The People s Republic of China 1949 2005 The Great Leap

Last updated: 10/29/2023

The People s Republic of China 1949 2005 The Great Leap Forward saw large communes established across China and the ending of private ownership of land in rural areas These communes were then encouraged to create their own industries and steel furnaces Despite some early successes the lack of clear plans led to increasing problems including some protests As a result of bad weather and poor administration many areas of China experienced famine and 1959 61 became known as the Three Bitter Years Mao s influence within the CCP was reduced and his opponents such as Liu and Deng were able to bring an end to the Great Leap Forward in 1961 3 1 Why was the Hundred Flowers campaign launched By 1956 Mao and other CCP leaders concluded the economic and social reforms that had been carried out since 1949 had put China firmly on the road to socialism So they felt they could allow both Party cadres and intellectuals a term which included teachers and at times anyone with secondary level education as well as writers academics and scientists greater freedom to express their views The Hundred Flowers campaign 1956 57 Zhou Enlai in particular was concerned that since the attack on Hu Feng in 1954 5 China s intellectuals had become estranged from the Party In an attempt to regain their support the Party s Cultural Committee met in January 1956 and decided that ideological controls on intellectuals should be relaxed The clash of ideas that this would encourage was seen as an essential step to ensure the success of the final push to build a fully socialist society which would need a massive development of science and technology