100 Flowers Movement 1956-1957

100 Flowers Movement 1956-1957Under the slogan “Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom and a Hundred Schools of Thought Contend,” Mao actively encourages the opinions and criticisms from all walks of society, including intellectuals

(the name is a reference to the Hundred Schools of Thought period of the Warring States Period-Confucius, Lao Tze, etc).

Idea of 100 Flowers (or so Mao claimed)

• Constructive criticism will make the CCP and China stronger

• CCP leaders will learn from and be responsive to the masses

Too much criticism?However, in 1957 the Party/Mao cracked down. Began an ‘Anti-Rightist” campaign.

Many who had spoken out were arrested, lost jobs, were sent to camps for “thought reform”

First & Last time Free Speech Encouraged

Uncertain:

A plot to determine who opposed the Party?

Lecture 2: Great Leap Forward1958-1961

China’s Second 5-Year Plan

QuestionsWhat led to the starvation of over over 20 million people?

What were the political effects on China?

GLF Goal: Overcome China’s backwardness

• Make China strong• Catch-up to the West• Insure China will remain independent

How to accomplish?Mass mobilization of the country side:

Increase agricultural production: Combine farms into COMMUNES

Industrialize: Iron & steel production increased through backyard furnaces

Mao’s belief“If you have the will, I am convinced all things can be successfully accomplished”

The strength of people working together

For Mao, battle as important as ultimate success

Political part: Increase allegiance to communist ideology. Masses will be a critical part of the ongoing communist revolution

Increase Agriculture: CommunesLive & Work Together

Commune leaders controlled almost every aspect of a person's life• Communal eating halls• Nurseries for children• “Houses of Happiness” for old peopleBy 1958, 90% of Chinese were living in communes

By 1960 there were over 26,000 communes, with 5,000 to 20,000 people each

Industrialize: Backyard furnaces

Over 600,000 steel furnaces set up throughout China

Propaganda was everywhere

The communes are big, the people numerous, the natural resources are plenty.

It is easy to develop a strong economy

People's communes are good

Problems soon became apparent

Industrial:

Old and overworked machines fell apart under the pressure of increased production demands

Much of the steel produced was terrible quality

Problems soon became apparent

Agricultural:So many people were working in steel production that there weren't enough people to farm

Communes over-reported the amounts they were growing: Government took food based on false reports

Over-reporting

Commune grew 50 tons of grain.

Need 25 tons for food for commune

Over-reporting

BUT reported they grew 70 tons.

Gov’t would take 45 tons- gov’t believing they were leaving 25 tons for food.

Reality: Only 5 tons of food left for commune

Add to these problems draught

…and in other places floods

Result: Disaster on a Grand Scale

Mass Starvation: “3 Bitter Years” 1959-1961

Between 1959 and 1962 at least 20 million Chinese died of starvation and related diseases

Political Impact of GLF: Rise of the ‘Moderates’

Moderate’s Economic Policies: Practical

The moderates abandoned the Great Leap Forward• Communes were reduced in size• Backyard steel factories were shut down• Peasants were returned to the fields• Some were given their own plots of land & were allowed to sell their surplus

LED TO A POWER STRUGGLE AND MAO’S RETURN TO POWER A FEW YEARS LATER WHEN HE STARTED THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION

A casualty of the GLF: Peng Dehuai

Mao’s longtime contemporary

• Long March• Fought Guomingdang• Fought Japanese• Fought in Civil War• Korean War hero• Head of the People’s

Liberation Army

Peng complained about GLF problems….

As a result….

Lost his position

Branded a rightist/ anti-revolutionary

Ultimately purged during Cultural Revolution

Tortured and died in prison

Poem by Peng Dehuai about GLF

Grain scattered on the ground, potato leaves withered;Strong young people have left to make steel;Only children and old women reap the crops;How can they pass the coming year?Allow me to raise my voice for the people!