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Exercises · Q4

Q.Explain the Great Leap Forward campaign of China as initiated in 1958.

Sikkim CbseNCERTSubjective· 3mImportance★★★★★
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The Great Leap Forward, begun in 1958, was Mao's drive to industrialise China at great speed. Urban people set up backyard industry while rural people farmed collectively in Communes. A crippling drought, mass deaths and the withdrawal of Soviet experts after the Russia-China rift caused it to fail badly.

What the campaign was

The Great Leap Forward (GLF) campaign was initiated in 1958. It aimed at industrialising the country on a massive scale and transforming China rapidly through the mobilisation of its huge population.

Its main features

  • Backyard industrialisation: People were encouraged to set up industry in their own backyards so that industrial production could spread across the whole country rather than being confined to a few centres.
  • The Commune system: In rural areas, agriculture was collectivised. People cultivated lands collectively under Communes. By 1958 there were about 26,000 communes covering almost all the farm population.

Why it faltered

  • A severe drought struck China during this period and caused massive devastation; it is estimated that millions of people died. …

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