Jobin - History notes

From KstructIB

History: Summary of points

Stalin (St) Struggle for leadership What were St’s strengths? Very able administrator Held influential posts Create a power base Could gauge Party opinion

What were his rivals’ weaknesses? Influence was unrivaled Underestimated him K and Z had history of hesitation Trotsky was arrogant and had little power base

What were the events? Struggle for leadership started with Lenin’s two strokes in 1921 St told Trotsky wrong date for Lenin’s funeral St helped create cult of Lenin Z and K allied with St against Tr, despite sharing similar economic policies (leftist) Z and K prevented publishing of Political Testament. Z and K attacked NEP. Z and K ally with T in United Opposition. St’s influence  they were isolated  removed from Politburo (later expelled). Industrial growth began stagnating; continuing the NEP was questioned. St: replacement by rapid industrialization and collectivization. 1st FYP was started.

Party divisions: Rightists: Bukharin, Rykov, Tomsky NEP successful Key to economic expansion: coaxing peasants into co-operating with state. Socialism in One Country. Spreading communism might provoke foreign capitalist invasion. Leftists: Trotsky, Z, K Opposed NEP Slow growth Unacceptable compromise with capitalism Collectivization of agriculture Rapid industrialization Permanent and world-wide revolution.

Economic and agricultural policies How did the NEP work? Government owned larger factories Private ownership of smaller factories was allowed Peasants were permitted to sell their produce for private profit after 10% taxation. Described as “one step back to go two steps forward.”

Why collectivize? Greater control over grain harvest Capital for industrialization Believed to be an effective method Political influence in countryside More socialist economic policy

How was it carried out? 120 million people were consolidated into 240,000 collective farms. St: kulaks were the ones that prevented middle peasants from joining collectives. New policy of liquidating the kulak as a class. Forced collectivization implemented. Police and army handled active resistance  arrests, deportations and shooting. Rebellion did not last long  massively decreased unemployment. More serious resistance  slaughtering livestock. Collectivization became voluntary  many peasants left the collectives. St allowed apparent concessions. Pressure to join collectives was slowly reapplied.

What were the results? 90% of arable land had been collectivized. Did not significantly improve agricultural productivity (no incentive). Procurements rose dramatically Famine in 1933-34. Food rationing was in effect from 1929-35.

Five Year Plans and rearmament What were St’s aims? Catch up to industrialized West within a decade. Protect USSR from foreign invasion. Clash of ideologies; wanted more socialist ec. policy. Increasingly tense international situation.

How were they carried out? Highly ambitious targets. NEP was ended. Private ownership of factories was outlawed entirely. Additional manpower was acquired by use of peasantry; women were also employed in industry. Procurements rose. Exports increased. Living standards decreased. Many factories were located east of Urals. Heavy propaganda was used. Carrot and stick methods: pay differentials to reward skilled workers, prison camp labor extensively used.

What were the results? Very successful. Overtook leading Western countries, except US. Survived Nazi invasion of June 1941. Major redistribution of population. Huge  in literacy rates (more educated workforce wanted). 1st FYP saw many mistakes Targets were quantitative not qualitative. St became quite gigantomaniac, obsessed with huge prestige projects. Centralized planning and fear of punishment stifled initiative. Purges, forced collectivization, etc. disrupted FYP. Low emphasis on consumer good production. Great Terror partly caused due to opposition to St’s methods, e.g. by Riutin and Kirov.

Rearmament: St expanded Soviet armed forces from 1937, because of Hitler’s rearmament program. Purge of Red Army officer corps Red Army fought well against Japanese, poorly against Finns. Soviet forces had very little training when attacked in 1941. Red army was not well prepared for invasion by Germany. St: failed to respond to warnings about German troop buildup. Military precautions would provoke  wanted to delay war as long as possible. Unable to counter blitzkrieg tactics. Moscow saved due to Severe weather conditions Counterattack by Marshal Zhukov.

