Mao's Economic Policies
Like Russia, China also had a Five Year Plan, because also like Russia, China was extremely behind in terms of industrialization especially in comparison to the west. Mao planned to improve this through the Five Year Plan in 1953 by attempting to boost steel, coal and iron production. By the end of the first five year plan, 93.5% of all farm households were collectivized, showing that a combination of both government propaganda as well as moral from the people can have a great effect.
Many factories were built, and the national wage increased at a rate of 9% a year, showing that China was more successful in terms of promoting communism that Russia was, because the national wage in Russia fell. However, this might be because China is somewhat of a more collectivist society - meaning that they put the greater good of the group before the individual needs, while western countries tend to be more individualist. Russia’s individualist societies and characteristics are played out by the people who basically ratted on each other for being “anti-Communist” as an attempt to either get rid of them or more up in society.
The Second Five Year Plan, also introduced by Mao was known as the Great Leap Forward, which planned to further develop industry and agriculture. One of the common theories at the time was that if the population was well fed, the population would be able to produce more and prosper. On the bright side, universal health care and education was provided in order to motivate the people to work. However, the Great Leap Forward was not as much of a success as the first Five Year Plan, for although there was a significant increase in industry and income, the great sparrow campaign led to the outspread of locusts, which then caused 20 million peasants to starve to death.
Many factories were built, and the national wage increased at a rate of 9% a year, showing that China was more successful in terms of promoting communism that Russia was, because the national wage in Russia fell. However, this might be because China is somewhat of a more collectivist society - meaning that they put the greater good of the group before the individual needs, while western countries tend to be more individualist. Russia’s individualist societies and characteristics are played out by the people who basically ratted on each other for being “anti-Communist” as an attempt to either get rid of them or more up in society.
The Second Five Year Plan, also introduced by Mao was known as the Great Leap Forward, which planned to further develop industry and agriculture. One of the common theories at the time was that if the population was well fed, the population would be able to produce more and prosper. On the bright side, universal health care and education was provided in order to motivate the people to work. However, the Great Leap Forward was not as much of a success as the first Five Year Plan, for although there was a significant increase in industry and income, the great sparrow campaign led to the outspread of locusts, which then caused 20 million peasants to starve to death.
Successes of Mao's Economic Policies
-Half of China became irrigated
-Industrial output climbed 13-fold
-The railway network doubled
-Dramatic lowering of illiteracy - due to many of the young children being put into daycares while their parents went to work ; used to motivate the people to enjoy their work and perform better, but this is a bonus side effect
-Near universal healthcare was established ; another bonus side effect of the reforms used to motivate the common people to work hard and become the ideal Communist worker (much like in the Soviet Union, where this ideal worker was known as a Stakhovanite)
-Life expectancy rose