Essay
To what extent was agricultural output the biggest challenge Mao faced after the civil war?
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I agree with the statement to an extent, as that the lack of agricultural support was a bigchallenge for Mao post-war, however there are other factors such as the economy, industry
and national infrastructure that Mao and his people had to face. Nevertheless, Mao was
entirely in power and had support from numerous groups in China, mainly Communists.
The lack of agricultural support was a huge problem for Mao and his government because
due to the peasants and farmers fighting in the civil war, it caused a massive disruption in
agriculture. For instance, production fell by 30% in 1945, from 1937. This caused a huge
famine in Henan, where 2-3 million people lost their lives. This was a challenge for Mao and
his people as not only did he have to come up with a solution on how to solve the lack of
food and agriculture problem, he needed to gain the people of China’s support at the start of
his rule in order for them to trust him. Nevertheless, he didn’t need their support for long as
time went on, he gained more power and control, thus he was able to enforce rules without
the need of support. Furthermore, since 20% of the population lived in cities and they
depended on the surpluses from the countryside and the army had to be fed as well, the entire
Chinese population was affected terribly by the lack of agricultural support, making it a huge
mountain for Mao to climb.
Another problem Mao faced was China’s weak economy after the civil war. The GMD had to
borrow and print money, making China’s revenue drastically fall. For example, in 1949 the
inflation rate stood at 1000%, which added the major hyperinflation problem. This meant that
China looked weak and vulnerable to other countries, making it prone to invasion or attacks
from other countries as they didn’t have the finances for weapons. This was a huge challenge
for Mao as China could not risk another invasion or war. Moreover, Chiang took China’s
currency reserves with him when he fled to Taiwan, leaving very little for Mao’s China.
Therefore, Mao would want to have this as his top priority for the PLA. Also, due to lack of
agriculture, they could not export food/grains to other countries, slowing down economic
growth and creating a weak economy.
Finally, Mao had to face the challenge of the lack of industrial activity post-Civil war.
Industrial output was at 25% post-war. This was because of the Japanese invasion in
Manchuria, where most of China’s industrial assets and activity took place. For instance, the
Japanese took over that area, and the bombing raids caused even more damage. Also, the
scorched earth tactics made productivity fall even further. This meant it would take years for
Mao and the Chinese to recover from as due to the destruction of Manchuria, only 15% of
land could be used. Additionally, Russia declared war on Japan, therefore the Russians had
the chance to advance into Manchuria, and took many of its industrial assets. This made
Manchuria under Russian control for the years to come. This was a challenge for Mao and
China because Mao was trying to modernise China, and this could not happen as they didn’t
have an industrial revolution, so farming methods were still labour intensive and long and
this was holding them back.
In conclusion, I believe that agricultural was a huge challenge for Mao as it affected and had
an impact on everything else, such as the economy and industry. In the long run, the lack of
agriculture impacted China the most, as people were left without food all over the country,
and people were moving into cities, plus the population was growing. By 1953, the
population stood at 587 million. Whereas, in the short term, the weak economy and financial
problems were China’s biggest dilemma as they couldn’t risk their economy worsening and
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