Three+bitter+years-+the+crisis+of+1959-61

A child suffering from the famine
 * Three Bitter Years || commonly known as the Great Chinese Famine. ||
 * Famine || extreme scarcity of food ||
 * Debt || something, typically money, that is owed or due ||
 * Mao || Chinese statesman, chairman of the Communist Party of the Chinese People's Republic 1949–76, head of state 1949–59. A cofounder of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921 and its effective leader from the time of the Long March (1934–35), he eventually defeated both the occupying Japanese and rival Kuomintang nationalist forces to create the People's Republic of China in 1949. ||

The Three Bitter Years, more commonly known as the Great Chinese Famine was the period in China during 1959-1961, in which poor economic policies produced the largest famine in human history. It can be clearly seen that massive agricultural policy changes during the “Great Leap Forward” were the key factor in causing the famine. The unfavourable weather during the Great Leap Forward intensified mass crop failures, contributing to the food shortage. Chinese soldiers parading after the great harvest (before the famine)

Mao himself was the second major factor that escalated the scale of the famine, in his ignorance he had failed to realise the existence of the disaster and sacrificed millions in an attempt to make his policies seem successful. He chose to repay China’s debts ahead of schedule, and appallingly, maintained its status as a major exporter of grain, further reducing the already diminished food supply. Finally, over-reporting of crop production and ill distribution of food meant that the rural population were left with nothing to eat. The culmination of all these factors led to the starvation of the entirely country for “three bitter years” and killed directly up to 30 million people. Propaganda by Mao

 Mao’s “Great Leap Forward”turned out to have the exact opposite effect. After a few months, in 1959, everything began breaking down. Industrial Crisis

Leadership breakdown
Propaganda "Turn Metal Into Use"

__**Industrial Crisis **__ Old machinery were pushed to the extent that they broke down and days of work were lost People became exhausted and thus unable to work properly which lead to mistakes in fabrication and people falling asleep on the job <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">There were not enough railways to transport the steel to the industrial centers <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Coal was used in the fa <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;">ctories and there wasn’t enough to fuel locomotives Farming tools

__**<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Farming Crisis **__ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Many events lead to the farming crisis, mainly it was Mao’s five year plan and his urge and impatience to catch up to the Soviet Union but there were also some environmental factors that helped it develop completely: <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">In 1958 people were transferred from the fields to backyard steel furnaces reducing food production <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Although weather was excellent, there was poor planning, by the end of the year party officials lied claiming a record harvest of 260 m tons <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Eating halls began giving peasants very generous meals taking away food from stocks, setting the stage for the next three bad years. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">In 1959 the weather for farming and agriculture was terrible, some parts of China were flooded and others were in drought. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Bad weather and lack of manpower resulted in a poor harvest of 170 million tons. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Food stocks were low and went further down and famine began to show in some parts of China. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">In 1960 the weather worsened and the harvest was 144 million tons. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">9 million people died of famine that year. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">A rationing system was introduced giving people a maximum of 125 grains per day. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Between 1959 and 1962, 20 million people died of starvation and other diseases. Farm lands

__**<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Mao's Demotion **__ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">In 1960 Mao was substituted as Head of State by Liu Shaoqi by suggestion of the Party leaders. Mao was no longer in charge of making decisions concerning the manner in which China would be run. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;">After this many changes followed: <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Communes were reduced in size <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Peasants who had been transferred to steel production were returned to the fields <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Private farming plots for peasants were allowed <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Peasants were allowed to sell part of their production for profit <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Town worker's wages were increased Propaganda by Mao <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Although moderates ran the economy, Mao continued to be a popular and influential leader among the masses and in 1966 lead the country to what was known as the Cultural Revolution. Woman starving from famine

__**Bloom's Questions:**__ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">How many people died in the famine?

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;">Who do you think started the famine?

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;">What factors would you have changed on how to solve the famine?

=<span style="font-size: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;">**Two Essay Questions:** = <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">Compare and contrast the Three Bitter Years and Soviet Famine.

