Great Leap Forward was an economic and social development campaign launched by the Chinese Communist Party in the late 1950’s. The program, which began in 1958, sought to transform China’s vast agrarian (agricultural) economy into an industrialized Communist society. The Great Leap Forward radically restructured China’s agricultural production. Traditionally, farming families had lived in small villages and owned the land on which they lived. During the Great Leap Forward, the government collectivized China’s agriculture—that is, they organized the peasants into groups who owned and farmed land cooperatively. All property, including land, tools, animals, and workshops, were commonly shared. The campaign promised increased agricultural production as well as the implementation of Communism in China. However, the Great Leap Forward contributed to a famine (prolonged food shortage) that led to millions of deaths. The program ended in failure in 1961.
The government of Mao Zedong launched the Great Leap Forward in 1958. Mao and his supporters were dissatisfied with the existing Soviet model of industrialization, which focused on the development of heavy industry in urban areas. The Chinese Communists believed this approach had created a widening gap between urban and rural societies. In addition, they believed the approach had led to the rise of a privileged urban elite and caused unacceptable class divisions. To avoid similar problems, the Great Leap Forward focused on the industrialization and collectivization of China’s countryside. It also called for a renewed commitment to Communism.
In the early stages of collectivization, family farms joined together into small collectives. Later, the collectives further expanded into communes made up of thousands of households. The government told the communes what crops to grow. It also set production quotas—that is, it established specific amounts of the goods to be produced.
The Great Leap Forward aimed to reform China’s industrial production. Many peasants, regardless of ability, were put to work on large-scale industrialization projects. The plan also emphasized the use of small-scale rural industry. The communes were expected to be self-supporting, making their own tools and equipment from local material. The government urged commune members to build small “backyard furnaces” to produce iron and steel.
Ultimately, the Great Leap Forward was a disaster. Much of the metal and equipment produced in the communes’ “backyard furnaces” was of poor quality. Also, the increased number of people working on industrialization projects led to a dangerous decrease in agricultural production. Communes over-reported the amount of grain they were harvesting in order to meet quotas, and the government, in turn, increased production quotas. As the state collected more grain for export, less food became available for people on the communes. A famine soon followed, leading to tens of millions of deaths.
The Communist Party initially denied that there was a serious food problem. The Great Leap Forward was canceled in 1961, after the famine and economic devastation could no longer be denied. In the years that followed, private plots and farm tools were returned to the peasants, and the communes were gradually reduced in size. However, some communes remained in place until the early 1980’s. In the immediate aftermath of the Great Leap Forward, Mao and his supporters lost much political favor. Such moderate Communist Party members as Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping rose to power. Mao went on to launch the Cultural Revolution in 1966 to regain power and to enforce strict Communist principles.
See also China (The Great Leap Forward); Mao Zedong.
