The Great Leap Forward, 1958-1962

Background and Aims The First Five Year Plan (1952-1957) had real achievements, but Mao felt that it was too timid, and too dependant on the Russian system. By 1958, Mao wanted to show that China could mobilise its whole population to convert the country, virtually overnight, into an economic superpower. The stated target was to become Britain’s equal in industrial output. Above all, he wanted to show the Russians that China could succeed using its own methods.

Methods for the GLF In Mao’s mind mass popular participation, combined with his own pet scientific theories, would combine to deliver huge success. Huge projects, such as dams, were to be built by hand. Ordinary men and women were encouraged to smelt their own steel. Mao believed that rice and wheat should be planted more densely for higher yields. Sparrows were targeted for mass killing because they ate the seeds that had been planted. Wheat and rice would be requisitioned for the state. A reserve army, The Militia, was set up, to deal with any opposition from peasants.

The impact of the GLF on women’s lives Chinese Communism had promised equality for women (compared to the abuses in traditional Chinese society, e.g. foot binding). We will now look at two sources on how the GLF changed the lives of women. Read each source carefully, noting down the key features, and then explain them to your partner.

A Brief Biography of Li Shuangshuang (1960) Mao’s Great Famine (2010) Summary and evaluative task: Once you and your partner have finished explaining the sources to each other, each of you needs to write an individual summary explaining how they differ in their portrayals of women’s experiences during The Great Leap Forward. Can you give reasons for why they differ so much, thinking about the origins and authorship of the two sources ? A Brief Biography of Li Shuangshuang (1960) Mao’s Great Famine (2010)

Backyard Steel Furnaces

The war on the sparrows

close planting

Intention and consequence in The Great Leap Forward Intention and consequence in The Great Leap Forward. Using your textbooks (or other resources) briefly summarise the differences between the aims and actual outcomes of The Great Leap Forward Action Intention Consequence Setting hugely high grain targets and requisitioning it from the peasants Diverting labour from agriculture to industrial projects Sowing seeds more closely together (close planting) Building dams and other projects by hand with thousands of unskilled labourers War against the sparrows Backyard steel production

Consequences of the Great Leap Forward Historian Frank Dikotter argues that up to 40 million Chinese people died as a result of the policies of the Great Leap Forward.