The Great Leap Forward (1958-62)

Summary

The video explores Mao Zedong's efforts to transform China through industrialization and collectivization during the Great Leap Forward, initiated in 1958. Following the Soviet model initially, Mao aimed to modernize China by boosting agricultural and industrial production. Rural communes were formed, and peasants were mobilized to work in agriculture and backyard steel production. However, poor planning, ecological missteps, and food shortages led to widespread famine, causing millions of deaths. The Great Leap Forward ultimately failed, resulting in Mao losing influence within the Communist Party, though he retained power and later launched the Cultural Revolution in 1966.

Takeaways

• 📅 In 1949, the Communist Party of China, led by Mao Zedong, won the Chinese Civil War and set out to transform the country.
• 🏭 Mao sought to modernize China, focusing initially on heavy industry with the first Five-Year Plan in 1952, emulating the Soviet model.
• 🌾 The vast majority of China's population lived in rural areas, making it difficult to grow heavy industry and expand agricultural production.
• 🌍 Mao introduced the Great Leap Forward in 1958, rejecting the Soviet model and decentralizing decisions to increase agricultural and industrial output.
• 🏘️ Communes were established, with millions of peasants forced into collective farming and industrial work, eliminating small-scale farming.
• 🔨 'Walking on Two Legs' was a key slogan, encouraging agricultural workers to contribute to both farming and industry, such as working in backyard furnaces.
• 🔥 Initial results seemed positive due to good weather, but soon labor shortages, poor management, and unusable steel production became apparent.
• 🌿 Ecological disasters like vermin infestations occurred due to misguided policies like exterminating sparrows and deep plowing.
• 🍚 Severe famine broke out in the countryside, worsened by natural disasters, over-optimism, and grain being exported despite shortages.
• ⚰️ Estimates of the death toll from the Great Leap Forward range from 18 million to 45 million, and Mao eventually scaled back his policies after internal criticism.

Q & A

What was the main goal of the Communist Party of China after their victory in 1949?

The main goal was to radically transform China, modernizing it from a politically weak and traditional country into an industrialized and powerful state.

Why did Mao Zedong focus on the countryside for economic reforms after the first five-year plan?

Mao focused on the countryside because four-fifths of the population lived in rural areas, and the country lacked sufficient industrial workers. Additionally, agricultural production wasn't high enough to support further industrial expansion.

What were the communes, and why were they established during the Great Leap Forward?

Communes were large-scale collective farms where individual small holdings were eliminated, and peasants worked together. They were established to increase agricultural efficiency, generate surplus food, and help rural workers contribute to industrial production.

What role did propaganda play in the Great Leap Forward?

Propaganda played a key role in encouraging mass support for collectivization policies. It promoted efforts such as scaring away sparrows and supporting communal kitchens, fostering enthusiasm for the Great Leap Forward.

What was Mao's strategy for balancing agricultural and industrial production, and what slogan captured this approach?

Mao's strategy involved having rural workers contribute to both agriculture and industry, captured by the slogan 'Walking on Two Legs.' Peasants worked in countryside factories and backyard furnaces to produce iron and steel.

What were some of the major issues that emerged by the end of 1958 during the Great Leap Forward?

Some major issues included over-optimism leading to food shortages, ineffective and unusable steel production, labor shortages in agriculture, and ecological imbalances caused by misguided policies like the sparrow extermination campaign.

How did the Great Leap Forward contribute to the ecological imbalance in China?

The campaign to scare or kill sparrows led to an ecological imbalance, causing a population explosion of crop-eating insects, which had no natural predators to keep them in check.

What were the consequences of over-reporting agricultural success during the Great Leap Forward?

Over-reporting led to local officials sending excessive grain to the cities, causing severe food shortages and starvation in rural areas. This was compounded by natural disasters like droughts and floods in 1959 and 1960.

What was the estimated death toll of the Great Leap Forward, and what caused such a high number of deaths?

The estimated death toll ranged from 18 to 45 million people. The high death toll was caused by widespread famine, exacerbated by agricultural failures, poor policies, and Mao's refusal to accept foreign aid.

How did the Chinese Communist Party respond to the failures of the Great Leap Forward by 1962?

