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Great Leap Forward
Great Leap Forward (1958–60) An attempt by Mao Zedong to galvanize Chinese agriculture, and thus release forces to continue the emphasis on the growth of heavy industry produced by the first five-year plan (1953–8). Agriculture was to be revolutionized, e.g. through the reorganization of collectives of a few hundred households into communes with around 50,000 people each. Private plots were abolished to encourage work in state agriculture. Through these efficiency drives, millions were released to work in industry, where Mao aimed at increasing steel production by a yearly average of 15 per cent, in order to overtake British steel production by 1973. The campaign backfired, with disastrous consequences. Given the intense pressure to report productivity increases, reported efficiency gains were more apparent than real. The building of around one million backyard furnaces by around sixty million people was nothing short of economic folly, and led to the production of unwanted goods of shoddy quality. In total, agriculture was deprived of around 20 per cent of its labour force within two years. By 1960, grain output had declined by over 40 per cent. Compounded by a series of natural catastrophes, this set off the greatest famine in twentieth-century history. In 1960 alone, an estimated ten million people died, while in total, between sixteen and twenty-seven million people died of hunger.
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JAN PALMOWSKI. "Great Leap Forward." A Dictionary of Contemporary World History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JAN PALMOWSKI. "Great Leap Forward." A Dictionary of Contemporary World History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O46-GreatLeapForward.html JAN PALMOWSKI. "Great Leap Forward." A Dictionary of Contemporary World History. 2004. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O46-GreatLeapForward.html |
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Great Leap Forward
Great Leap Forward (1958) Chinese drive for industrial and agricultural expansion through ‘backyard’ industries in the countryside and increased production quotas to be reached by the people's devotion to patriotic and socialist ideals. Massive increases in the quantity of production were announced, but quality and distribution posed serious problems. In agriculture, COMMUNES became almost universal, but disastrous harvests resulting in famine with an estimated 13 million victims, together with poor products discredited the Leap. Its most important advocate, MAO ZEDONG, took a back seat until the late 1960s. The CULTURAL REVOLUTION can be seen partly as his attempt to reintroduce radical policies.
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Cite this article
"Great Leap Forward." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Great Leap Forward." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-GreatLeapForward.html "Great Leap Forward." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-GreatLeapForward.html |
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Great Leap Forward
Great Leap Forward 1957–60, Chinese economic plan aimed at revitalizing all sectors of the economy. Initiated by Mao Zedong , the plan emphasized decentralized, labor-intensive industrialization, typified by the construction of thousands of backyard steel furnaces in place of large steel mills. Wildly unrealistic planning, poorly planned communization of agriculture, and a poor harvest in 1959 caused mass starvation. Mao was forced to turn government administration over to Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping . |
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Cite this article
"Great Leap Forward." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Great Leap Forward." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-GreatLea.html "Great Leap Forward." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-GreatLea.html |
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Great Leap Forward
Great Leap Forward Five-year economic plan begun by Mao Zedong in China in 1958. It aimed to double industrial production and boost agricultural output in record time. The plan mobilized tens of millions of workers to smelt steel in primitive pig-iron furnaces, but most of the steel was poor quality and useless. Collective farms merged into communes, but a succession of poor harvests dashed progress. After four years, the government admitted the failure of the plan.
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Cite this article
"Great Leap Forward." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Great Leap Forward." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-GreatLeapForward.html "Great Leap Forward." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-GreatLeapForward.html |
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