SGQ #8

Guiding questions:
Compare and contrast the economic and social policies of one left wing and one right wing single-party ruler.
Examine the status of women in two single-party states, each chosen from a different region.

MWH p.415-420

How successful was Mao Zedong in dealing with China's problems?

a. Problems facing Mao in 1949 (after long civil war and war with Japan)
1. railways, roads, canals and dykes had been destroyed and there were chronic food shortages
2. agriculture was inefficient and incapable of feeding the poverty-stricken masses
3. inflation seemed out of control

b. the constitution of 1950
1. who/what had authority for all the main decisions?
the Politburo (chosen by the State Council elected by the Congress)
2. who was eligible to be elected?
only communist party members could stand for election

c. Agricultural changes - what were the two steps taken to collectivize Chinese peasants?
1. land was taken from large landowners and redistributed among peasants
2. peasants were persuaded to join together in co-operative farms in order to increase food production

d. Industrial changes
1. who helped and was the model?
The russians (helped with cash, equipment and advisors)
2. what evidence of success was there?
i. full communications had been restored
ii. inflation was under control and economy was looking much healthier

e. the Hundred Flowers campaign
i. what was a cadre?
a group who organized the masses politically and economically (e.g. carried out collectivization)
ii. why might the cadres be threatened by technicians and engineers?
because the experts might be smarter than cadres and suggest other ways of doing their duties
iii. what was the solution?
Mao decided to allow open discussion and the blooming of "a hundred ideas"
iv. how did that work out for the government?
critics attacked the cadres, government, and Communist Party, so Mao stopped campaign and clamped down on critics
f. Summarize the two main features of the Great Leap Forward:
1. the introduction of communes - larger than collective farms (up to 75,000 people); divided into brigades with elected councils (performed functions of local government).

2. A complete change of emphasis in industry - much smaller factories, and backyard steel furnaces set up. Communes also undertook building roads, canals, dams, reservoirs and irrigation channels.

3. what was the short term effect of the Great Leap Forward?
i. opposition to the communes
ii. a series of bad harvests (1959-61)
iii. withdrawal of all Russian aid (following breach b/w china and russia)

4. what was the long term effect of the Great Leap Forward?
i. agricultural and industrial production increased substantially
ii. by mid 1960s china was managing to feed massive populations without famine
iii. communes resulted in good government control while supplying jobs for everyone, spread of education and welfare services, and an improvement in the position of women in society

g. the Cultural Revolution
1. briefly summarize the differences between the right wing and left wing views within the Party:
RIGHT- thought that incentives for the workers were necessary if the communes were gunna function efficiently and that there should be expert managerial class to push forward with industrialization on the russian model instead of relying on cadres.

LEFT- (included Mao) wanted to avoid all capitalism and keep revolution on a pure Marxist-Leninist course

2. who carried out the Cultural Revolution?
Mao used his position as chairman to stir the masses (propaganda)... his supporters the Red Guards toured the country arguing his case
3. briefly describe the activities which made up the Cultural Revolution:
Red Guards started touring the country uplifting Mao's ideas -> Some of them got out of hand and they started attacking anyone in authority, not just Mao critics -> tons of people were disgraced -> Mao calls in army to restore order -> April 1969 revolution ended

4. what was the impact of the Cultural Revolution?
It caused great disruption, ruined millions of lives, and probably held up China's economic development by 10 years... BUT they recovered in the mid-1970s