The Great Leap Forward

The Great Leap Forward

Lisa SteffenFrederique Kramer

What was it?• 1958• Chinas attempt to

break with the Russian Model of communism

• To catch up with more advanced nation

• Great Leap forward into modernization

What did it include?• Militant 5-year plan• Promoted technology• Agricultural self-

sufficiency • Labor intensive

methods• Collectivized farming on

a massive scale

How did it work?• Fields were ploughed over, factories were

constructed• Profits and benefits for families

Changes in agriculture• Large agricultural

communes created (over 23 000)

• Ran own collective farms and factories

• Many farmers had little knowledge about new farming techniques

• 20 million people starved

Industrialization• Mao wanted to

increase steel production drastically and quickly

• Many people became workers of the state, and forced into factories

• Great industrial investment, but left too little people for food production

• Led to starvation

Backyard Furnaces• Steel furnaces

were installed in the communes

• People had to give up steel products to be used for the state

• No success – steel produced was of poor quality

Successes

• Speed of establishment of communes was astounding

• Initially, steel, coal, chemicals, timber, cement etc all showed huge rises, 11 million tons of iron added to industry

• Nurseries, healthcare, “houses of happiness”

Failures• Turning point 1959• 30+ million people died, starvation,

exhaustion• Cultural and environmental damages• Iron production not increased

(furnaces)• Poor arrangement of work• Product quality• Challenges to Mao Zedong's position

InterpretationsThe millet is scattered over the ground. The leaves of the sweet potato are withered. The young and old have gone to smelt iron. To harvest the grain there are only

children and old women.How shall we get through the next year?

Peng Dehuai

"The chaos caused was on a grand scale, and I take responsibility. Comrades, you must all analyze your own responsibility. If you have to fart, fart. You will feel much better for it."

Mao