Nature of Soviet State and Constitution The State: By 1921, Lenin had created single party dictatorship  closing down democratically elected Constituent assembly (1918). Rejected bourgeois idea of parliamentary democracy. Banned other socialist parties. Set up the secret police, the Cheka  GPU  OGPU  NKVD.

The Party: Top decision-making body of Communist Party was the Politburo. Two opposition groups emerged within Party: Workers Opposition – more power for trade unions. Democratic Centralists – more democracy within Party. At Xth Part Congress, Lenin banned factionalism. Intended as temporary measure following the Kronstadt Rebellion and serious peasant risings. St used antifactionalism for his own benefit later.

Soviet State under St: St made Politburo more influential than Sovnarkom (previously the most important institution). St acquired greater personal control over Party. Created ruthless dictatorship Purges NKVD (Secret police) Extended prison camps.

St Constitution: Introduced in 1936. Work of Bukharin and Radek before their arrest. On paper, made USSR look very democratic. Created new legislative body called Supreme Soviet. Elections were by secret ballot. Only one candidate per place in Supreme Soviet so no choice of candidates. St Constitution was mostly a PR exercise, to convince Soviet citizens and outside world of democratic nature of the Soviet.

Extent of St’s power: Traditional view St was creator of most efficient dictatorship of 20th century. Lenin had created completely new set of institutions rather than simply adding to the old ones. Created more totalitarian system. Revisionist view Stalin was most ruthless dictator of modern times. Personally responsible for forcing massive economic changes of the late 1920’s and for deaths of millions of Soviet citizens. Question extent to which dictatorship was efficient. Some historians such as John Arch Getty argue that St was responsible for introducing major policy changes (collectivization, Purges, etc.), then lost control over how the policies were put into effect.

Cult of personality (St): Cult dates from 50th birthday celebrations in Dec. 1929. Pravda spent five days listing the thousands of organizations which had sent Stalin greetings. An official biography described him as “most outstanding continuer of Lenin’s cause and his most devoted disciple.”

St’s Purges Many who had joined the Party were opportunists, rather than committed communists. Trotsky described them as “radishes.” First major purge was in 1921 when about 25% of Party was expelled.

Kirov’s murder: Unsuccessful plot to replace St as General Secretary with Leningrad Communist Party boss Sergei Kirov. Kirov murdered in December 1934. Some historians believe St saw Kirov as dangerous rival. Others argue that St was not involved but used Kirov’s murder as pretext for the Terror. St made decree that gave NKVD extensive powers to deal with terrorists. Included that investigations had to be completed within 10 days and that there were to be no lawyers at terrorist trials.

Show Trials: In 1936, several leading Bolsheviks (incl. K and Z) were accused of being part of a Trotskyite conspiracy; convicted of treason and executed. All “confessed.” In 1938, 18 “Trotskyite Rightists” were executed, including Bukharin and Rykov. Stalinist agent murdered Trotsky in Mexico in 1940. With an ice pick. Everybody knows that.

Why did they happen?: Disagreement about this; cloak of secrecy. Khrushchev’s “Secret Speech” of 1956 acknowledged for the first time that people had been falsely accused. St’s repression received public discussion in the late 1980’s under Gorbachev. Historical interpretations: Purges were used to impose authority suppress opposition for scapegoats (justifying failures by blaming traitors). Some historians (e.g. R. W. Thurston) claim: young party members intent on removing older members. Result of FYP and need to acquire forced labor. Some historians (e.g. Richard Pipes) claim: consequence of Marxist concept of dictatorship of the proletariat. International isolation  climate of fear and suspicion.

Impact: Purge of officers  inexperienced leadership (Red Army). Arrest of thousands of engineers and managers undermined performance of 2nd FYP and start of 3rd.

Foreign relations Foreign policy: In 1919  worldwide organization of communist parties: Comintern. Z was its first president. Through Comintern, Russians insisted communist parties in all countries follow their orders. Comintern worked to promote world revolution. Comintern gave GMD in China military help. Policy backfired when Sun Yat-sen died in 1925. Successor (Jiang Jieshi) strongly anti-communist. Jiang ordered their massacre at Shanghai and went to take control of Beijing (1927).

