By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. The Great Leap Forward was a five-year economic plan executed by Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party, begun in 1958 and abandoned in 1961. From 1958 to 1962, his Great Leap Forward policy led to the deaths of up to 45 million people – easily making it the biggest episode of mass murder … It was the largest single, non-wartime campaign of mass killing in human history. Overall, the plan was centered around two primary goals, collectivizing agriculture and widespread industrialization, with two main targets, increasing grain and steel production. The Great Leap Forward period was scarred by the deaths of millions. The increase in urban populations placed additional strain on the food distribution system and demand on collective farms to increase grain production for urban consumption. Many communities were assigned production of a single commodity—steel. Frank Dikötter, Chair Professor of Humanities at the University of Hong Kong and the author of Mao's Great Famine, estimated that at least 45 million people died from starvation, overwork and state violence during the Great Leap Forward, claiming his findings to be based on access to recently opened local and provincial party archives. In this spirit, Mao launched the Great Leap Forward, established People's Communes in the countryside, and began the mass mobilization of the people into collectives. Farmland was damaged by nonsensical agricultural practices and the landscape denuded of trees to fuel the steel furnaces. 35–42 million is the accepted figure In serious scholarship for victims of the “Great Chinese Famine”. The Great Leap Forward was a massive failure. Finally, an effort is made to identify the causes of the demographic crisis. It … Economics is a branch of social science focused on the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The Great Leap Forward produced the greatest famine in … Mao decreed increased efforts to multiply grain yields and bring industry to the countryside. Throughout the Great Leap forward, while millions starved to death, China remained a net exporter of grain as Mao directed grain exports and refused offers of international food relief in order to convince the rest of the world that his plans were a success. At least 45 million people died unnecessary deaths during China's Great Leap Forward from 1958 to 1962, including 2.5 million tortured or summarily … The Great Leap Forward was supposed to be a five-year plan, but it was called off after just three tragic years. quences of the Great Leap Forward-encompassing the years 1958-62-are examined by analyzing the massive fertility deficits and excess deaths that occurred during and immediately after the Leap. The TZS (Tanzanian Shilling) is the official currency for Tanzania and one shilling is made up of 100 senti, which is Swahili for cents. As a result of the successful economic reconstruction that had taken place in the early 1950’s. "When there is not enough to eat, people starve to death. A nationwide campaign to exterminate sparrows, which Mao believed were major pest on grain crops, resulted in massive locust swarms in the absence of natural predation by the sparrows. Due to the failures in planning and coordination, and resulting materials shortages, which are common to central economic planning, the massive increase in industrial investment and reallocation of resources resulted in no corresponding increase in manufacturing output. The Great Leap Forward was a movement in China that started in 1958 and lasted two years till 1960. Recent estimates place the death toll of The Great Leap Forward and its corresponding famine at 45 million deaths, far greater than the number killed in WWI. A trade war arises when one country retaliates against another by raising import tariffs or placing other restrictions on the other country's imports. By using Investopedia, you accept our. The Great Leap Forward resulted in 30–55 million deaths due to starvation, execution, and forced labor, along with massive economic and environmental destruction. Our latest episode for parents features the topic of empathy. Two-three million of the deaths were due to torture and execution. Mao's Great Leap Forward 'killed 45 million in four years'. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. In his film, Shu raises money to build memorials for the dead. However, the evidence they come up with tends to muddy the picture rather than providing corroboration for the evidence from death rates. Existing metal equipment, tools, and household goods were confiscated and melted down to fuel additional production. The result was a famine of unconscionable severity; the Great Leap Forward was responsible for tens of millions of Chinese deaths — maybe as many as 45 million — from the time it started in 1958 through the early 1960s. Maoism was based on a distinct outlook not necessarily dependent on a Chinese or Marxist-Leninist context. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) lead by Mao Zedong or Mao Tse-Tung considered it was a time for the Great Leap Forward. The Great Leap Forward, the period from 1958 to 1962 that saw the deaths of an estimated 45 million Chinese, lacks the heft of horror associated with Hitler's and Stalin's genocides. * The greatest loss of life came in the Great Famine, a result of Mao's misguided industrialization effort called the Great Leap Forward. Official Chinese sources, released after Mao’s death, suggest that 16.5 million people died in the Great Leap Forward. There were several reasons for these deaths. But this also includes the 24 million natural deaths during those 3.5 years (7million per year), as well as 4 million deaths directly caused by weather, floods, droughts, etc. At least thirty-six million people died during the Great Leap Forward. It is probably fair to say, then, that Mao was responsible for about 1.5 million deaths during the Cultural Revolution, another million for the other campaigns, and between 35 million and 45 million for the Great Leap Famine. The Great Leap Forward (Second Five Year Plan) of the People's Republic of China (PRC) was an economic and social campaign led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1958 to 1962. 30–40% of the housing stock was demolished to obtain raw materials for collective projects. Private plot farming was abolished and rural farmers were forced to work on collective farms where all production, resource allocation, and food distribution was centrally controlled by the Communist Party. These innovations resulted in declining crop yields from failed experiments and improperly constructed water projects. 16 These were the same capitalists that Mao was determined to overtake with the Great Leap Forward. Tan Zhenlin, then Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China, generalized and then issued the guidelines of reservoir construction as "focusing on retaining water" and "building more small reservoirs".At the time, "retaining more water" meant "more revolutionary". Download: The Great Leap Forward Lesson Plan. More than six million Chinese peasants starved during the upheaval of the warlord period (1916-27), while another eight million perished during the Nationalist period(1927-49). Large scale irrigation projects, with little input from trained engineers, were initiated, and experimental, unproven new agricultural techniques were quickly introduced around the country. History records the Great Leap Forward as a disaster. Mao’s official goal was to rapidly evolve China from an agrarian economy into a modern industrial society with greater ability to compete with Western industrialized nations. This is the new era of the Great Leap Forward." Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Help support true facts by becoming a member. 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