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Mao Zedong Campaign Promised to Transform China Into a Power in Three Years, But Caused Hunger, Repression, and an Unprecedented Tragedy
The Great Leap Forward was a campaign launched by Mao Zedong between 1958 and 1960. Its goal was to rapidly transform China into a developed and egalitarian nation. To achieve this, Mao bet on the forced collectivization of agriculture and accelerated industrialization in cities.
The plan aimed for China to reach, in just three years, the development level of the United Kingdom.
The original timeline, which anticipated up to fifteen years for industrialization, was drastically shortened. Mao even claimed that the country could advance like an “atom” in a “big bang” of progress.
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However, the result was disastrous. Historians point out that the campaign is directly linked to the Great Chinese Famine.
Estimates vary from 15 million to 45 million deaths, turning the project into one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century.
The Forced Land Reform
The plan divided China into large communes, each gathering about 5,000 families. The peasants received tools and, in return, were required to meet production goals.
To try to balance regions, hundreds of thousands of people were relocated from high-yield areas to less productive places. There was also the transfer of workers from agriculture to industry.
One of the most notable initiatives was the campaign for the collection of metal tools. The material collected was to be transformed into steel, considered essential for the industrial goal.
The Propaganda of the “Sputnik Fields”
To inspire confidence and enthusiasm, Mao publicized cases of supposedly extraordinary agricultural productivity. The model areas became known as “sputnik fields,” in reference to the Soviet satellite.
The People’s Daily even reported in 1958 that a cooperative in Henan had produced 1.8 tons of wheat on just 1/6 of an acre — more than ten times the actual amount.
Other equally false reports claimed that a rice field had produced seventy tons on less than 1/5 of an acre.
These inflated numbers fueled unrealistic goals. When the communes failed to meet them, the response was repression.
Repression and Total Control
Mao began to accuse peasants of sabotage and corruption. Anyone caught hoarding grain was executed. Imprisonments were applied even to those found with small amounts of food.
Cultural practices such as bonfires and funerals were banned for being considered wasteful. The leader accused farmers of hiding food, claiming they pretended to starve while secretly consuming supplies.
In 1959, Mao declared that “all production teams hide food to share among themselves” and that they posted guards to protect secret stockpiles.
The Industrial Plan and the Backyard Furnaces
In addition to agriculture, Mao wanted to double steel production in a single year, increasing it from 5.3 to 10.7 million tons. To this end, he ordered the construction of “backyard furnaces” across the country.
The population was coerced into donating any metal objects, from agricultural tools to household utensils.
Even fire trucks and hairpins were melted down. The slogan stated: “Handing over a pickaxe is destroying an imperialist, and hiding a nail is hiding a counter-revolutionary.”
In the end, agricultural production did not significantly increase, and the loss of essential equipment worsened the crisis.
The Emergence of the Popular Communes
With the first signs of failure, Mao changed strategy and created the “Popular Communes.” The intention was to concentrate control even more over the rural population.
The first was the Chayashan Sputnik, also in Henan. The statute of these communes mandated that families completely surrender their land, homes, animals, and trees.
Residents began living in collective dormitories. Their homes could be dismantled if the commune needed bricks or wood.
Daily life revolved around work, and everyone was organized like in military units, divided into commune, brigade, and production team.
Reports describe these areas as true forced labor camps. In Gansu, peasants referred to them as “death fields.”
Mass Starvation
The most devastating impact of the Great Leap Forward was widespread famine. In 1960, the mortality rate in China jumped from 15% to 68%. At the same time, the birth rate plummeted.
It is estimated that around 45 million people died, with 2.5 million executed during the repressions.
The crisis affected all social layers but hit rural areas harder, where control of the communes was more rigid.
The Great Leap: The End of the Campaign and Its Consequences
The failure of the Great Leap Forward weakened Mao’s authority. The hunger, production decline, and mass deaths generated internal discontent and open criticism of the project.
In response to the wear and tear, Mao initiated the Chinese Cultural Revolution, a movement that redefined the country’s politics in the following decade.
The Great Leap Forward remains a striking example of the risks of radical economic targets and extreme centralization of power.
In trying to transform China in record time, Mao unleashed one of the greatest humanitarian disasters of the 20th century.
With information from Wikipedia.
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