History Grade 12 Implementation of Mao Zedong's Policies - Paper 1 - Achieved 96% in Final NSC History Exam

The implementation of Mao’s policies, The Great Leap Forward & The Cultural Revolution, was a dismal failure. Do you agree with this statement? Use relevant evidence from 1958-69 to support your line of argument.

Answer: Yes, the implementation of Mao Zedong’s policies, the Great Leap Forward (1958-62) and the Cultural Revolution (1966-69) were both catastrophic events. For example, Mao’s disastrous Great Leap Forward led to a severe famine which caused the death of millions of and ruined the economy. Similarly, Mao’s devastating Cultural Revolution crippled the economy, destroyed millions of lives and thrust China into turmoil. In this essay, ways will be critically discussed to show how Mao’s policies were overly ambitious which proved to be an indisputable disaster.

Background paragraph on Mao

Answer: In 1949 the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) came to power, under the leadership of Mao Zedong. He formed the People’s Republic of China, after decades of fighting a civil war against the Kuomintang (KMT). Mao inherited many problems including an economy that needed to be industrialised and a poor, illiterate population. Mao attempted to transform China, by introducing his first five-year plan in 1953, which successfully boosted the heavy industry. However, despite the economy growing and agricultural production increasing, Mao was unhappy with the speed of growth so in 1958 he launched his Second Five Year Plan under his ironic slogan “the Great Leap Forward.’

Explain Mao and The Great Leap Forward.

Answer: The Great Leap Forward was Mao’s attempt to rapidly change China from an agrarian society to a modern, industrial nation. Mao was determined to turn China into a world superpower and he even fantasised about \"overtaking Britain and catching up with America”. Mao orchestrated that millions of Chinese people were moved onto gigantic “People’s communes”, where everything was collectivised, either to work on farms or in manufacturing, to intensify production. So peasants were required to not only farm but also to set up backyard industries to manufacture steel goods. However, these peasants were forced to work too hard. Production slumped, inferior goods were produced and industries collapsed. Mao’s ‘communes’ proved to be a catastrophic failure as they were too large to work effectively and an agricultural disaster was looming.

Describe the effects of the Great Leap Forward.

Answer: Mao’s Great Leap Forward led to the worst famine in human history. Peasants resented that their private property was collectivised and preferred to focus on producing steel. So there weren\'t enough hands to harvest the crops, which were left to rot. Commune leaders exaggerated their harvests, hoping to gain favour with the Communist leadership. However, this plan backfired leaving the peasants starving to death. Mao’s poor farming strategies & mismanagement by officials were to blame for the deaths of 20 million peasants and the devastation in the countryside.

The Great Leap Forward failed so Mao was forced to resign as president. Explain.

Answer: ‘Great Leap Forward’ failed within 3 years, so Mao was forced to resign as president. He handed over responsibility for the economy to the new President Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping. Mao’s ‘Great Leap Forward’ was referred to by ordinary Chinese people as the ‘Three Bitter Years’. Ironically, it was a “great leap backwards’ for China’s economy and brought deep suffering to its people. Mao realised he needed a new campaign to regain his power after the catastrophic failure of the GLF.