By 1962, many of Mao's economic and policy decisions were taken over by others within the Communist Party. The communes were scaled back, individual farming was allowed again, and industrial workers were given greater incentives.

Outlines

00:00

🏛️ The Communist Party's Rise and Early Policies

In 1949, after winning the Civil War, the Communist Party of China, led by Mao Zedong, sought to radically transform China from a politically weak, traditional, and largely rural society into a modern industrial power. They modeled their first five-year plan in 1952 after the Soviet Union’s industrialization efforts, focusing heavily on urban heavy industry. However, with four-fifths of the population in rural areas and insufficient agricultural production, the workforce was unable to support the desired level of industrial growth. Mao shifted focus to rural China, aiming to modernize its deeply traditional society through land reform and collectivization, hoping to increase both agricultural and industrial production. His ultimate goal was to create a communist society capable of rivaling the USA and USSR, which led to the introduction of the Great Leap Forward in 1958, rejecting the Soviet model and pushing for massive agricultural communes to increase efficiency and production.

05:01

🚜 The Great Leap Forward and Rural Collectivization

The Great Leap Forward in 1958 sought to decentralize decision-making in agriculture and politics, emphasizing ideology over technical expertise. The creation of large communes, some with over 20,000 people, aimed to boost agricultural output by organizing peasants into collective labor. The government hoped this would lead to a surplus of food to support the industrial workforce and allow agriculture and industry to grow together. The communes provided services like childcare and care for the elderly, freeing up laborers to focus on work. Propaganda played a large role in garnering support for the policy, with campaigns like 'Walking on Two Legs,' which had agricultural workers contribute to industrial production by working in rural factories and backyard furnaces. Despite initial enthusiasm, these efforts began to unravel due to labor shortages on farms, poor steel production, and other inefficiencies.

Keywords

💡Communist Party of China

The ruling political party in China that came to power in 1949 under the leadership of Mao Zedong after a brutal civil war. In the context of the video, it refers to the party's efforts to transform China into a modern industrial state by implementing various policies, including the Great Leap Forward, aimed at drastically altering the economy and society.

💡Great Leap Forward

A campaign initiated by Mao Zedong in 1958 as part of the second Five-Year Plan, aimed at rapidly transforming China from an agrarian society into an industrial superpower. The video explains how this campaign involved collectivization of farms, forced labor in communes, and efforts to increase steel production, ultimately leading to widespread famine and millions of deaths.

💡Five-Year Plan

An economic planning strategy modeled after the Soviet Union, aimed at boosting industrial production and modernizing the economy. The video mentions the first Five-Year Plan of 1952, which focused on heavy industry, and the second Five-Year Plan (1958), also known as the Great Leap Forward, which focused on increasing agricultural and industrial output but ended in disaster.

💡Collectivization

The policy of consolidating individual farms into large, state-run communes where peasants worked collectively. The video explains how collectivization in rural China was a major feature of the Great Leap Forward, designed to increase agricultural efficiency and contribute to industrial production. However, it caused severe food shortages and inefficiency.

💡Commune

A large collective farm in rural China created under Mao's policies during the Great Leap Forward. In the video, communes are described as containing thousands of peasants working together to increase agricultural production, but they ultimately failed to meet their goals and contributed to the famine.

💡Backyard Furnaces

Small furnaces set up by peasants in their communes during the Great Leap Forward to smelt steel, often using household items like cooking pots and radiators as raw materials. The video discusses how this initiative aimed to boost industrial output but produced unusable steel, further demonstrating the flawed execution of Mao's policies.

💡Starvation

A tragic consequence of the Great Leap Forward, as millions of people in rural areas starved due to the collapse of food production and mismanagement of resources. The video details how local officials, under pressure to meet production quotas, withheld grain from peasants, leading to widespread famine and deaths estimated to be between 18 and 45 million.

💡Propaganda

The use of media and messaging to promote the policies of the Communist Party and garner support for the Great Leap Forward. The video notes how propaganda encouraged people to take part in actions like scaring away sparrows to protect crops, which reflected the government's attempts to mobilize public enthusiasm for Mao's policies, even when those actions were counterproductive.

💡Sparrow Campaign

Part of a broader ecological intervention during the Great Leap Forward, this campaign encouraged peasants to kill sparrows to prevent them from eating crops. The video explains how this policy backfired, causing an ecological imbalance that led to an increase in crop-destroying insects, further contributing to agricultural failure.