St: allies: USSR joined League of Nations in 1934. Signed treaties with France and Czech. Military aid to Republicans in Spain, but Nationalists won Civil War. Munich Conference 1938: Germany, Italy, France and Britain present; not USSR. St feared that GB and France  encourage Hitler attack USSR  weaken both. Nazi/Soviet Pact

Why the Pact?: Gain valuable time to continue rearmament program. St hoped Germany  tied down in exhausting war with France and Britain. Enable USSR to extend territory and influence into Eastern Europe.

Results of Pact: Germany invaded Poland. Three weeks later  USSR invaded eastern Poland. USSR demanded territory from Finland  war. Red Army struggled to defeat Finns. USSR expelled from League of Nations. Pact ended with Operation Barbarossa (June 1941: invasion of USSR).

Cold War Causes Long-term Relations between Russia and the West had been strained since the Bolsheviks seized power. Bolsheviks pulled Russia out of WWI. USA, Britain, France and Japan all sent troops to help Whites against the Bolsheviks in the Civil War. USA refused to recognize Communist government as the legitimate Russian gov. In late 1930’s, relations worsened. St feared that Britain and France were trying to encourage Hitler  expand towards USSR. Subsequent Nazi-Soviet pact shocked Britain and France. Germany’s invasion of Russia brought Britain and Russia together as allies. When Germany declared war on USA in Dec. 1941, USA also became an ally of the USSR. The British and Americans delayed opening a Second Front until June 1944  St angered. Suspected West wanted to see Russians weakened by heavy losses Short term Yalta conference Roosevelt, St and Churchill Disagreement about borders of Poland but they were moved 30 miles west by USSR in spite of this. St promised to help Americans in defeating Japan. Renewed attempt with collective security. United Nations. Divided Germany into four zones of occupation. Potsdam conference Truman, St and Churchill; later Atlee replaced Churchill after election. No agreement reached over reparations from Germany. Russia left to take what they could from their zones of occupation. Called for unconditional surrender of Japan. New world balance of power  two undisputed superpowers  suspicion. Western fear of Soviet expansionism USA worried by USSR’s deployment of 11 million troops in Eastern Europe. USA viewed imposition of communist governments in E. Europe as evidence for St’s desire for unlimited expansion. Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech and the Truman doctrine both claimed that St had ambitions to increase Soviet and Communist influence  USA believed they had to prevent this. Soviet fears of Western expansionism. St worried about possibility of his former allies attacking USSR (esp. USA who had successfully tested the A-bomb). St felt particularly vulnerable because USSR had been devastated by war, while USA had not been. St’s installation of comm. governments in E. Europe can be seen as a consequence of such fears; they only wanted a sphere of influence/defensive buffer zone. Marshall Aid was seen as aggression. Who was to blame? Orthodox school Basically Western historians Marxism and E. Europe policies (e.g. Berlin blockage) showed that communism was aggressive ideology. USSR was to blame. Revisionist school Poor state of USSR after WWII compared to USA (who had nuclear monopoly, strong military, and was the single economic superpower). Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan seen as aggressive. Shows that USA wanted to use its superiority to ‘colonize’ the world. Post-revisionist (1980’s) US knew that Soviet had been weakened by war. St should have known how the West would perceive his E. Europe policies. Defensive policies perceived as aggressive ones, e.g. sphere of influence vs. expansionism. Security dilemma (defend and provoke, or avoid defending). Fear and misunderstandings caused Cold War. Realpolitik school Claims that ideology was not important. Only a mask to justify the policies of the superpowers. Power is the important factor. Superpowers would be furthering their own interest in a very cynical way. Russia took control of E. Europe states. Tito in Yugoslavia tried to create economic cooperation with Bulgaria and Hungary. St got angry  broke off from Yugoslavia. USA started to trade with Tito. His communism did not disturb the US. “Enemy of my enemy is my friend” type policy.

