How accurate is it to say that Mao Zedong’s agricultural...

How accurate is it to say that Mao Zedong’s agricultural policies from 1949 were the most important reason for the famine of 1959–62? In October 1949, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was established and led by Mao Zedong. China’s new communist leaders turned their backs on China’s traditional output (based on individual and small scale household production) economy and set out to create a massive socialist industrial government inspired by the Soviet Union. This idea introduced a model, which prioritize industrialization known as the â€Å"Big Push Model†. China started prioritizing investments into the heavy industry, which would reshape the Chinese economy and create a Command economy. Mao’s economic policies seemed be working in the†¦show more content†¦In the first five-year plan Agriculture was already starting to be abandoned because priority was going into industry investments. These policies regarding industrialization only became more rigid during the Great Leap Forward. The Great Leap Forward is a Maoist approach to ruling China; it is distinct from the soviet model. After the hundred flowers Mao started to take criticism negatively and created an â€Å"Anti rightest campaign† that targeted intellectuals and anyone with an independent mind. Mao’s Anti rightest campaign allowed him to continue on with GLF plan without any constraints from the party. The Great Leap forward can be seen as a simple intensification of the Big push strategy; there were massive increases in the rate at which resources were transferred from agriculture to industry. Mao implemented the idea of â€Å"communes† in the countryside. A commune was a large-scale combination of governmental and economic functions. It was used to mobilize labor for construction projects, provide social series and develop rural small-scale industries. Mao rejected material incentives and monetary rewards, bonuses were eliminated and free markets were shut down. In 1958, there was a spectacular autumn harvest (grain); Leaders were blinded because of growth in industries. Agricultural workers were moved to rural factories and Agricultural workers were told to reduce the acreageShow MoreRelatedOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagesof an American Urban Landscape Sam Wineburg, Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts: Charting the Future of Teaching the Past Sharon Hartman Strom, Political Woman: Florence Luscomb and the Legacy of Radical Reform Michael Adas, ed., Agricultural and Pastoral Societies in Ancient and Classical History Jack Metzgar, Striking Steel: Solidarity Remembered Janis Appier, Policing Women: The Sexual Politics of Law Enforcement and the LAPD Allen Hunter, ed., Rethinking the Cold War Eric