A New China

Minimizing the opposition Peasants were encouraged to confront their former landlords in “struggle meetings”. More than five million landlords may have perished during this time. This potentially solved two problems: The peasants were given land that was promised them and the agrarian elite was no longer in a position to oppose Mao.

The Antis’ Three Antis’: Designed to go after the evils of waste, corruption, and bureaucracy, it was directed against party members, government officials, and business owners. The Five Antis’: Targeted cheating on govt. contracts, stealing state economic information,, tax evasion, theft of state property, and bribery. Employees in private businesses were encouraged to denounce their bosses.

The period of officially designated "transition to socialism" corresponded to China's First Five-Year Plan (1953-57). The period was characterized by efforts to achieve industrialization, collectivization of agriculture, and political centralization.

The First Five-Year Plan stressed the development of heavy industry on the Soviet model. For the purpose of economic planning, the first modern census was taken in 1953; the population of mainland China was shown to be 583 million, a figure far greater than had been anticipated.

Phases of Land Reform Phase 1:Introduction of Mutual Aid Teams of between 3-30 persons, whereby small groups of peasants would work together on a small piece of land. Phase 2: Near the end of 1954, Mutual Aid Teams were merged into larger cooperatives. Theoretically, individual ownership was still retained, but land would be pooled as well.

Phase 3:Collectivization Under the new plan (1956), there was no more private property, and food output was totally under the control of the government. The govt. decided how much peasants could keep for themselves, and they set the prices that would be paid. High quotas needed to be filled. The new philosophy was “state first, then people”. Productivity did not increase.