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The major contributing factors in the famine were the policies of the Great Leap Forward (1958 to 1962) and people's communes, launched by Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party Mao Zedong, such as inefficient distribution of food within the nation's planned economy; requiring the use of poor agricultural techniques; the Four Pests campaign ...
The resulting agricultural failures, compounded by misguided policies of the Great Leap Forward, triggered a severe famine from 1958 to 1962. The death toll from starvation during this period reached 20 to 30 million people, [ 16 ] underscoring the high human cost of the ecological mismanagement inherent in the "Four Pests" campaign.
The Great Leap Forward reversed the downward trend in mortality that had occurred since 1950, [81] though even during the Leap, mortality may not have reached pre-1949 levels. [ 82 ] [ a ] Famine deaths and the reduction in number of births caused the population of China to drop in 1960 and 1961.
In 1958, Mao declared that China would be more prosperous than the United Kingdom within 15 years. His government set up thousands of people's communes to increase industrial production in a campaign called the Great Leap Forward. For a number of reasons, including radical agricultural policies, social pressure, economic mismanagement, and ...
Although intended to increase China's economic output, the Great Leap Forward was instead a period of economic regression. The policies enacted during the campaign, coupled with the use of coercion and violence, resulted in the Great Chinese Famine and led to the deaths of 36 - 45 million. 36 to 45 million [12] 1958–1962: Four Pests Campaign
The Mao era focuses on Mao Zedong's social movements from the early 1950s on, including land reform, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. [4] [5] The Great Chinese Famine, one of the worst famines in human history, [6] [7] [8] occurred during this era.
The Great Leap Forward, similar to the Five-year plans of the Soviet Union, was Mao Zedong's proposal to make the newly created People's Republic of China an industrial superpower. Beginning in 1958, the Great Leap Forward did produce, at least on the surface, incredible industrialization, but also caused the Great Chinese Famine , while still ...
Yang Jisheng (born November 1940) [1] [2] is a Chinese journalist and author. His work include Tombstone (墓碑), a comprehensive account of the Great Chinese Famine during the Great Leap Forward, and The World Turned Upside Down (天地翻覆), a history of the Cultural Revolution.