Mao's Great Leap Forward: video questions, differentiated

15 questions for this must-see 16-minute documentary. a comprehensive account of the glacial tragedy. A real eye-opener for those new to the subject - covering:

post-revolution China in 1949, Mao’s actions: land redistributed, collectivized. Cooperatives formed. Foot binding and child marriage outlawed. Abolishment of private property. The Anti-Rightist Campaign, one-party state. Effects of reforms and increased confidence. Steel production targets. The Great Leap Forward: Zhou Enlai and Liu Shaoqi urge caution. Communes established at Chayashan. Competition between communes, effect on families. Backyard furnaces – deforestation and poor air quality, poor-quality steel. Smash the Sparrows campaign – backfired. 1958 good harvest, insufficient workers to gather it. Communes exaggerate production – Great Chinese Famine. Mao: “it is better for half the people to die so that the other half could eat.” 1959 Lushan Conference: minister Peng Dehuai harshly critical, widespread support. Peng banished. Drought poor harvests. Lysenko’s methods used, decreasing yields. Food still exported from PRC. Japan offers aid, rejected. 1962 Seven Thousand Cadres Conference, Mao’s policies criticized, Mao sidelined until 1967 Cultural Revolution. Estimated death-toll between 15 million and 55 million, enduring damage to agriculture, environment.

Watch the film: search YouTube for Mao’s Great Leap Forward - Cold War DOCUMENTARY.

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