What happened during the Great Leap Forward?

2 answers:

7 0

During the Great Leap Forward, Mao tried to produce more grain and iron among other resources, but instead, he primarily ended up with a lot more dead bodies and a forever tainted legacy.I think it is important to analyze the motivation behind the Great Leap Forward in order to gain a better understanding as to what exactly happened during the time period.The most basic theory could be that Mao was truly trying to improve the state of China.At this time, China was definitely lagging behind most European nations and America while historically, China was far ahead of these nations (think Tang Dynasty).
One key factor that drove Western nations ahead of China was industrialization.
Mao probably knew this, and it was definitely logical to think that China needed to industrialize in order to reach greater heights. In fact, the Great Leap Forward can be seen as one giant attempt to industrialize.Another idea is that the Great Leap Forward was Mao’s plan to cement his own power.On the surface level, if the Great Leap Forward succeeded, the Chinese people would view Mao as a national hero, bringing China back onto the forefront of the world stage.
But even if the Great Leap Forward didn’t succeed in its economic ambitions, it would have strengthened the sense of Chinese national identity.
The Great Leap Forward mobilized almost all of China towards one common goal, and arguably for the first time, people living in rural areas were incorporated substantially in a national policy.
This focus on people living in rural areas, which was the vast majority of China during the time of the Great Leap Forward, gave Mao their approval. The motivation behind the Great Leap Forward is a topic of debate, but the result of the Great Leap Forward is not really shrouded in mystery.
Tens of millions of people died and the Chinese economy shrunk considerably due to failed enactment of Mao’s ideas (people should have realized sooner that melting cooking pots was not a great source of metal and over farming lands led to rotting crops, not more crops). Many people speak of the Great Leap Forward and the Great Chinese Famine as two separate events, with one causing the other, but I think that the two terms should really be synonyms.But if I would've choose one of these answers, I would say C. Hoped I helped!