Events: Berlin blockade St blockaded West Berlin in 1948-9 to try to drive out his former allies from W. Berlin. USA and GB organized massive airlift of supplies. Resulted in creation of a separate W. Germany – previously the French, British and American zones – and E. Germany. Far East Renewed civil war in China between Nationalists and Mao’s CCP. USA provided supplies to GMD, but support was limited due to GMD’s corruptness. Mao’s victory came as shock to USA. USSR signed Friendship Treaty with China in Feb 1950. Korea At end of WWII, Soviet troops had occupied north of Korea, while US troops occupied south. USA and USSR set up rival governments: Syngman Rhee in south, Kim Il-Sung in north. Both were repressive, but Kim introduced land reform. North Korea invaded South  Truman decided this was a test of containment and sent troops to Korea. By the end of 1950, US policy changed from simply driving the North Koreans out of the South to liberating the whole of Korea from Communism. UN advance towards Chinese border led to intervention by 200,000 Chinese troops. Armistice in 1953. Thaw of mid-50’s St died in 1953. Khrushchev, his successor, delivered his “Secret Speech,” speaking of Peaceful coexistence Need for rivalry to be played out peacefully, due to fear that growing arms race had caused dangerous level of tension. Believed communism would triumph over capitalism in long term. Denunciated St’s “crimes,” incl. His purges of Party. Was not end of rivalry  growing nuclear arms race Space race  USSR launched Sputnik, first satellite in space. Détente Détente (relaxation of tension) in 1970’s. Gorbachev’s policy of glasnost substantially improved international climate and ultimately brought end to Cold War. Why détente in 1970’s? Soviet motives Keen to prevent further escalation of arms race. Anxious to reduce cost of weapons program. Prior to 1970’s, freezing missile stocks would mean accepting position of inferiority. By 1970, missile gap had been closed. Soviet economy was stagnating. Had to reduce defense spending in order to allow greater economic investment. Wanted to improve relations in order to encourage East-West trade. Greater emphasis on consumer good production and technical innovation. Worried about deteriorating relations with China and by improvement in Sino-American relations from 1971. American motives Reduce risk of nuclear war. Nixon pursued policy of “linkage” – sought to deter USSR from following expansionist foreign policy by providing USSR with incentives such as economic aid to maintain better relations with USA. Worried about spiraling cost of arms race. US economy was in recession from 1973.

Cuba Since 19th century, USA had regarded Latin America as its sphere of influence. Monroe Doctrine laid down that USA would not tolerate European interference in the Americas. From 1945 onwards, USA was anxious to prevent expansion of communism into Latin America. Batista ruled Cuba for bulk of period 1934-58. Batista was a brutal military dictator. Between 1953 and 1958 Fidel Castro (C) led revolutionary left-wing guerilla movement against the Batista regime. Batista fled on 31 Dec 1958 to the Dominican Republic. C keen to introduce socialist reforms to improve life of ordinary Cubans. Also wanted to reduce foreign control of Cuban economy. No evidence that he was Marxist at this stage. C nationalized several US-owned sugar plantations. Later nationalized all banks and many large industries. Eisenhower embargoed trade with Cuba. This aggressive behavior by USA led Castro into increasingly close relations with USSR. USSR agreed to buy 50% of Cuba’s sugar. Bay of Pigs Kennedy learned about CIA scheme to topple C upon his entering office. CIA had been training a force of anti-C Cuban exiles. Kennedy approved plan. Humiliating fiasco  nearly all 1,400 exiles were killed or captured within a day or two. Kennedy had wrongly assumed that C was unpopular and that the landing would spark off anti-C risings. C declared himself a Marxist after this. Cuban Missile Crisis USSR started secretly shipping components for construction of nuclear missile sites to Cuba. Discovery of these shipments by US intelligence led to most dangerous US-Soviet confrontation in entire Cold War. Why did Khrushchev site nuclear missiles on Cuba? Reduce missile gap Worried about possibility of US invasion of Cuba. Kennedy response Set up small group of military and civilian officials to advise him how to handle crisis  Excom. Excom divided Fast track – bomb missile sites Slow track (incl. Robert Kennedy) – naval blockade Naval blockade was chosen. Khrushchev sent letter claiming that missiles were of defensive nature. A later letter offered to withdraw missiles if USA promised not to invade Cuba. Second communication from USSR came before response was sent, in which a further claim was made: USA was to remove its Jupiter missiles from Turkey. Crisis escalated when U2 spy plane was shot down over Cuba. Kennedy decided to ignore second communication and respond to first one. Khrushchev publicly announced that missiles would be withdrawn from Cuba. Results of crisis Kennedy: enhanced reputation. Removal of missiles while avoiding war. If not, nuclear war might have followed. Khrushchev reputation damaged. Gambled in placing missiles on Cuba, then force to back down. US-Cuban relation became even more hostile. USA did withdraw its Jupiter missiles, which were out-dated anyhow. US gov. had decided to withdraw them even before the missile crisis. USA remained well ahead in terms of nuclear weaponry, and increased its strike capability against USSR by deploying Polaris submarines in Mediterranean. Hotline between Kremlin and White House set up. Partial Test Ban Treaty signed.

