Final Essay

Why The Great Leap Forward Was Introduced and Failed Name Institution Course and Code Professor Date Why The Great Leap Forward Was Introduced and Failed Introduction Did you know that the policies implemented by Mao Zedong to support the Great Leap Forward contributed to millions of deaths in China? The selected topic or research question is: The reasons for the introduction of the Great Leap Forward (GLF) in 1958 in China by Mao Zedong, who was the chairperson of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at that time, and why it was a significant disaster for the country. I chose this topic since the GLF was formed to address the problems that it caused in the end. For example, it was expected to increase agricultural productivity through collectivization. However, the GLF significantly contributed to the decline of agricultural produce, leading to mass starvation and the death of many Chinese people. As such, understanding the reasons for introducing the GLF and why it failed will enable individuals to know why it became a disaster. Another reason for selecting this topic is how Zedong convinced the government to adopt his social and economic campaign for the GLF, which was not evaluated before to determine its feasibility. As such, to address the research question above, two hypotheses will be analyzed throughout the research paper. The first hypothesis is that Zedong did not have a solid plan for the implementation of the GLF since his campaign was based on ideas and opinions, not facts. The second hypothesis is that the GLF failed since Zedong introduced policies and enforced them on people who had no idea of the expected goals. That is why many individuals were hesitant and disinterested in adopting the new changes since they had no obligation to engage in something they did not comprehend entirely. In the long run, the GLF failed leaving China in a bad place compared to where it was before the campaign. Body Zedong’s primary objective was to transition China, which depended on the agrarian economy, to a highly industrialized nation that would compete with the Western industrialized countries (Jung & Chen, 2019). The CCP’s chairperson was so carried away by the anticipated outcomes and failed to focus on how to get there. Instead of interacting with the Chinese people to understand what they wanted, Zedong assumed that they were ready and had the potential to make the GLF successful. The significant changes that were enforced on rural dwellers in China were unfair. For example, prohibiting private farming and making agricultural collectivization mandatory, were ineffective policies. Zedong might have forgotten or ignored the fact that individual farming was necessary since it provided food for people. Besides, without food, it can be difficult for individuals to engage in their daily activities, including small and large-scale farming. Before Zedong announced his five-year plan to improve China’s economic prosperity, he just observed individuals and concluded that they were ready for it (Brown, 2012). However, based on the outcomes, it is evident that the Chinese people were not ready to engage in Zedong’s proposed activities or comply with the new economic development policies. The primary thing that demotivated farmers to participate in agricultural collectivization was the abolishment of private plot farming. The CCP commanded rural farmers to abandon private lands and engage in collective farms, where food distribution, production, and resource allocation were centrally managed. The introduction of large-scale irrigation projects was done without adequate input from skilled engineers, which increased the room for failure. Zedong went ahead to introduce new and unproven agricultural techniques. In other terms, it appears that the GLF was introduced in a hurry and based on theoretical concepts and hope that it will succeed. There lacked a technical plan to support the GLF by ensuring that resources were distributed well and that experts were involved to make this campaign successful. Zedong was over-confident in his GLF plan and thought that it would have helped China to develop economically and socially. One of the primary reasons that Zedong pushed for the GLF was to transform China into an industrialized socialist state to stop over-depending on the agrarian economy (“Years of Turbulence,” 2024). The individual might have ignored that enforcing changes without public participation is the easiest way to welcome failure. When it comes to improving the economy of China, a feasible model was required that depended on facts, but not mere opinions and observations. In particular, saying that the Chinese individuals were ready to welcome the GLF should have come after taking respective surveys, especially from the targeted people, such as rural farmers. There is no way that Zedong proposed the abolishment of private farming, knowing very well that many individuals depended on it for food production. Notably, no rural farmer would have been happy after knowing that they were prohibited from engaging in agricultural activities that fed them for many years. When Zedong introduced policies affecting small-scale farming, he did not bother to communicate the expected goals to the rural farmers. He did not explain, inform, persuade, or motivate them to engage in agricultural collectivization. To make the matter even worse, Zedong supported the labeling and persecution of individuals who opposed the GLF. He enforced social pressure, forced labor, and public struggle sessions. Indeed, struggle sessions involved humiliating, accusing, torturing, and beating people who opposed Zedong’s new policies (“Years of Turbulence,” 2024). Such actions might have contributed to the lack of devotion and motivation to participate in collective farms. Although rural farmers were left with no other option, they abandoned private farming but did not support the GLF. All the things that the CCP’s chairperson enforced on the people were not meant to improve the economic development of China but were punishments. If rural farmers were informed about the importance of collective farms compared to private farming, maybe they should have supported the former, leading to increased agricultural productivity. Another reason for the introduction of the GLF was Zedong’s thought of the peasants’ revolutionary potential in achieving socialist goals. Specifically, “a socialist ideology is a relatively independent system having relatively separate fundamental components that work together to form a complete system” (Zhang, Zong, & Zeen, 2023, p.213). As such, a balanced relationship is vital in a socialist ideology. Zedong did not recognize the significant aspects of the socialist ideology, which he depended on for his proposed GLF. For example, based on his implementation of the GLF, he did not bother to consult rural farmers so that he would have comprehended the importance of private farming. Instead, Zedong abolished private farming, which must have hurt rural farmers since the majority of them relied on it for subsistence food production. In that light, the poor relationship between the GLF implementers and stakeholders contributed to high resistance and the lack of cooperation in meeting the set socialist goals. On the one side, Zedong thought that rural farmers and other stakeholders were ready to act accordingly to make the GLF successful. On the other hand, many rural farmers did not care about agricultural collectivization, meaning that they were demotivated. This instance contributed to the failure of the GLF and the death of many people who starved due to the significant decline in food production. The lack of a solid plan for implementing the GLF leads to adverse consequences. If Zedong had an effective implementation plan, the majority of rural farmers might have supported his socialist ideology, leading to a smooth transition from private to collective farming. The other significant cause of Zedong’s GLF failure was enforcing policies on Chinese individuals without listening to what they wanted. The mandatory push for rural farmers to participate in collective farming activities was wrong. Nobody would be willing to work and give his or her best outcome when forced to do something. Instead, the best strategy is to motivate people to engage in specific tasks if they are convinced that they will be favored by the results. Notably, Zedong thought that the transition to collective farming would increase grain production in China. His GLF depended on mass mobilization and focus on rural development. However, Zedong failed to mobilize Chinese individuals to join their hands and support the GLF. That is why he ended up forcing people to do things that he thought would promote agricultural productivity. For a five-year plan, Zedong needed a comprehensive implementation plan, showing where the resources were obtained, how to distribute them, and how to convince all stakeholders to support the GLF. Besides, when coming up with the GLF, Zedong had good plans for China, which were to foster industrialization and agricultural productivity. However, his implementation methodology was wrong, which is why he failed and caused the death of many Chinese citizens. The CCP’s chairperson emphasized productive forces by relying on socialist ideologies. Zedong relied on human will, values, and a socialist ideology as the primary aspects of building socialism. On the contrary, he ignored the limitations and constraints of socialist modernization and people’s participation (Wang, 2021). That by itself can be referred to as the lack of a feasible plan. For sure, there...