Great Leap Forward

This article is about the details of the campaign; for the anti-communist conspiracy theory that the Communist Party of China's policies led to a disastrous famine, see Myth's about the Great Leap Forward.

A Chinese poster during the Great Leap Forward saying, "Beat the battledrum, in 1960 we will continue the Great Leap Forward!"

The Great Leap Forward (Chinese: 大跃进; 1958–1962) was an economic campaign during the Second five-year plan. Its purpose was to industrialize China through the creation of people's communes and to also develop agriculture. Although the Great Leap Forward failed in some regards, its legacy, particularly in the West, has been greatly distorted.

Although a famine did occur during the Great Leap Forward, the claim of "tens of millions" or "50 million" dead is false. During the Great Leap Forward, Khrushchev pulled Soviet technicians and crude oil, etc. Causing temporary mayhem and being partially responsible for the failure, Liu Shaoqi was known to have been reckless in contrast to Mao's more calm and slower approach. Sabotage also occurred during the Great Leap Forward.

Policies

Establishment of People's Communes

Main articles: People's Communes in Socialist China and Chinese Land Reform

After the liberation of mainland China and the proclamation of the People's Republic, land reform was being initiated under the leadership of the CPC, along with collectivization, which was spread into 3 stages. In the early 1950s, mutual-aid teams were established, which consisted of 3-12 households. Although the means of production were still privately owned, later elementary cooperatives were formed, which were bigger than mutual-aid teams, and land and tools were pooled and used together by the cooperative. People got paid partly based on how much land they originally owned; however, earnings were largely handled according to the slogan, "From each according to his ability, to each according to his contribution." By 1953, China's countryside would be collectivized. Then the advanced cooperative was formed; collective ownership of the means of production and land was established; an advanced cooperative would've had around 200 households.

Then in 1958 during the Great Leap Forward, the People's Communes were formed and they stormed all over China. The commune combined administration with production, the worker, the peasant, and the soldier. The communes merged industry, agriculture, commerce, education, and military affairs into a single unit. They also merged the lowest level of state/government administration (that being the township) with the management of the commune. The communes brought industry to the countryside, required cadres to participate in manual labor, and began to equalize the conditions of life for peasants and workers.

"Backyard Furnaces"

Contrary to popular belief, the so-called "backyard furnaces" were not Mao's idea or invention. Liu Shaoqi himself admits that Mao was very skeptical of the idea, saying, "If backyard furnaces were so good, why Do foreign countries have big iron and steel plants instead?" The furnaces then started to produce low-quality iron. It is important to mention, however, that the furnaces were not only about production but also about training peasants how to use more industrial tools to prepare them for a more industrialized country.

Decline of Soviet Aid

During the Great Leap Forward, the Chinese vehemently attacked the Khrushchevite line of the Social-imperialism state. This led to a sharp decrease of aid; the value of Soviet exports to China declined from 859,300,000 rubles in 1959 to 210,100,000 rubles in 1962; that of machinery and equipment from 537,800,000 rubles in 1959 to 24,600,000 rubles in 1962. This hurt the Great Leap Forward and the Chinese economy. The Soviets also pulled out blueprints for key industrial projects and had increasing control over northern Manchuria. The Soviets attempted to make China a semi-colony of the social-imperialist state, but the courageous proletariat refused to bow down to the imperialist bullies.

Capitalist roader's roles in the Great Leap Forward

Liu Shaoqi, a capitalist roader who would later be deposed during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, supported many of the ideas and initiatives that proved erroneous in practice. Such as the previously discussed backyard furnaces, Mao wanted to carry out the Great Leap Forward more cautiously. Deng Xiaoping, another capitalist roader, also tailed Liu Shaoqi's Great Leap Forward policies and would later rehabilitate him in 1980. It is clear that the capitalist roader's intentions were to sabotage socialist construction in order to re-establish capitalism.

Aftermath

Mao self-criticized for the mistakes that he made during the Great Leap Forward. Although the campaign failed to reach its goals, China's economy recovered. The national bourgeoisie was liquidated by 1961; the increasingly strained relations with the Soviet Union eventually culminated in the Sino-Soviet Split.