French Vietnam War: French government allowed Japanese to occupy French Indo-China in 1940. Vietnamese guerillas called Viet Minh fought against Japanese, and Japanese surrendered. Ho Chi Minh proclaimed independent Vietnam. Minh was Vietnamese nationalist but also a communist. French decided to reoccupy Indo-China. At first USA did not support French, but changed their minds when China went communist and CCP supplied the Viet Minh. French pulled out of Indo-China in 1954, due to new socialist government in France who were determined to end the war.

Why did USA support South Vietnam? Eisenhower administration had set up Domino Theory: If one country in SE Asia went communist, others might follow suit one by one.

Events In S Vietnam, Diem, with US support, made himself president. Diem’s government favored big landowners and was very corrupt. Until 1957, Ho Chi Minh refrained from intervening in S Vietnam, having been preoccupied with radical land reform. In 1957, authorization was given for limited Vietcong attacks on Diem’s gov. US involvement in Vietnam Military adviser increase Kennedy believed Communists would take control if USA removed its support for Diem’s regime. Therefore stepped up US support by increasing the number of US military advisers. Kennedy soon realized that US military support for S Viet Army (ARVN) against the Vietcong would not succeed. It was soon decided that Diem had to go, and negotiations were set up with S Viet generals for his removal. Kennedy had not expected that Diem would be executed. Kennedy assassinated in Nov 1963. Johnson takes US into Vietnam War The new US president Johnson was determined that the Vietcong should be defeated and S Viet be preserved from communist takeover. Johnson escalated war, by sending first US combat troops to S Viet in 1965. Why did he escalate US involvement? Worried about war-weariness of S Viet population and poor morale of ARVN. Believed that unless US played larger role in war against Vietcong, S Viet would either collapse or seek a political settlement with N Viet. Primarily motivated by desire for containment. Defending democracy was not a reason, as the US back a series of authoritarian regimes in S Viet. What was the nature of US military involvement? Failed to win support of S Viet population. Vietcong received much support from peasants who resented the ruling military regime. Vietnamization New US president from 1968: Nixon. Nixon campaigned on platform of “peace with honor.” Intended to reduce number of US ground troops involved while building up S Viet army. Policy known as Vietnamization. Strong antiwar movements in the USA. Morale among US troops declined sharply. US withdrawal In March 1972, Vietcong forces launched major offensive in S Viet. Both US and N Viet became more serious about peace negotiations  by October it seemed as though an agreement had been reached (Kissinger and Le Duc Tho). President Thieu refused to accept proposed terms. Renewed bombing of N Viet. Paris Agreement signed by US and N Viet. Collapse of S Viet Neither S Viet nor N Viet kept to agreement. N Viet attacked S Viet. S Viet collapsed. In 1976, S and N Viet were reunited into a single communist republic.

