The Great Leap Forward and Its Failure – Teaching Guide

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Vocabulary of Note

People’s Republic of China – the PRC – the official name of China, and was founded in 1949 following many years of chaos, war and destruction, including the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911, occupation by the Japanese, and a civil war with the Kuomintang, led by Chiang Kai-chek.
Chinese Communist Party, CCP – founded in 1921 in China, that is the only political party in China; it was the winner of the civil war against the Kuomintang government in 1949, which was followed by the establishment of the PRC. Its ideology is officially now “socialism with Chinese characteristics.”
Industrialization – a period of social and economic change to transform a country from farming based (or agricultural or agrarian) to one that has more factories and businesses that manufacture, or make things like clothes, or cars, or computers.
Five Year Plan – in China, a series of economic and social policies issued by the CCP starting in 1953. These plans help the government prioritize their goals in areas like economic growth, industry, or even education.
Soviet Union – The Union of Soviet Socialists Republics, or USSR, was often just referred to as the Soviet Union, and was a collection of 12 countries or republics led by Russia, with its capital in Moscow. It lasted from 1922 – 1991, led first by Vladimir Lenin, and was governed by the Community Party of the Soviet Union.
Cold War – a period between the end of World War II in 1945 and the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 marked by cold, hostile relations between countries in the West, in Europe and the US, and those in the East, which were socialist countries like the Soviet Union and China. There was no large–scale fighting, but constant conflicts and suspicion, and almost no educational exchanges or tourism between the two sides.
People’s Daily – a newspaper in China that is owned by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and is the official “mouthpiece” of the CCP, publishing only official government views.
Socialism – a philosophy, or way of thinking about government and the economy which varies widely, but generally aims to reduce inequality and is partially adopted in almost every country on earth; in the late 19th and early 20th centuries it was seen as anti–capitalist, and a way for control of factories and businesses to be not owned by one or a few wealthy people, but by the state, or communities called cooperatives. China’s government and economy in the 1950s and ‘60s was socialist in that the state owned and controlled almost all ways of making money.
Communism – the stated goal of Marxist-Leninist governments, a form of society where everyone is equal, where all the people are group (or “collective”) owners of things like factories, farms, and businesses (“the means of production”), and where there are no salaries, but the state determines your needs for money, food, or clothing and assigns them to you – called “common ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange.” In a communist society everyone is equal, and no one owns their homes, or cars, or any form of private property.
Marxist Leninist Thought – the theoretical basis of the world communist movement that socialist governments in the 20th century like the Soviet Union, China, Vietnam, North Korea and Cuba used and which aimed to replace unequal capitalist systems where some people are very rich and others poor. It calls for first, the establishment of a socialist state, which would control factories, agriculture, and all forms of economic activity, and would then lead to a communist society (where everyone is equal). The Soviet Union and China employed force and intimidation to implement these policies and suppressed free expression in their efforts to achieve socialism and then communism.
Capitalism – an economic system (as opposed to colonialism, or feudalism, or socialism) and way to organize an economy where individuals own businesses and factories in order to make money (for profit) and governments vary in their intervention to ensure fair practices, but are not owners of businesses, unlike in communism. There are many, many variations of capitalism around the world and throughout history. Socialist leaders rejected capitalism as fostering inequality. Boqtag – Mongol woman’s headdress (also called a “gugu” hat)

Names of Note

Mao Zedong – a Chinese revolutionary leader, the founder of the People’s Republic of China and Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party; his work transforming and liberating China from a poor underdeveloped country after years of war and colonial exploitation into a leading world power in the last 20th century is heralded, but he became a dictator, and his fixation on continuous revolution led to the deaths of nearly 100 million people, and makes his legacy a more tragic, if complicated one.
Liu Shaoqi – an early leader of China’s revolution with Mao who rose to become Vice Chairman of the CCP, and head of state from 1959–68. He was Mao’s designated successor, but by 1961 his opposition to Mao’s policies and commitment to more pragmatic reforms led Mao to reject and then arrest him; Liu was subject to public humiliation as capitalist, beaten, arrested in 1967 and sent to jail, where he died from abuse there in the Cultural Revolution.
Joseph Stalin – a brutal Soviet revolutionary dictator who promoted Marxist-Leninist thought and presided over the early Cold War with the West; like Mao, he promoted a personality cult as hero of the working classes, but sent millions of people to their deaths through repression, ethnic cleansing, executions, and failed policies leading to famines.
Nikita Khrushchev – a briefly popular leader of the Soviet Union who became Premier after a power struggle following Stalin’s death; he denounced Stalin and his brutality and introduced reforms, but was ultimately deposed in 1964Yuan dynasty – dynasty established by the Mongols when they conquered and ruled China (1271–1368); preceded by the Song dynasty and followed by the Ming (the Mongols were considered a “foreign” dynasty, even though they followed much of Chinese custom in governing)

Outline of Presentation with [Timecode]

Structure:

What Led to the GLF? [00:35]

What Happened? [10:33]

What are the Consequences? [26:15]

What led to the GLF? [00:35]

From 1945–57 the CCP was very successful:

the country experienced economic recovery after decades of war, turmoil, and inflation;
There was rapid industrialization with help from the Soviet Union;
A centralized government (based on the Soviet model) was set up, with a constitution;
There was a “Five Year Plan” for social and economic change, also based on the Soviet model;
There was widespread support from the people

BUT, this changes: [2:20]

Domestically: The Soviet model does not work well in China
- It is focused on industry, where factories produce goods, but China is actually mostly agricultural, with farmers and a largely rural population
- It is highly ‘centralized’ meaning that policies are just handed down from the capital to the local areas, from Beijing down
China is engaged in the Korean war and the West refuses to trade (an embargo)

