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Changes under mao

Changes under mao. The Early Years 1949-1957. China Under Mao. With the defeat of the GMD in 1949 and the establishment of the PEOPLE’S Republic of China (PRC), a new era in China’s history begins. From 1949 through 1976 life in China would be dominated by the ideas and actions of Mao Zedong .

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Changes under mao

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  1. Changes under mao The Early Years 1949-1957

  2. China Under Mao • With the defeat of the GMD in 1949 and the establishment of the PEOPLE’S Republic of China (PRC), a new era in China’s history begins. • From 1949 through 1976 life in China would be dominated by the ideas and actions of Mao Zedong

  3. Mao worshipped like a living god

  4. Problems faced by PRC

  5. Political, Social and Economic Changes The new struggle starts from here

  6. Changes by CCP • Economic • Political • Cultural/ Social

  7. Each reinforces the other

  8. 1. POLITICAL: Big Question • China had been unstable/ fractured since fall of Qing Dynasty in 1911 • How can Chinese Communist Party (CCP) establish stability and permanence?

  9. Political Answer • 1 Party rule by the CCP- rule by the few over the masses. • Most not involved in government • Question: Is this different in practice from the emperors?

  10. Political Answer • The State dominated by Mao/ those at the top of the CCP • Thought reform: replace traditional beliefs/ thinking with revolutionary thought • Purge (get rid of) reactionaries- also called rightists, capitalists, capitalist roadsters

  11. Atmosphere of fear and uncertainty Purge counter-revolutionaries Campaigns against those who are politically or socially suspect

  12. ‘Common Program’ of 1949 CCP stated China would: • Be a “People’s Democratic Dictatorship” • Democracy for most, BUT • Dictatorship to anyone opposed to the Party (reactionaries)

  13. Suppression of Counter-Revolutionaries • The Common Program said the Party would suppress all counter-revolutionary activities • The government would punish • GMD counter-revolutionaries • War criminals • Feudal landlords • Capitalists • Reactionaries These groups would have no political rights

  14. Urge any criminals to turn over a new life and turn themselves in

  15. Be Vigilant (Watchful)

  16. 2. ECONOMIC: Big Question • 80% peasant population • No basis for modernizing or industrializing • 100 years of ‘humiliation’: Dominated by stronger countries • How to make China economically strong?

  17. Economic Answer: State Control • State would set policies and dominate/ control economic activity • Agricultural: Land redistribution • Industrial: Industry and 5 year plans • Nationalize banks, railways and industry

  18. A. Distributing Land

  19. Distributing Land

  20. Cooperativization is the course that makes everybody prosperous

  21. Development of Communes • 1. Give peasants individual plots of land. Can profit and grow for yourself. • PEASANTS OWNED • 2. Bring people together to form cooperatives; share land, tools. Can still profit & responsible for land. • SHARED OWNERSHIP • 3. Chinese People working together: COMMUNES 5,000-20,0000 people working together • STATE OWNERSHIP

  22. B. Industrialization

  23. 5 year plan

  24. The First 5 year plan: SUCCESS!!

  25. 3. SOCIAL/ CULTURAL: Big Question • How to make people accept Mao’s revolutionary vision of a communist society? • How to deal with ‘old’ ways of thinking?

  26. ANSWER • Propaganda, new laws, mass campaigns, thought control, social improvement • Women’s Equality • Marriage Act • Get rid of the Old; ‘Anti’ Campaigns

  27. Marriage Law

  28. Combat Illiteracy Question: Whose words do you think she is reading?

  29. Health Campaigns Take precautions against diseases. Be healthy to fight American imperialism

  30. Remember the prompt: • Was Mao good for China?

  31. Mao’s Changes: Necessary? • Kept China free from foreign domination • Maintained Unity; kept China together • Made China stronger (did they?) Are these bad things? Can you see why, even today, Mao is thought of by many as a hero?

  32. Some historians say… • China was 80% peasant society in 1949 when Mao took over • Didn’t have base for building a modern industrial nation • China would have been overwhelmed and unable to deal with the economic problems without a government totally dedicated to survival. • NEEDED a government with absolute authority

  33. Some historians say… • The only way for China to become a modern, industrial society was for it to be imposed and directed from above • The collectivization, forced industrialization and purges against those in opposition may not have been in line with ‘human rights’ as it is understood in other nations, BUT • It was unavoidable and necessary • Saved China from disintegration and laid the groundwork for the later ‘revolution’ that made China the strong and independent nation it is today

  34. Other historians strongly disagree • Mao’s economic policies and the political domination by the CCP condemned China to backwardness and repression. • China today still an authoritarian state that represses its people

  35. Other historians strongly disagree • Policies led to terror (purges), mass starvation (Great Leap Forward) and social upheaval (Cultural Revolution) on a grand scale • Only after Mao’s death in 1976 was China able to improve its position in the world

  36. What do you think? • Was Mao good for China?

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