💡Political Rivalry

Internal conflict within the Communist Party, particularly over the Great Leap Forward. The video highlights how Mao's political power and suspicions of his rivals led to purges of those who criticized his policies, exacerbating the disaster by preventing open discussion about the plan’s failures and forcing local officials to continue implementing harmful policies.

Highlights

In 1949, the Communist Party of China, led by Mao Zedong, emerged victorious after a brutal Civil War and began efforts to radically transform China.

China was highly populated but politically weak, traditional, and lacking in industry, prompting the Communist Party to modernize the country through the Soviet-inspired first five-year plan in 1952.

A key issue was the imbalance between industrial and agricultural labor, with four-fifths of the population living in rural areas, limiting the growth of heavy industry.

Mao turned to rural China, initiating land reforms and collectivization, aiming to increase both agricultural and industrial production.

In 1958, Mao introduced the second five-year plan, known as the Great Leap Forward, which rejected the Soviet model and decentralized decision-making.

The Great Leap Forward aimed to create agricultural surpluses through large communes of 20,000 or more people, while also organizing rural workers to contribute to industrial production.

Backyard furnaces were established, where inexperienced rural laborers attempted to produce steel by melting down everyday items, a key part of the 'Walking on Two Legs' slogan.

Although early signs seemed promising, the success was largely due to unusually good weather, and by late 1958, issues with overconsumption of the harvest and low-quality steel production began to surface.

Ecological disruptions, such as the destruction of sparrows, led to a surge in crop-eating pests, further harming agriculture.

Mao began considering scaling back the Great Leap Forward, but political rivalries and purges discouraged officials from voicing concerns.

The combination of natural disasters, bad policy, and grain exportation led to widespread famine in the countryside, with laborers failing to meet quotas starving to death.

The famine became so severe that it resulted in widespread starvation, with accounts of cannibalism and murder, as well as the consumption of non-food items.

Mao continued to export grain and refused foreign aid to maintain his image, even as famine spread to urban areas.

The death toll from the Great Leap Forward ranges from 18 million to 45 million, making it one of the deadliest man-made disasters.

By 1962, Mao was blamed for the failure, and power over economic and policy decisions shifted to other leaders, though Mao retained significant influence, eventually launching the Cultural Revolution in 1966.

Transcripts

In 1949 the Communist Party of China had emerged victorious after a brutal and bitter Civil War.

Their leader, Mao Zedong,

Said about radically transforming China, which despite being a vast and highly populated country,

was politically weak,

very traditional and lacking in industry.

The communists began to modernize China.

Drawing up the first five-year plan in 1952,

emulating the soviet model of Industrialization.

This saw extensive investment in heavy industry within the cities, in the attempt to increase production.

The problem was that in a nation where four fifths of the populaton lived in rural areas,

there simply wasn't enough people working in heavy industry to allow it to grow to the desired levels.

As well as this, the rate of agricultural food production wasn't high enough

to allow the industrial workforce to expand further and keep the workers fed.

Mao, therefore turned his attention to the countryside.

Rural China was deeply traditional. With society based on the family and deference to the elderly.

Peasants would work the land in small family groups

keeping most of their harvest and selling on small amounts.

For Mao, seeking to build a communist society,

in which everyone worked for the state, and a nation which could rival the USA and USSR;

this needed to change.

Land reform, where estates had been taken from rich landowners and redistributed to the peasants

had taken place shortly after the communists had come to power.

Collectivization, where peasants lost their own pieces of land,

and instead worked for wages on land owned by the state, had also begun to take place.

Mao believed this wasn't enough to expand both agricultural and industrial production,

and instead introduced the second five-year plan, in 1958

This would become known as the Great Leap Forward.

The Soviet model of development was now rejected.

Agricultural and political decisions were decentralized.

Technical expertise within the state bureaucracy were now distrusted with political ideology emphasized.

The plan was designed to get laborers in the countryside working at full capacity.

This would allow an agricultural surplus.

Part of which could be forcibly purchased by the government in order to feed industrial workers

and expand production in the cities.

The plan also sought to find a method to organize rural workers to directly contribute to industrial production.

