Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong the Great Leap Forward

So, what did the path to Chinese socialism look like? In the economic sphere, Mao adopted the Stalinist model of economic five-year-plans to set goals for the national economy. A key feature of this plan was the collectivisation of the agricultural sector, which Mao had always framed as the foundation of Chinese society.

Out of his unrelenting faith in the peasant classes to deliver on the quotas established in his plans, Mao developed his plans for the Great Leap Forward.

To recognise this ambition, Mao took the radical step of introducing structured communes throughout rural areas. Millions of Chinese citizens were forcibly relocated to these communes, with some working in collectivised agricultural cooperatives and others entering small-scale factories to manufacture goods.

This plan was rife with ideological zeal and propaganda but lacking in any sort of practical sense. First and foremost, none of the peasant classes had any experience in cooperative farming or manufacturing. People were even encouraged to create steel at home, in steel furnaces that they kept in gardens.

The programme was a total disaster. Over 30 million people died, mainly in rural areas where enforced collectivisation led to poverty and starvation en masse. With the land rotting from over farming and pollution filling the air, the Great Leap Forward was cancelled after just two years.

Mao Zedong accomplishments

Chairman Mao, as he became known after 1949, was arguably one of the most significant political figures of the twentieth century. A vehement revolutionary, he was willing to sacrifice almost anything to ensure China remained on its path to communism. Along the way, his accomplishments were often overshadowed by his brutality. But what did he achieve?

Establishing a republic

Communism has always been - and will continue to be - an incredibly divisive ideology. Its attempted application in a number of different countries throughout the twentieth century failed, more often than not, to truly deliver on the promises of equality and fairness. It is true, however, that through his belief in the communist ideology, Mao developed a system which lasted for generations in China.

In 1949, as we have seen, Mao established the People's Republic of China. In this moment, he was transformed from head of the CCP into Chairman Mao, leader of the new Chinese republic. Despite difficult negotiations with Joseph Stalin, Mao managed to establish a trade relationship with Russia. Ultimately, it was this Soviet funding over the next 11 years which sustained the fledgling Chinese state.

Rapid industrialisation

With Soviet backing, Mao was able to instigate a process of rapid industrialisation which fundamentally altered the Chinese economy. Mao's faith in the peasant classes to transform the nation had been established long before 1949, and through industrialisation he believed he would prove that revolution began in the countryside.

Mao was aware that, following his ascent to power, he had inherited one of the poorest and most undeveloped economies in the world. As a result, he initiated a process of rapid industrialisation which transformed China's economy into one based on production and industry.

Mao Zedong influence

Perhaps the greatest evidence of Mao's influence is that, to this day, the People's Republic of China remains theoretically aligned with the communist ideology. To this day, the CCP retains its total monopoly on political power and productive resources. As a result of Mao's influence, political dissent is still a costly practise in China.

In Tiananmen Square, where he declared the establishment of the new Chinese Republic on the 1st of October 1949, Mao's portrait still hangs from the main gate. It was here that, in 1989, the communist party quashed a pro-democracy protest instigated by students from Beijing, killing hundreds of demonstrators in the process.

One final example of Mao's influence can be seen by the fact that, in 2017, the Chinese premier Xi Jinping followed in Mao's footsteps by adding his name to the Constitution. In 1949, Mao had established his 'Mao Zedong Thought' as the guiding principles by which China would revolutionise its economy. By adding his 'Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era' to the constitution, Jinping displayed that the idealisation of Mao is still very much alive in China today.

Fig 2: Mao's portrait hangs in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, Wikimedia Commons

Mao Zedong facts

To finish off, let's take a look at some of the key facts from Mao's personal and political life.

Facts from personal life

Let's first summarise some facts about Mao's personal life

• Mao Zedong was born in the Hanan province of China in 1893 and died in 1976.
• During the revolution against the Qing imperial dynasty in 1911, Mao fought on the republican side to overthrow China's final imperial regime.
• Eight years later, Mao was heavily involved in the May Fourth Movement in 1919.
• Mao married four times during his life and had 10 children.

Facts from political life

In his political life, Mao's life was fraught with major events, including

• During a prolonged civil war, Mao led communist troops on a 5,600-mile trek which has come to be known as the Long March.
• Mao Zedong became the first Chairman of the People's Republic of China, which was declared on the 1st of October 1949.
• From 1958 until 1960, he attempted to industrialise the economy through his programme The Great Leap Forward.
• From 1966 until 1976, Mao oversaw the Cultural Revolution in China, which sought to eradicate 'counter-revolutionary' and 'bourgeoise' individuals.

Fig 3: a painting, found in a home in Shanghai, which was used as a propaganda piece during the Great Leap Forward (1958 - 1960), Wikimedia Commons