Well, What is it?The Great Leap Forward was a political campaign beginning in 1958, which encompassed Mao Tse-Tsung's ambition of modernizing China.
What were Mao's aims of the campaign?Mao Tse-Tsung hoped that he could create an economy that could compete with America's by 1988. His vision of a booming industry and growing agricultural production rate required modern equipment and thousands of well-trained workers. He hoped that by using cheap labor and lowering imports that this would happen quicker. In order to achieve the economy he wanted he decided that he would target steel and grain and that they would be on track if they could surpass Britain's output within the space of 15 years.
|
"The Great leap FORWARD left the country with a painful lesson... this kind of development deviates from reality and violates objectives..." (Dou hao) |
What was the result of the Great Leap Forward?As a result of the campaign a rampant famine swept through China killing over 30 million people. As well as killing millions of people, together the famine and a series of natural disasters wiped out roughly 50% of all China's fertile land.
From 1958-62:
|