To achieve all of these objectives, the establishment of communes was ordered on a vast scale.

In a matter of months, millions of peasants were forcibly banded together in large scale communes

numbering 20,000 or more people.

These communes meant the complete end to individual small holdings.

As now, all farmers in the commune were responsible for the collective performance of their land

It was hoped that labour would be more efficient and food production would grow rapidly.

Therefore helping agriculture and industry to grow together.

And prevent the food shortages that had held back industry before.

The organization of the communes also provided childcare facilities for the very young.

And houses of happiness for the elderly.

Freeing up workers to do their jobs

Backing was received for the collectivization policy by a wide-ranging programme of propaganda.

People were encouraged to contribute however they could,

such as banging pots to deter sparrows from eating the crops.

Or shooting them down.

Millions supported the Great Leap Forward enthusiastically at first.

Especially as it meant readily available food in the commune kitchens

regardless of how much work an individual had done.

The policy also gave great power away, and to influence to local officials in the countryside,

who had the role of managing their communes.

Mao also wanted agricultural workers to contribute to industry, under the slogan "Walking on Two Legs".

Agricultural workers were drafted from their jobs as farmers to work in the countryside factories.

Backyard furnaces were also established

where farmers with little to no experience would produce iron and steel.

Everything from cooking pots to radiators were to be melted down,

while wooden furniture and trees became fuel.

The plan was to increase Chinese steel production from five million tons a year in 1957,

to a massive 100 million tons annually by 1962.

Towards the autumn of 1958 it seemed to many as though things were going well.

However, the reality was hidden by the uncommonly good weather of that year,

which had led high levels of agricultural production.

By the end of the year some officials were beginning to worry in the knowledge that

over-optimism had led rural workers to eating too much of the harvest.

Leaving stockpiles for the winter and spring of the following year dangerously low.

Many also recognised the fact that a large proportion of laborers

lacked the Incentive to work in such large communes.

Or that transport and supply problems were causing issues.

The steel, which was being produced by rural laborers, was also found to be unusable.

And much of it was left to rust.

Drafting so many agricultural workers into the factories had caused a shortage of labor on the farms.

Scaring or shooting sparrows till they dropped causes severe ecological imbalance.

It resulted in an explosion in the vermin population.

Including crop eating insects, now with no predators.

Deep plowing was another policy that caused great harm to crops.

Instead of planting seeds in the normal shallow depths,

they were to be planted 5 feet or 1.5 meters deep into the soil.

And extremely close together.

The result was that this severely stunted the growth of the seeds due to overcrowding.

Mao soon began to talk of scaling back the Great Leap Forward.

However, political rivalry and suspicions soon intervened.

With Mao ordering purges carried out against those who criticized his policy.

This had the effect of encouraging local officials, desperate to protect their positions,

to continue to support the Great Leap Foward.

At times, even more keenly than they had done before.

Therefore, despite the fact that agricultural production had not expanded,

these officials did not dare question orders,

requiring them to send a large proportion of the grain that did remain to the cities.

This had the effect of terrible starvation in the countryside.

Which became even worse with bad droughts and floods in the harvests of 1959 in 1960

The communal kitchens, where rice have been freely given in 1958,

was now severely rationed in what people received.

And in the worst cases there was nothing available at all

Laborers who didn't meet their quotas would not receive their food rations.

So those who were unable to work, starved to death.

There were accounts of people eating everything living or growing that was left.

Goose, cats, dogs.

Lime plaster of walls, and the leaves and bark off trees were consumed.

After these were gone people even resorted to cannibalism and murder to feed their extreme hunger.

Despite the famine in the countryside, Mao continued to export grain worldwide,

and refused any foreign aid to maintain face and convince people that his plans were working.

As the food supply going to the cities began to dwindle,

famine also had urban areas.

The death toll for the Great Leap Forward at the lower end estimate, is said to be 18 million.

While upper estimates find that some 45 million people died.

Mao was held responsible for this catastrophe by many people within the Chinese Communist Party.

He remained as party chairman,

but by 1962, many decisions to do with policy and the economy were taken over by other people.

The communes were scaled back.

Individual farming was once again permitted.

And industrial workers were given greater incentives to work hard.

Mao, though, remained a powerful figure.

Able to launch the Cultural Revolution in 1966.