2 – Agriculture and Industry 1949-65
2.1 Early Changes in Agriculture
Agrarian Destroyed the landlord class, giving land to the peasants, and authorised ‘people’s courts’ to try
reform law their former landlords
1950 Cadres sent into villages to conduct surveys to see different classes, ownership of land,
decide which landlords were good/bad
Speak bitterness meetings peasants encouraged to accuse landlords = beaten/2-3 million
executed. Party generated sense of class-consciousness – feudal China ended
Land/animals/machinery reassigned ½ land reassigned to 63% peasantry, 300 million
peasants given 47 million hectares = small plots. ‘Land to the tiller’ movement completed by
summer 1952
Mutual Aid Teams (MATs) 1951 peasants encouraged to share
work/tools/machinery/knowledge – cooperation increased productivity. 1952 40% peasant
households belonged to a MAT (around 10 families) = successful
Cadre-advisers cadres stayed on and took control of production - advising farmers on
new methods/crops. knew little about farming = unsuccessful. However 1950-1952, total
agricultural production increased at rate of 15% per annum.
APCs/ move Peasants were encouraged to cooperate, and to share the work, tools and machinery,
towards knowledge, and ideas; this was very successful but later became a forced process
collectivisation Demands People in party thought MATs encouraged capitalist ideas e.g. buying/selling of
land = wanted to push towards collectivisation
Agricultural Producers Cooperatives (APCs) 1953 3-5 MATs joined together (30-50
households). land reorganised into single unit; peasants retained private ownership of land
within APC. Profit at end of year shared according to value of land/labour/tools contributed
o Less popular than MATs - some resistant to joining/share of wealth of different families
undervalued by cadres
o June 1955 - only 16.9m peasant households out of 110m in APCs
o Production rose <2% 1953-54
Disagreements in the Party Mao disagreed w ‘gradualists’ who wanted gradual progress
towards collectivisation – wanted to force growth of APCs so industry could be supported,
believing enthusiasm of peasants would make up for lack of equipment
Forced collectivisation ‘higher stage’ APCs (200-300 households) 1955. Jan 1956, 63-80%
households in APCs. Private ownership abolished 1956: land and equipment taken by state,
equipment/tools shared. Membership of APCs compulsory.
1956 3% peasant households farmed as private individuals/ 88% of peasants in ‘higher level’
APCs.
, 2.2 The Communes and their organisation
Communes After 1953, Mao abandoned his agrarian reforms and embarked upon a much more radical
programme of collectivisation and state-control of farming
Causes:
- Great leap forward part of Mao’s wish to ‘overtake the capitalist countries in a short time
and become the most advanced, powerful country in the world’.
- Support industry and provide food for towns ‘walking on two legs’ = focus on both
agriculture and industry. Needed a food surplus to grow towns/industry as party could not rely
on stealing food from villages
- Labour shortages peasants needed to be able to migrate to towns to work in industry
- Peasants not naturally communist opportunity to force peasants to be communist ‘without
socialisation of agriculture, there can be no complete, consolidated socialism’
- APC’s problems w production 1955-56 agricultural production rose 3.8%, grain production
rose 1% 1957 = M believed to increase production peasants needed to be in communes
Nature of communes:
1. 25,000 communes first built Henan province July 1958. 5000 families organised into brigades
of 200 families. Party claimed 99% peasants lived in communed – ½ bill people
2. Central control of production all decisions made by gvt – set inappropriate/high targets.
Private ownership abolished. Lack of incentives = lack of efficiency due to lack of independence
3. Self-sufficiency supposed to provide family w everything e.g. schools/hospitals/dining halls –
M believed that since industry develops in commune, autarky would be achieved
4. Destruction of family life sharing would develop revolutionary fervour, women join men due
to less domestic duties = destroyed traditional family unit e.g. parents lost influence over raising
their kids, grandparents isolated from their relatives
5. Internal reality of commune life able bodied citizens served in militia = police force to
enforce rules. Poor quality food. Life for women made harder. Passport needed to travel
between communes.
Lysenkoism Trofim Lysenko = Soviet agricultural expert who drafted 8-point agricultural ‘constitution’ 1958
1958 Agricultural constitution 1958 fraudulent – manipulated research to gain influence in USSR =
agricultural production decreased - not reported so party raised quotas
Michurinism faulty theory of genetics of Russian biologist = if you treat a plant in a certain
way its descendants will naturally have these characteristics e.g. planting winter wheat in
boggy/frozen ground – claimed 400% increases in productivity
Great sparrow campaign 1958 party activists sent to villages to encourage people to
chase/scare/kill sparrows because they ate grain. Reward for bodies of birds. = proliferation of
pests e.g. caterpillars/locusts = reduced yields. Repeated w rats/lice/mosquitoes
Three bitter years 1959-61 widespread famine killed 30 million
Three As a result of Mao’s agrarian changes, production fell – whilst terrified officials reported huge
Bitter Years increases. The result was widespread famine which killed 30 million.
1959-61 Grain/meat production fell 1958-60, grain production fell from 200-143m tonnes, meat
production from 4-1m tonnes – terrified officials reported huge increases
Three Bitter Years, 1959-61 widespread famine killed 30 million
Mao resigned, 1959 Just before Lushan Conference, Mao stood down from gvt
Liu Shaoqi 1959 President 1959 - allowed the peasants to own allotments, awarded
bonuses/incentives for effort, reduced the size of communes
Cultural Revolution Mao resented Liu’s actions, and felt that the CCP was pulling back from
communist principles = launched Cultural Revolution 1966
The great famine 1958-62
Causes:
1. Cadres exaggerated quotas 375mill tons grain announced 1958 reduced to 215mill. Refused to reveal
conditions in communes in fear of being labelled ‘rightists’
2. Higher party officials responded by raising targets ‘aim high’/’go all out’ campaigns placed pressure on
cadres, causing them to raise quotas
3. Officials in rural areas sold grain at artificially low prices to gvt orders to leave 1/3 land to fallow due to
lack of storage of surplus grain. 1959-61, amount of land used in crop production decreased 9%
4. Grain exports rose e.g. free grain to communist N Korea/Vietnam = less food for people