Results of Vietnam War: Whole of Indo-China  communist. Policy of containment had failed. USA had to pay huge cost in human, political and economic terms. Pres. Johnson’s ambitious social and health reform plans (Great Society) were undermined by spiraling cost of war. Large scale antiwar protests. US defeat in Vietnam led to US reluctance to intervene militarily in other developing world conflicts.

Sino-Soviet relations: Mao created sinified version of Marxism, seeing peasants rather than industrial proletariat as main revolutionary class. Mao strongly disagreed with Khrushchev’s policy of peaceful coexistence. Commented that world would survive nuclear war, and that the capitalists would perish. Improvement in relations when Mao praised USSR’s launching of Sputnik and first ICBM: “East Wind is prevailing over the West Wind.” Relations deteriorated later. Emergence of China as nuclear power  multipolar world rather than bipolar. China was now independent communist power, and one which sought to outbid USSR for leadership of communist world. USA sought to open diplomatic relations with China. Sino-Soviet split partially healed under Gorbachev’s rule.

Mao Events Revolution 1911 Revolution began among soldiers in Wuchang. Government, ruling on behalf of child emperor Pu Yi (5 yrs old) sought help from retired general, Yuan. Yuan turned out to half ambitions of his own. Although he did deal with revolutionaries, he made himself president of Chinese republic. Thus brought an end to the Manchu dynasty. Yuan ruled as military dictator for three years. Lost support of army when he proclaimed himself emperor. What an idiot. Gets rid of the emperor system, then calls himself an emperor. Hah. Warlord Era Country now disintegrated into hundreds of states, each controlled by a warlord. May Fourth Movement began in 1919 with huge student demonstration protesting against warlords. Also argued against the Versailles Settlement. GMD grew gradually stronger and succeeded in bringing warlords under control by 1928.

GMD: Main hope for survival of united China lay with GMD, founded by Dr Sun Yat Sen. Wanted to create modern, united, democratic state, modeled after the US. Returning to China after revolution, he set up government in Southern China. GMD was not communist, but was prepared to cooperate with them. Sun had Three Principles: Nationalism – rid China of foreign influence Democracy – China should not be ruled by warlords, but by people themselves. Land reform – long-term policy of economic development and redistribution of land to peasants. He was yet opposed to confiscation of the landlords’ property. Chiang Kai-shek Successor of Sun Yat-sen. Strongly anti-communist. Set out to destroy warlords of central and northern China. During 1927, he decided the communists were becoming too powerful, and set out on a large-scale “purification movement.” Could be claimed to have achieved Sun’s first principle. No moves were made towards democracy or land reform, depending as he was on the support of wealthy landowners. Mao Zedong Had very little military strength, which explains why CCP was willing to work with the KMT. Mao’s life: Spent some time working on the land of his peasant father Trained as teacher. Worked as library assistant at university, a center of Marxist studies. Built up reputation as skilful trade union and peasant association organizer. Present at founding meeting of CCP. Responsible for changing party’s strategy. Concentrated on winning mass support among peasants rather than capture industrial towns GMD’s strength. Elected chairman of Central Executive Committee of party. Gradually became real leader of Chinese communism. Concentrated on survival as Chiang carried out five “extermination campaigns.” When Mao’s base area was surrounded by GMD armies, he decided that the only chance of survival was to break through Chiang’s lines and set up a power base elsewhere. 100,000 communists set out on 6000 mile long “Long March”, completed in 368 days. 20,000 survivors found refuge in Yenan.

