THE DOMESTIC POLICIES OF MAO ZEDONG (1952-1969)

THE DOMESTIC POLICIES OF
MAO ZEDONG
(1952-1969)
THE FIVE YEAR PLAN (1952-1957)
A. The Goal:
1. To modernize China’s heavy industry (road
and railway construction, steel production,
etc)
2. Increase agricultural production
3. Within 5 years
4. Using the Soviet Union as a model
B. The Effects:
1. Population in cities grows by 30%
2. Industrial and agricultural production
increases
3. Establishes a stable government
C. Mao Breaks from Soviets (1956)
1. Felt process was moving too slowly
2. Felt China should rely less on machines and
more on the human spirit and equality
THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD (19581961)
A. The Goal:
1. To “leap” ahead of the Soviet Union
2. To become a truly communist nation
3. To industrialize quickly enough to catch up with
Great Britain
B. Keys To The Great Leap Forward
1. Use China’s manpower to develop he
countryside
– build hydroelectric power stations, railroads, bridges,
canals, highways, etc.
2. People’s Communes
– joining a number of small farms together in an area to
form one large work place
– some as large as 25,000 people
– Mao felt that mass labor would increase agricultural
productions without the cost of modern equipment
C. Reasons for Failure of the Great Leap Forward
1. poor management of communes
2. peasants exhausted from working long
hours
3. peasants paid according to need, not
production
4. huge food shortages throughout China
THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION (19661969)
A. Causes
1. Failure of Great Leap Forward caused widespread
opposition to Mao’s leadership
2. Communist Party rebuilds without Mao’s
guidance
3. Mao fears Communist Party leaders were
becoming a new “ruling class”
B. Goals:
1. Mao wanted to:
– Regain his leadership status
– Re-energize the revolutionary spirit of young
people
– Remove from power of all who opposed him
C. Keys to the Cultural Revolution
1. Mao’s Red Guards
a. 11 million young people throughout China who
attacked those who represented the “Four
Olds”:
- old ideology, old thought, old habits, old
customs
b. Mobs attack government officials, teachers,
factory owners
D. Results of the Cultural Revolution
1. thousands die
2. hundreds of thousands imprisoned
3. millions of careers ruined
4. damage sets China’s production back 10-20
years