The second five year plan.gdoc

The second 5 year plan 1958-62 -​ The first five year plan had been a success for Mao - industrial production had increased -​ agricultural production still lagged behind -​ instead of centrally planned targets, local people would organise their own production -​ campaig...

The second 5 year plan 1958-62 -​ The first five year plan had been a success for Mao - industrial production had increased -​ agricultural production still lagged behind -​ instead of centrally planned targets, local people would organise their own production -​ campaign slogan ‘more,faster,better,cheaper’ -​ the second 5 year plan became known as the great leap forward -​ between 1958-62 the worst man-made famine killed 30 million. Why did Mao launch the Great Leap Forward ​ Wanted to overtake Britain in 15 years - in response to khrushchevs secret speech ​ industrial production increased by 18.3% in the first five year plan ​ the communists appeared to be winning the cold war ​ wanted to achieve ‘walking on two legs’ - increasing agricultural and industrial production ​ the peoples sheer force would be enough to overcome technological obstacles. Successes of the plan ​ Irrigation terracing helped make land more fertile ​ construction projects rebuilt Chinese cities Tiananmen Square was remodelled into a modern urban space ​ peoples communes allowed for a more communist society Failures of the plan ​ Targets unreasonable, in January 1958 ministry of metallurgy announced it would double steel production to 20 million tonnes by 1962 and reach 100 million tonnes by 1977. The chemicals minister claimed that it could construct thousands of chemical fertiliser factories ​ Mao convinced mass mobilisation would overcome all obstacles when raising steel production from 6-9 million tonnes. ‘Let’s make it 11 million tonnes!’ ​ Anti-rightist campaign - no intellectuals or experts left to provide economic planning or advice ​ encouraged families to set up backyard furnaces - the metal produced was of poor quality so labour was wasted and food was left to rot ​ shortages of raw materials caused factories to close or limit production - famine caused workers to die, industrial production declined by 40% by 1962 from the 1958-59 levels ​ grain production fell from 185 million metric tonnes in 1957 to 147.5 million metric tonnes in 1961 ​ In 1958 industrial output was 121 billion yuan this fell to 94 billion yuan in 1962 The great famine 1958-62  ​ The total agricultural production in 1958 was announced to be 375 million tons when it was grossly exaggerated - the real figure was around 215 million tons ​ local cadres were afraid of being labelled rightists ​ the quotas demanded were increased exacerbating the problem ​ between 1958-61 the amount of land used was reduced to 9% ​ grain exports were also being used to pay off debt in the ussr and even sent abroad to communist countries e.g. North Korea and north Vietnam Life during the great famine ​ Death rate was 11.07 per 1000 people ​ by 1960 it was 28.68 per 1000 people ​ in anhui the death rate reached 68.6 ​ in henan, 7.8 million people died, in sichuan 9 million died in Tibet 1 million died ​ birth rates dropped ​ 30-50 million died Why was the great famine so terrible ​ Typhoons caused flooding in the south of china reducing the flow of the yellow river - 8/12 rivers in shandong dried up. ​ more than 60% of cultivated land was affected by floods or droughts 2 million died through drowning or starvation when crops were destroyed ​ in 1960 Khrushchev recalled the 1400 soviet economic and scientific advisers ​ Intellectuals were unwilling to provide advice ​ cadres lied about the severity of the famines How far was Maos policies responsible ​ Former terror campaigns prevented intellectuals from helping ​ aid was not sent ​ party officials also responsible - as people in henan starved, local party boss built 7 luxurious villas ​ in sichuan the population fell by 6 million between 1957-61 the local party secretary said ‘which dynasty has not witnessed death by starvation’ The lushan conference, 1959 ​ Conference held in July 1959 in lushun ​ minister of defence peng denhuai voiced doubts about the record grain harvest ​ mao felt betrayed, accusing peng of forming a a ‘right opportunist clique’ and denounced peng and barred him from the politburo ​ During the cultural revolution he was attacked by red guards Mao withdraws from politics ​ Mao did take responsibility for the failures of communes and backyard furnaces ​ Failure of the 2nd five year plan was too hard to ignore  ​ But he never relinquished his role as party chairman Liu, deng and economic reform 1962-65 ​ Liu shaoqi - new head of state ​ deng xiaoping - general secretary of the party ​ took over from Mao as key policy makers of the daily management of the country ​ national economic targets reinstated. ​ january 1962 - Liu gave a speech to 7,000 party cadres dismissing Maos claims that successes outweighed failures 9:1 and that problems were 30% weather related and 70% man made ​ the new leaders scrapped ‘walking on two legs’ opting for ‘agriculture as the foundation of the country’ ​ communes were scaled back to give peasants greater freedom ​ peasants were allowed to trade what they wanted on the free market ​ peasants were allowed to claim unused land and cultivate it ​ emergency aid sent to rural factories and resources sent to small farms ​ profitability was emphasised in factories ​ industrial production changed to support agriculture ​ the role of low-level rural cadres was downgraded ​ people who had technical or administrative knowledge to organise an economy were promoted ​ Purged intellectuals and party bureaucrats during the anti-rightist campaign were returned to influence ​ managers given more control over state-owned enterprise ​ urban party cadres were sent to the country to replace the Maoist local rural cadres ​ prisoners in labour camps put to work making utensils The reforms were a success ​ By 1965 agricultural production had returned to the 1957 levels ​ by the mid 60s private production was ⅓ of a peasants income ​ by the end of 1962 the availability of tools, boats and carts had been returned to pre commune levels ​ light industry was growing at a rate of 27% per year and heavy industry at 17% per year ​ the production of consumer goods was double the 1957 level.