Part 2: The Great Leap Forward

Summary

About ten years after the Communists' victory in the civil war, China initiated a doctrine called the Great Leap Forward. They intended to rapidly improve their industrial and agricultural output by focusing on the human workforce rather than on machinery and other methods that China couldn't take advantage of at the time.

Land Reclamation

In the early years of the People's Republic of China, their plan began with land reclamation, where they took the land from its landowners and divided this land among the peasants.

Communes

The Chinese government's idea for quickly developing their economy and industry in a way was the commune. Introduced in 1958, the People's Communes were clusters of people living together in a way where each commune was self-sustainable. The communes were all divided into smaller groups or teams that were each tasked with certain duties for the commune. These people could also group with people from other communes to achieve a bigger or more complicated goal. As China didn't have the resources to help develop all the poorer communities, the commune system heavily focused on collaboration and self-sustenance to grow efficiently and rapidly.

The Great Famine

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, there was widespread famine. This was mainly due to natural disasters that occurred that greatly diminished agricultural output as well as issues caused by the Great Leap Forward. Though the famine claimed the lives of some 20-30 or possibly even 45 million people, the CCP made extensive efforts to effectively erase the event from history through propaganda.

The End of the Great Leap Forward

Along with all the inherent issues that came with the commune system, China's implementation was rushed, leading to situations such as where people were melting items in furnaces in their backyards to produce steel. In addition, China had a heavier focus on the community as a whole rather than the individuality of its citizens in the form of its commune system. This resulted in a lack of incentive for the people to work, as hardworking individuals benefited equally to those who didn't work as hard. China's attempts at accomplishing equality led to a weakened focus on people's actual skills in a specific task. This often resulted in someone being assigned a job they were not "meant for" or very good at doing. The commune system was not as efficient as it was intended to be, which, along with the famine and the stopping of support from the USSR, led to the downfall and demise of the Great Leap Forward. So, in early 1960, Mao started canceling the laws and systems involved.