birds whom he thought were to blame for the falure of the crops. He was wrong it was the aphids and rats and mice were to blame. By killing the birds he simply aggravated the problem as birds are the natural predators of ground mammals and aphids who were destroying the crops. Massive crop failure followed making China more dependent on other nations for the import of grains to feed its vast population.

Nicholas Miernicki

Who new that attempting to smelting steel in backyards wouldn't work out...well sure, people with IQ's above room temperature did, but, that didn't include the Commie leadership.

Howard Groopman

Not mentioned specifically here, but China had a series of 5-year plans.

ldross

iqassoc, as opposed to the anti people policy the current administration strives for.

Joseph A. Robitaille

A good guess.

Karin Johansson

mlhoover, do research about socialism. USA was founded on the three socialist words. Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. Or don't you want people to be free, equal and frat? Of course not because people like you want to go back to the 1800s and have slaves!

Karin Johansson

iqassoc, it is not socialist. It was communist nationalist.

Barbara Shaw

I personally remember the Chinese Communist regime Nothing's changed in their philosophy

mlhoover

This socialist experiment created such an upheaval in Chinese society. Families were torn apart. Children from cities were taken from their families to work in fields. Intellectuals were removed from their positions and forced to do menial labor. Socialism requires people to be owned by the state. Individual thought is anathema to socialist thinking and should be ostracized.