Communism in China A.Mao Zedong’s China B.China after Mao C.China’s Economy Today.

Communism in China

A. Mao Zedong’s China

B. China after Mao

C. China’s Economy Today

A. Mao Zedong’s China• Goal was to make China

COMMUNIST• Copies the Soviet Union

under Stalin• Agrarian Reform Law: Mao

seized the land of the wealthy & gave it to the poor

• Five Year Plan (1953-57) – plan to industrialize China with nationalized (government controlled) industries

• Production of coal, cement, steel, & electricity all increased

• Great Leap Forward (1958 - 61)

• Called for communes where 25,000 people lived together to increase agricultural production

• Led to economic disaster and the deaths of 20 million people

• As a result, Mao reduces his role in the government

• Under new leaders, the Chinese could live in their own homes– People still see Mao as their leader, but he has little

power

• Factory workers could compete for wage increases and promotions based on merit

• China NOT REALLY COMMUNIST!

• Cultural Revolution (1966-69)

• Led by the Red Guards – young men who formed a new military group led by Mao

• Wanted to establish a society where everyone was equal

• Goal – make China actually COMMUNIST

• Resulted in violence against intellectuals & closing of ALL schools

B. China after Mao

• Zhou Enlai took control after the Great Leap Forward

• Worried about isolationism of China, opened relations with the West in 1971

• President Nixon visits China in 1972

• 1980 Deng Xiaoping took control of China

• Tried to improve China’s economy, led to widening gap between rich & poor

• Did not allow for political dissent

• Tiananmen Square (1989) –100,000 students gathered to protest lack of political freedom

• Had been exposed to the West (the U.S.) and wanted a democracy

• Deng sent in the troops to remove them – most left.

• 3,000 remained

• Were killed on June 4

• Showed government would not allow dissent

C. China’s Economy Today

• More Capitalist (private ownership) than Socialist (state ownership) with a rigidly controlled government

• China never really became Communist

• Low cost manufacturer – does not produce technology just puts things together.