Mao’s Domestic Policies – Part I

First Five Year Plan – 1953 1957

Mao wanted China to “walk on two legs” – develop both agriculture and industry at the same time Soviet Union assisted with $300 million and 10,000 Russian engineers Targeted the development of heavy industry: coal, steel, chemicals, automobile, and transport

Effects of the First Five Year Plan

Failure to meet the targets established by The National Resource Committee was the equivalent of failing China Overall industrial output increased 15.5% per year (faster than the target of 14.7%) However, less people worked on farms, so food production increased at an average of 2% per year, compared to 14% from 1949-52

Hundred Flowers Campaign (1957)

Mao indicated his supposed willingness to consider different opinions about how China should be governed Given the freedom to express themselves, the Chinese began opposing the Communist Party and questioning its leadership

Anti-Rightist Campaign (1957 & 59)

This was initially tolerated and even encouraged. However, after a few months, Mao's government reversed its policy They persecuted those who criticized, and were alleged to have criticized, the Party This was called The Anti-Rightist Campaign

Results of the Anti-Rightist Campaign

700,000 intellectuals were thrown out of their positions and professions In every factory, 5% of the workers had to be denounced as “rightists” All were sent to the countryside for reform – many died of malnutrition, illness, cold, overwork, and accidents doing unfamiliar jobs Some were executed or committed suicide

Looking Back on the Hundred Flowers & Anti-Rightist Campaigns

Two Opinions on the Hundred Flowers Campaign: – From the start, it was a sneaky way to discover who truly opposed Mao – Mao intended to weaken those within his party who opposed him by having them bicker between themselves, but it backfired when people criticized him more than he intended

Great Leap Forward – Second Five Year Plan (1958-1962)

Collectivization became the official policy. China’s land was divided into 70,000 communes He hoped that it would help unemployment and cause a genuine communal unity He accused peasants of hiding grain and used force against them The food would be traded for money to buy weapons or used for fuel

Policies Under the Great Leap Forward

Forests were stripped of trees to be used as fuel for factories, so deforestization resulted Anything that peasants could melt down into steel was put in backyard furnaces, but the steel was poor quality and led to poor equipment being created Mao ordered huge drives to build irrigation systems using poor equipment. Some of these projects are still unstable today Mao also wanted to raise output in factories, so common sense and rules went to the wayside in the name of speed. Accidents frequently caused tens of thousands of deaths

Results of the Great Leap Forward

38 million died of: – Being worked to death – Others were killed, tortured, or imprisoned – Famine (the average daily calorie intake was 1,534.8 for men and 1,200 for women – Aushwitz got between 1,300-1,700 calories per day) Heavy industry developed (although it was still behind most large industrial countries) Agriculture lagged behind

Results of the Great Leap Forward

Agriculture failed because: – Unscientific agricultural methods were used – There was a shortage of agricultural labor because of peasants working on industrial projects – The peasants disliked losing their private lots – Natural disasters – droughts and floods – Peasants didn’t work hard because grain was taken from them

Results of the Great Leap Forward

As a result of the failure on the Great Leap Forward, Mao retired from the post of chairman of the People's Republic of China His place as head of state was taken by Liu Shaoqi, but Mao remained important in determining overall policy

He’s Baaaaaaack!

In the early 1960s Mao became highly critical of the foreign policy of the Soviet Union. He was upset that: – Nikita Khrushchev denounced Stalin – Khrushchev was the head of the communist world – Khrushchev backed down over the Cuban Missile Crisis

Mao staged this media event – him swimming in the Yangze River – to indicate that he was still vigorous and capable to lead China

Cultural Revolution (1966-68)

The purpose of this movement was to: – Restore Mao’s power and control – Get rid of Soviet style communism – Renew the spirit of revolution in China – Destroy the rise of differentiation between the proletariat and bourgeois (he believed a hierarchy was increasing in development)

Cultural Revolution (1966-68)

Red Guards (groups of youths who banded themselves together) were encouraged to criticize those who Mao deemed untrustworthy with regards to the direction he wanted China to take. No-one was safe from criticism Schools were seen as being elitist, so they were closed. Students were encouraged to work beside peasants in the countryside to enhance their understanding of the revolution Everyone had a file on them, many were tortured or killed (500,000), humiliated in public, committed suicide, or sent to labor camps

In this photo taken in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China, on Aug. 25, 1966, the staff of the Heilongjiang Daily newspaper criticize Luo Zicheng, leader of the committee work group of the Provincial Communist Party, claiming that he follows "the capitalist line" and "opposes the revolutionary mass movement." His dunce cap announces his "crimes."

Cultural Revolution (1966-68)

There was a cult of Mao that was built up Society was inundated with Mao’s face, quotes, statues, posters and other forms of propaganda Little Red Book was published in 1963 and people were encouraged to read it as their “Bible”. Schools used it in their curriculum

Why Take Part?

Mao would terrorize those who didn’t Mao promised to make a classless society Red Guards could do what they wanted and could be violent Taking part in politics was something no one had been allowed to do under Mao, so they were excited

Cultural Revolution (1966-68)

Eventually the terror turned to anything cultural, including art and artists. Culture was wiped out, as the image of Mao had to replace everything The Red Guards confiscated tons of valuables, which was then sold or destroyed Then the terror turned to Party officials, his real target Eventually Liu Shaoqi was ousted from the party, ending the Cultural Revolution, although some believe it ended with Mao’s death in 1976

Burning of Buddhas Burning of Books & Old Culture

Results of the Cultural Revolution

Many suffered and died (500,000 – 2 million) Housing space increased An entire generation lost much of its schooling Intellectuals suffered most There was a loss of cultural heritage

Mao’s Educational Policies

The CCP were reliant on Soviet help: – 600 Russians taught in Chinese universities – 36,000 Chinese had studied at Russian universities The illiteracy rate improved and so did school attendance, but not as much as it could’ve been because of the Cultural Revolution Students were taught about Mao and the ideology

The Arts, Media, & Propaganda

When speaking about the Cultural Revolution (1966 1970), Mao said, “Our purpose is to ensure that literature and art fit well into the whole revolutionary machine as a component party, that they operate as powerful weapons for uniting and educating the people and for attacking and destroying the enemy, and that they help people fight the enemy with one heart and one mind” Students were to make “big-character posters” which would called for students to cut class and travel across the country to meet other young activists and propagate Mao Zedong’s ideas

The Arts, Media, & Propaganda

During the Cultural Revolution: – Red Guards broke into people’s homes burned books, cut up paintings, trampled records and broke musical instruments – Films were censored by Mao’s wife – Writers wore large insulting wooden plaques hung from thin wire around their necks – Many artists and other people were beaten and sent to reeducation camps – There was a loss of cultural heritage