Name: ____________________________________________________________________ Date: _________________Ms.Reyes/Ms.Rust; Global Studies

Mini-Lesson Three: The Great Leap ForwardAIM: Was the Great Leap Forward a giant step backward?DO NOW: Examine the following quote. Summarize it and predict what China is going to do under the leadership of Mao Zedong.

Activity #1-Review/Check for Understanding: Answer the question in complete sentences.1. Explain what is meant by the term “Two Chinas.”

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Activity #2- Independent Work: Complete reading and answer questions that follow (CCLS RI.1-citing strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis).

Background: In October 1949, Mao Zedong gained control of the country. He proclaimed it the People’s Republic of China. Chiang Kai-Shek and other Nationalist leaders retreated to the island of Taiwan. China had split into two nations. Mao’s main goal was to transform mainland China from an agricultural country to a modern industrial country. In the 1950s, Mao’s government took over China’s industries and businesses. It also created large, government-run farms from the small plots of land worked by peasants.

1. What was Mao Zedong’s goal for mainland China? How does this compare to Vladimir Lenin’s goal for Russia?

Document #1 “Constitution of the People’s Republic of China,” 1954

Document #2a Document #2b- Great Leap Forward

▪ Article 1 The People’s Republic of China is a people’s state led by the working class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants…

▪ Article 6 The state sector (part) of the economy is the leading force in the national economy and basis on which the state carries out complete change. The state ensures priority for the development of the economy. All mineral resources, water, forests, undeveloped land and other resources which the state owns by law, are the property of the whole people.

▪ Article 7 Partial collective (communal/ community) ownership by the working people is a transitional form by means of which individual peasants and other individual working people organize themselves in their advance towards collective ownership by the masses of working people…

2. Describe two characteristics of the Republic of China’s economy.

3. How does this reflect the ideas of Karl Marx?

“Struggle hard for three years. Change the face of China. Catch up with Britain and catch up with

America.”

80% of the people lived in rural areas, but most owned no land. Under the Agrarian (Agricultural) Reform Law of 1950, Mao seized the property of these landlords. Millions of landlords who resisted were killed. Land taken from the landlords was then collectivized, combined into larger, government-run farms which were distributed among the peasants.

In 1958, Mao launched a program called the Great Leap Forward. He called on the people to increase agricultural and industrial production. To make farms more productive, he combined collective (community) farms into communes, groups of people who live and work together and hold property in common. The government forced peasants to join communes of up to 200-300 households. Here, peasants lived a strictly controlled life.

Communes had production quotas, which were set amounts of agricultural or industrial output that they were to produce. Like the Soviet Union, Mao put in place five-year plans that set high production quotas.

4. If you were a Chinese peasant in the 1950s, how would you have reacted to the changes under Agrarian Reform Law?

5. During the Great Leap Forward, Chinese peasants were forced to

a. join communesb. move to the citiesc. convert to Christianityd. attack the Red Guards

6. In China, the Great Leap Forward was an attempt toa. promote democratic reformb. end the private ownership of landc. strengthen economic ties with Europed. increase agricultural and industrial

production

7. Compare and contrast the Mao’s Great Leap Forward in China to Stalin’s Five-Year Plan in the Soviet Union.

Document #3a BBC News, Special Reports Document #3b

8. Explain two reasons why the Great Leap Forward failed.

9. Compare the results of the Great Leap Forward to the propaganda in doc 3b.

10. How might have the results of the Great Leap Forward affected the public’s opinion of Mao and communism?

Document #4 Cultural Revolution

Overnight, fertile rice fields were ploughed (turn over the earth with a plough so that seeds can be planted) over, and factory construction work began. Labor-intensive methods were introduced and farming collectivized on a large scale. The campaign created about 23,500 communes, each controlling its own means of production. But former farmers had no idea how to actually use the new factories, and therefore, commune-based industries produced poorly made goods. In addition, what was once fertile crop land went to waste on a disastrous scale. Bad weather also contributed to the decline in agricultural output. The Great Leap Forward was held responsible for famines (periods of time when many people do not have enough food for a long time) in 1960 and 1961. Twenty million people starved, and Mao Zedong withdrew temporarily from public view. The program was finally discontinued in 1961.

11. The Cultural Revolution in China was Mao Zedong's attempt to

a. renew the ideas and enthusiasm of the Communist revolution

b. increase the industrial output of Chinac. promote artistic exchanges with the United Statesd. encourage foreign investment in China

12. One similarity between the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution and the Cultural Revolution in China was that both

a. limited the power of absolute leadersb. illustrated the power of public opinion in forming

national policyc. established social stability and economic growthd. used violent methods to eliminate their opponents

13. Why might have Mao Zedong viewed professors (teachers) as a threat?

14. In China, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution promoted by Mao Zedong were similar in that both plansa. ended dynastic ruleb. disrupted industrial developmentc. encouraged capitalismd. guaranteed human rights

Summary:

LIFE UNDER MAO ZEDONG

ECONOMIC REFORMS

SOCIAL REFORMS

POLITICAL REFORMS

1. You be the judge: Was Mao Zedong a hero or villain for china? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Was the Great Leap Forward a giant step backward?

After the failure of the Great Leap Forward, other communist leaders moved away from Mao’s strict ideas. In May 1966, he struck back with the Cultural Revolution. He attacked moderates for lacking zeal (enthusiasm) for the revolution. He called on millions of patriotic youths to leave school and form the Red Guards to “bombard the headquarters” of government and dislodge (remove) his opponents. What followed was a reign of terror. Red Guards hunted down professors, government officials, and factory managers, other “class enemies,” and even their parents. They targeted anyone who seemed to have special privileges or who resisted the regime. Thousands of people were executed or died in jail. The country sank close to civil war and worse. The resulting widespread chaos closed down factories and threatened farm production.

Source: George Wehrfrite, “The Swing Pendulum,” Newsweek, 1996

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