The Three Bitter Years was due to natural disasters. China was going through it's second Five Year Plan when the farms started getting flooded and they lost over 60% of their crops that year. They didn't have enough food for their population and Mao sold all their grains overseas to pay off the debt with the Soviet Union. At least 20 million people died the first year of the famine. It was hard for China to bounce back from that situation. During the first Five Year Plan, Mao persuaded all the peasants to sell their land so all the peasants can work together and a huge plot of land. It makes everything easier and they will earn a lot of money. The peasants then joined the communes because they were fed well and had a place to live. Also they were persuaded with Mao's words, that they would get more money since they will have a larger plot of land. But the peasants didn't stay for long. After the first harvest, the officials and Mao told everyone they had double their harvests and need to do better next harvest. Problem is, they didn't double their harvest at all. This lead to people to distribute the grains unequally. The peasants started starving. Then the second year, there were the natural disasters. There were multiple floods around China destroying over 60% of the crops. Mao blamed the failure of the crops on the weather and the Soviets. The Soviets because that year, the Soviets left China and took their blueprints. The Chinese were hopeless without anything. The Soviet famine was due to inefficient farming and forced collectivization. Forced collectivization has the biggest impact because it caused chaos in the countryside. This included the destruction of peasant activist's possessions, the selling and killing of horses for fear they would be seized, and farmer's refraining from field work. Authorities blamed the agitation on the kulaks (rich peasants) and kolkhozs (collectivized farmers), and accused them of sabotage. The authorities wrongly expected that production would increase as a result of agricultural collectivization, because of plans for exporting agricultural products based on attempts to industrialize. Central authorities maintained that the collapse was caused by peasants' hiding their grain crops, despite repeated requests from local authorities that their quota be decreased. As a consequence, local activists led searches for hidden stores of grain; this caused seizure of seed corn that should have been used for sowing the next year's crop and the loss of the stocks needed to feed peasant families.The famine destroyed a significant part of the local populations, especially in the Ukraine. Many villages were destroyed. Approximately eight and a half million people died during the famine. When compared, these two famines are similar to a minimal extent. Both famine was affected by peasants and both of them have lost many lives. There was also the inefficient distributing of the grains. But unlike the Soviet famine, peasants from the Three Bitter Years, had to deal with natural events. There were floods and the peasants who were left either died from starvation or left the communes. The Soviet famine however, was due to forced collectivization. The peasants were forced to give up their land and work together with other peasants. The peasants saw that the government was taking all their harvests so they started hiding the harvests. The government sent "spies" to look for the harvest. The peasants died either from starvation because they had to hide the crops or was tortured to death by the officials. So in all, both of the famines were similar to a minimal extent.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> To what extent was the famine able to slow down China's growth and the famine in Russia?


 * __<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; line-height: 19px;">The 10 Key Terms of Russia and China __**

<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> China Russia
 * Communism || Communism is an economic system founded by Karl Marx and its main aim is a classless society where everyone is equal, that is pure communism. Before entering communism however Socialism has to be achieved and maintained first. China has a communist form of economy however China's political system is Socialism since Communism can exist without a government. ||
 * Mao Zedong || Leader of the Communist party from 1943-1976.His brand of Communist policies and ideas are now known as Maoism. He is known as a great revolutionary, political strategist, military mastermind, and savior of China. He was born on 26th December 1893 and died 9th September 1976 at the age of 82. ||
 * The Great Leap Forward || The Great Leap Forward was Mao Zedong's plan to modernize China and catch up with America's economy with in 20-30 years. The plan was too focused on backyard steel production causing famine because there was not enough workers in farms and fields. ||
 * The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution || Or simply known as the Cultural Revolution started in 1966 and officially ended in 1976 which was the same year as Mao Zedong's death. The Cultural Revolution's original aim was to restore China to true communism and purge anything bourgeois or Western. However it resulted in social, economic, and political persecution with the destruction of historical sites, antiques, and culture. ||
 * The Long March || The Long March lasted 368 days crossed over 9,000 kilometers of land starting on October 1934 and ended on October 1935. The Long March was a retreat from the south to the north of China and caused great casualties for the communists however it was a turning point for the Communists in the war. ||


 * < Joseph Stalin ||< Joseph Stalin was the head of state of the USSR and was in office from 3rd April 1922 - 5th March 1953 acting as the First General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He also killed more citizens than Hitler or Mao Zedong which was approximately 20 million people. ||
 * < First Three Five Year Plans ||< These plans were developed by Stalin and the State Planning Committee for extensive growth industrially and economically. The Plans brought changes to Russian society and it can be said that happiness was traded for progress. The first three plans extended from 1928-1941 when World War II began. ||
 * < The Great Purge ||< The Great Purge, 1936-1938, was when Stalin "purged" (killed, imprisoned, tortured) members of the state whose loyalty he doubted. The Purge also spread to the army and the NKVD. ||
 * < <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Vladimir Lenin ||< He was the leader of the Bolsheviks and led the October Revolution. He was born 22nd April 1870 and died 21st January 1924. Lenin was the head of the state from 1917-1924 ||
 * < Tsar Nicholas II ||< Tsar Nicholas II was the last emperor of Russia and ruled from 1894 until his abdication on 15th March 1917. ||

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