Summary

Mao inherited a country which was ruined by years of war.  Not only was China economically backward, it did not have the human expertise or the government institutions to drive progress forward.  Mao himself had no experience of industry or economic know-how.

At first, therefore, Mao impemented his new Communist society cautiously, relying on the Soviet Union for advice, expertise and money.  The results were generally positive, but progress was not big enough or fast enough.

Links:

The following websites will help you complete the task:

The First 5-Yr Plan:
• History Learning Site

• Official Chinese govt account

The sole, unquestioned, absolute leader

The Politburo – the ruling group of 12-24 men – was selected from the Central Committee of the CCP, which was elected from the National Party Congress

The thoughts of Chairman Mao dominated the party – e.g. ‘Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun’

Unlike Soviet communism, which said that the Revolution would be made by the proletariat in the towns, the CCP looked to the peasants in the countryside

The activists of the CCP

Mao did not understand the economy or how industry grew – hence his failed schemes – but he realised that China was industrially backward and needed to grow to become a superpower

In the early years of the PRC, Mao looked to the USSR as a model, and as a source of help

The GMD had already begun to stimulate economic growth by setting up an NRC in the 1930s, which directed investment into industry.

Mao always believed that the peasants were naturally capitalist, not communist, and he wanted to force them to be communist

Inflation was controlled by introducing a new currency, the yuan, and by raising taxes on the rich (which reduced the government deficit)

In December 1949, Mao signed the Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance with the USSR; the Soviets sent experts, aid and loans

The output of coal doubled, that of iron and oil tripled

The number of people living in towns almost doubled

Some high-profile projects were also undertaken, such as the road and rail bridge over the Yangzi River at Nanking

Inflation was brought under control; people began to use money again, and economic confidence increased

The economy grew 9% overall; especially, the economy began to rebalance towards industry – peasants began to move into the towns

1.2million bicycles were produced, though fewer cars – this fitted with a communist, egalitarian ideology

In the event, Soviet Aid was a setback, not a help

The speed of growth was not fast enough for Mao Zedong, who wanted a Great Leap Forward

Even the Soviet leader Khrushchev described the Treaty of Friendship as ‘an insult to China … exploiting China’

95% of the Soviet money was in the form of loans, at a high rate of interest, plus the PRC was forced to send a substantial portion of its bullion reserves to the USSR;

The USSR did not supply its 20,000 economic experts free; the PRC had to pay for them. Also Soviet ‘experts’ did not give independent advice, they imposed Soviet ideology … some of their advice (e.g. Lysenkoism) was rubbish

Including Tiananmen Square – many of Beijing’s ancient houses and structures were pulled down and replaced by Soviet Realism concrete eyesores

Realisation that they had been exploited was one of the reasons behind the Sino-Soviet split in 1960