Monday, 9 January 2017

Land reforms

Agrarian reform law - 1950
  • Eradicated the exploitation of the peasants by the landlords
  • Redistribution of land
  • Not lower rents or lower rates on loans (as they previously experimented with during their time in Yanan)
  • Work teams set up to calculate the amount of land each family owned so that they could be taxed according to their possessions
Attacks on Landlords
  • Led by peasants - this allowed peasants to get revenge for old resentments but they also carried out the killings - no turning back
  • Possessions were divided up among the peasants - 10 million people lost land
  • By the end of 1951 40% of all land had been redistributed
  • Official Chinese figures estimated 700,000 died
Voluntary collectivisation - 1952 onwards
  • Mao wanted to do it gradually and bring it in with a measured approach
1951 - Mutual Aid Teams
  • Groups of 10 families
  • Pool their animals, labour and equipment
  • But still some private ownership - house, possessions, some land
  • Peasants associations were set up to help organise the Mutual Aid Teams
Bigger cooperatives
  • 1952 Mat's joined together to form Agricultural Producer's cooperatives
  • 40-50 families
  • 1953 Mao called a pause as things weren't happening as fast as hoped
  • By March 1955 - 14% of rural households had joined an APC 
  • Some APCs were now building up debts
  • Peasants started to buy and sell in rural markets
1954
  • Poor harvest
  • People in cities can't get enough food
  • Grain requisitioning started to feed urban workers
1955 - A year of U-turns
  • U-turn number one - January Mao called a halt to APCs for 18 months
  • U-turn number two - July 1955 - Forced collectivisation
  • -This time collect farms will be made up of between 200 and 300 households
  • - No private ownership

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