New problems 1957: Tensions in China [3:31]

State and society: The Chinese people, especially intellectuals and people who are not in the Communist Party expected the communist regime to be more liberal and democratic, but it was not
Economic and social tensions:
- Between industry and agriculture
- Between increasingly better off urban areas and still very poor rural areas

International Problems: Break with the Soviet Union [4:17]

The autocratic leader of the Soviet Union Joseph Stalin dies in 1953 and is succeeded by a more reformist Nikita Khrushchev [06:97]
By 1956–57, China sees the Soviet Union as “revisionist” in veering away from Marxist-Leninist thought, and trying to establish better relations with the West, and wants to be the leader of the “socialist camp” of the Cold War

Break in 1957 between radical Maoism and moderate CCP leadership [7:55]

Mao advocates for more radical, faster change
Mao’s chosen successor Liu Shaoqi and other CCP leaders want to be more cautious and focus on economic growth in the second “Five Year Plan”
So Mao reaches out to the people, especially intellectuals, to critique the CCP reformers with a campaign: [9:03]
- “Let 100 Flowers Bloom, Let 100 Schools of Thought Contend”
- But, instead of criticizing the moderates, the people criticize Mao’s radicalism and demand more democratic reforms

So Mao plans a counter-attack: a leap forward [10:33]

Mao wants to reject slow reform and to catch up more quickly with the West, especially the US and the United Kingdom, and repay debts to the Soviet Union
Mao wants to focus on rapidly increasing iron and steel and grain production in industry with specific goals for each area [12:44]
In 1957 a People’s Daily editorial identifies a “Great Leap Forward” that will use mass mobilization to achieve faster economic growth and build up a socialist society [10:26]

Misguided steel production: [13:41]

Steel production is actually very technical and complicated and requires specific materials, iron inputs
China does not have the needed ‘inputs’ and so Mao orders “backyard furnaces” overseen by non experts and people are required to send household items like bowls and spoons to be melted and made into steel

Agriculture [14:24]

To produce more grain, Mao orders farmers plant fields more densely
Mao personally inspects the rural areas and selected harvests
Communes have mass dining halls where food is free
“Bumper” harvests are reported and grain is exported
People earnestly try to meet Mao’s goals in both steel and agricultural production; propaganda to encourage people to work harder is posted everywhere; officials are encouraged to meet production goals

Great Leap Forward: Maoist Ideology, or Ideas [16:16]

According to Mao, for the Great Leap Forward to work, and to increase production, people’s minds must be free, or liberated, as well
If China has continuous revolution it will not become like the Soviet Union, which was “bureaucratized”
Mao’s experiment: Jump from the socialist stage of development more quickly to the communist stage [17:55]
The CCP and China became highly focused on meeting certain goals, in economic development, political organization, and culture.
- Politically, Mao wants to decentralize, or give more power to local governments to make economic decisions
- Mao wants to strengthen the Communist Party by letting it (and its ideology) control more of the government bureaucracy, or administration
- Mao organizes communes, a form of communism, where huge groups of people live and work together; they are required to work in the fields and get free food and housing, sometimes instead of a salary
- Intense propaganda in the form of posters, songs, and slogans, are widely used to encourage people to be more like soldiers, to work hard for the country [21:07]

Disastrous Consequences [21:49]

After the GLF ends it was clear that the economy had not improved, it shrank, or got worse
Steel and grain production actually decreased during that time as well
The death toll [23:19] is at least 43 million people, mostly as a result of a massive famine in the rural areas where there was actually not enough grain or other food (this number is controversial as the exact number is not known)
- The famine as a result of the GLF is the largest human disaster in the entire history of China

Why did it fail? [23:59]

Liu Shaoqi, president at the time, said the failure of the Great Leap Forward was due to “70% human factors, and 30% natural factors” (like draught), which is the official assessment of that period
Steel production is highly technical and requires scientific knowledge, which Mao did not rely on when he set his goals: the steel from backyard furnaces was useless
The ambitious goals in agricultural production were utopian, or impossible to achieve
Local officials had been eager to please their superiors (like Mao) so they lied and claimed they produced much more grain than they really did: they falsified quota numbers and produced unreliable statistics
Because Mao did not know the numbers were false, he thought there was plenty of resources in steel and grain, and started to repay the debt to the Soviet Union by exporting these products [25:55]
So, the failure is really almost entirely caused by people

Political and Economic Consequences: Lasting Effects on the CCP [26:15]

Mao’s intense focus on being radical caused other Party members to fear being labeled as conservative, or revisionist, and so they did not stand up to him. Instead they joined in the radical Maoist efforts and supported bad policies
Officials pretended to go along with policies that they actually disagreed with
Internal divisions were clear at the top between pragmatic leaders and radical ones

Aftermath [27:40]

The CCP’s failed experiment in radical economic and institutional change leads to Mao losing stature, or power in the leadership of China
Moderate leaders like Liu Shaoqi, Mao’s designated successor, were in charge from 1962–66 and redirected policies to improve agriculture and industry
The official Chinese history books refer to this time as “Three Years of Difficult Times” because any stronger criticism about the human failures would make the CCP look bad: it would harm the legitimacy of CCP leadership
Although Mao “retrenched” and briefly receded into the background of government, he never admitted the GLF failures were due to radicalism but instead – it was the fault of the conservatism in the highest ranks of CCP leadership (like Liu Shaoqi)
Mao’s radicalism continues, and several years later he focuses not on creating aggressive, intense economic change, but on mass cultural transformation with the Cultural Revolution (see video on this subject), which also ends in disaster.