chapter 31: china section 1: the emergence of modern china
TRANSCRIPT
Communists Take Over• 1930’s: Japan invaded Manchuria,
a northern province in China• Invasion forced the Communists
and Nationalists to work together• 1945: 2 parties fought each other• Communists: successful– Many popular reforms: lowering
peasants’ rent• 1949: Nationalists defeated• October 1, 1949: People’s Republic
of China
1 Nation, 2 Governments• Chiang Kai-Shek and the
Nationalists fled to Taiwan• Set up a provincial
government in Taiwan• Claimed his government
represented China• Vowed one day to re-conquer
China• 1971: United Nations
recognize the government of mainland China as the official government of China
A Communist NationCommon Ownership
• China in ruins after the war• Mao wanted to increase
agricultural productivity• Established collective farms– People work together and share
whatever they harvest
• 1956:10 million families, 88% of all Chinese peasants, were relocated to collective farms
The Great Leap Forward• China failed to meet Mao’s goals• 1958: The Great Leap Forward into
Communism• Commune settlements– Self-sufficient communal settlements– Contained both farms and industries
• Resembled life in the military• Party officials made all the decisions
“A Serious Leap Backwards”• Production fell• Difficult life in the communes• Received the same rewards
regardless of the amount they produced– Little incentive for people to work
hard
• 1960: Government abandoned the Great Leap Forward campaign
The Cultural Revolution• Many people criticized Mao • Response: more drastic measures
were needed to revolutionize China
• 1966: Cultural Revolution• Smash the old order completely to
establish a new, socialist society
Red Guards• Army of radical young men and
women• Job: destroy the Four Olds– Old ideology– Old thought– Old habits– Old customs
• Anyone who disagreed with Mao were publicly humiliated, beaten, or killed
• People lost their jobs, imprisoned, or sent to the country to work as peasants
“To Rebel is justified”• Farm production failed• Factories stopped running• Schools closed• Cultural Revolution, enormous
failure– Hundreds of thousands of innocent
people were jailed or driven into the remote, rural areas
– Entire generation of young people lost their chance for an education
1976: Power Struggle• 1976 Mao Zedong
dies• Gang of Four:
wanted to continue the Cultural Revolution
• Deng Xiaoping: Wanted to end Maoism
AgricultureContract Responsibility System
• Government rented land to individual farm families
• Families could decide what to grow
• Contract with the government: provide crops at a certain price
• Families free to sell surplus • Chance to make more money led
farmers to increase their production
Industrial Development• Mao: Heavy Industry– Produce iron, steel, and machines
used in other industries
• 1976: Chinese technology outdated and inefficient
• Xiaoping’s Goals:– Consumer goods: Changed to light
industry– Increase production: More decision-
making power to managers and an incentive system
Special Economic Zones• China’s East Coast• Near Hong Kong and
Taiwan• Hoped to attract foreign
capital, companies, and technology
• Enormously successful• 1978: 1.5 million industrial
firms• 1993: 8 million industrial
firms
Unexpected Results• Economic growth: uneven• Coastal regions grew rich• Interior China left behind• Millions of people migrated from
rural China into the cities– 50-100 million workers drift from
job to job• Plan for more Special Economic Zones
for the interior and north• Economy is stronger today than it has
ever been