| People's Republic of China (1949-Present ) | |
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| In the cities, the Communists steered industrial production toward heavy industries and formed state-controlled unions. Workers were promised the "iron rice bowl" of lifetime employment, housing, health care, pension plans and education for their children. |
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By 1953, land reform was complete and collectivization of land began. By 1958, agricultural production was unable to keep up with population increases. Dissatisfied with the slumping agricultural production and slow pace of industrialization, Mao turned to mass mobilization to speed things up. He called upon every man, woman and child in China to help increase China’s industrial and agricultural output. The resulting Great Leap Forward during which Mao promised China would surpass Britain in steel production in 15 years, and the US in 20, resulted in disaster. Huge cooperatives replaced small communes, and the infamous backyard steel furnaces which produced unusable steel, were built in order to produce vast amounts of steel. By 1963, the disastrous effects of the Great Leap Forward, compounded by bad weather in much of the country, became too clear to ignore. CCP leadership backed away from the idea of huge collectives and once again gave land back to the peasants. However, it was not until the mid-1960s that the country was back on its feet. |
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Beginning in 1966, China was once again rocked by revolution. The Cultural Revolution was ultimately the product of Mao’s desire to purge the party of all corrupt cadres and consolidate his power base. His troops in this revolution were the Red Guards. University and middle school students formed Red Guard units on their campuses. They were called upon to "bombard the headquarters" and hunt out all subversive elements not adhering to Mao Zedong Thought, as his ideology was known. Thousands of people - party cadres, the wealthy, former KMT supporters, |
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| Although the violent phase of the Cultural Revolution lasted only until late 1968, the Cultural Revolution did not end until 1976. Until then, China’s citizens were called upon to carry out campaign after campaign aimed at exposing rightist tendencies in the Party. Throughout the 10 years of the Cultural Revolution thousands of party leaders were sent into exile or imprisoned. In 1969, Deng Xiaoping was imprisoned and forced to perform menial labor. He was rehabilitated in 1971, however, he was again declared a rightist in the final months of the Cultural Revolution and was only brought back to power after Mao’s death in September 1976. Although the Red Guards decried western culture as bourgeois and rightist, and during the Cultural Revolution western influences were forbidden, the early 1970s say a new era of friendship begin between the United States and China. In 1972, Nixon paid a state visit to China in the hopes of bettering relations. It was as a consequence of this visit that the United States signed an agreement stipulating that they would recognize the Mainland and not Taiwan as the only government of China. The Cultural Revolution ended finally with Mao’s death and the arrest of the Gang of Four in 1976. The Gang of Four, part of Mao’s inner circle and led by Mao’s wife, Jiang Qing, had tried to keep the fires of revolution burning in China. They had tried to position themselves as successors to Mao. In 1976, they were arrested and each eventually sentenced to 20 years in prison. Once the Gang of Four had been disposed of, Mao’s handpicked successor, Hua Guofeng emerged as China’s new leader. He was not well received. China’s citizens were disaffected with him and were eager to see a more moderate leader, rather than one who would blindly continue Mao’s policies. They called for the reinstatement of Deng Xiaoping. Once in power, Deng moved quickly away from Mao’s radical policies. Reform, not revolution was to be the new path. It was, however, reform in the economic and not the political sphere. Though Deng set out to modernize industry, agriculture, science and defense, he did not tolerate calls for democracy. Deng set out to improve the Chinese economy. He de-collectivized the communes and introduced the household responsibility system. Under this system, farmers were allowed to sell their surplus crops on the open market. Agricultural production immediately rose. In the cities, Deng opened China’s markets to the west. Joint ventures were formed and competition increased efficiency. The first half of the 1980s was a time of dramatic economic growth in China. Socially and culturally, gone were the drab blue Mao suits of the Cultural Revolution era. Western fashions were no longer forbidden, indeed they were enthusiastically embraced. Students were allowed to study abroad and intellectuals were encouraged to exchange ideas with foreign scholars. | |