Why did Mao gain support? GMD weaknesses Corruption Officials and officers stole supplies of food and medicine and sold them on black market. Ineffective Little improvement in factory conditions; laws were not applied. Chiang was not prepared to offend his industrial supporters. No improvement in peasant poverty; series of droughts and bad harvests caused widespread famine in rural areas. Spent too much time looking after interests of industrialists, bankers and landowners. Created inflation by having as policy to print money when needed. Discipline of army was brutal, the diet inadequate and medical care was practically non-existent. Communist propaganda caused many of troops to gradually become disillusioned with Chiang and began to desert to communists. Tactical blunders: Chiang could not bear to order retreats. Made no effective attempts to organize mass support. KMT put up no effective resistance to Japanese Chiang found it more important to destroy the communists when the Japanese occupied Manchuria. Chiang was taken prisoner by some of his own troops. Demanded that he turn against the Japanese. Fresh alliance with CCP and a national front against Japanese. CCP strengths Land policy followed by areas controlled by communists was more attractive in comparison; redistributed estates of rich landlords among the peasants. Even the poorest laborer got a small piece of land. Won support of smaller landowners as well as peasants. Appeared as patriotic nationalists when they led an effective guerilla campaign against the Japanese in the north. Discipline in Red Army was fair and effective. Mao insisted that leniency must be shown to enemy prisoners. Mao’s production drive succeeded in achieving self-sufficiency. Communist administration was fair and honest. Had local councils/soviets to decentralize government. Effort was made to educate the peasants and their children. Completely dedicated leaders.

Communist victory: Japanese defeated in 1945. GMD and CCP had final struggle for power. Many observers, esp. in USA, hoped and expected Chiang to be victorious. Strength of GMD was deceptive. Communist armies grew strong enough to challenge Chiang’s armies directly. GMD armies began to disintegrate under direct pressure. CCP triumph CCP’s restrained land policy (varied according to need of particular areas) won popular support.

China’s problems and solutions Problems facing Mao: Country devastated after Long civil war War with Japan Railways, roads, canals and dykes destroyed. Chronic food shortages. Industry was backward. Agriculture was inefficient Incapable of feeding the poverty-stricken masses. Inflation seemed out of control Agricultural changes: Small, inefficient private farms  large cooperative farms. In first stage, land taken from large landowners and redistributed among peasants. Peasants were persuaded (not forced, as in Russia) to join together in collective farms. By 1956, 95% of all peasants were in cooperatives (consisting of between 100 and 300 families each). Joint ownership of farm and equipment. Industrial changes: Embarked on FYP in 1953. Had to borrow from USSR. Concentrated on development of heavy industry. Full communications had been restored. Inflation under control. Economy had improved. Hundred Flowers’ Campaign: Mao. “Let a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend.” Called for constructive criticism. Called off campaign upon seeing how much opposition there still was to communism. Convinced Mao to consolidate advance of socialism  Great Leap Forward. Great Leap Forward Not based on Russian experience. Involved further development in both industry and agriculture. Introduced communes Units larger than collective farms. Complete change of emphasis in industry. Smaller factories were set up in countryside instead of following the USSR’s large-scale works. Backyard steel furnaces were set up. Poor quality. Opposition arose due to appearance of GLF as failure, following: Bad harvests. Withdrawal of all Russian aid. Sparrows campaign Khrushchev lent China agronomist; told to get rid of all sparrows. Resulted in increase in no. of insects. Mao forced to resign as Chairman of People’s Congress, but remained chairman of CCP. Liu Shaoqi created market socialism. Importance of GLF was later evident: Both agricultural and industrial production increased substantially. Managing to feed massive population without famine. Communes were an efficient unit of local government; allowed central government to keep in touch with local opinion. Other benefits: Spread of education. Welfare services. Improvement in position of women in society. Cultural Revolution Mao’s attempt to keep revolution on Marxist-Leninist course. Wanted to destroy class traitors. Unofficial reason: trick to help Mao win back power. Right-wing members believed that incentives were necessary for communes to function. Mao dismissed this as ‘revisionist’, taking the capitalist road. Had to avoid emergence of privileged class who would exploit the workers. In Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, Mao appealed to masses. Red Guards (mostly students) toured country arguing Mao’s case. Unfortunately it brought chaos as student masses physically attacked anybody in authority. Teachers, professional, etc. Cultural Revolution was formally ended in 1969, and many were arrested and executed. Mao became president again in 1966.