How Did Mao Zedong Contribute To A Modern Industrialized Society
INTRODUCTION
“Mao’s beginnings were commonplace, his education episodic, his talents unexceptional: yet he possessed a relentless energy and a ruthless self-confidence that led him to become one of the world’s most powerful rulers”. Mao Zedong was the icon of the communist revolution and the founding father of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which he governed as Chairman of the Communist party of China (CPC) from its establishment to his death. His influence is still a force to contend with today as he remains China’s most famous or infamous leader of the twentieth century.
Aiming to rapidly transform the country from an agrarian economy to a modern industrialized society, Mao launched the Great Leap Forward in the spring of 1958. What started as a drastic movement that would bring China into the world stage and improve the living conditions of peasants, the Great Leap quickly took a dark turn. No matter how well intentioned, the campaign had a heavy toll on agriculture as the intense focus on industry left peasants discontent and famished after …show more content…
The entire people must grasp industry” the metal smelted in these primitive furnaces proved to be useless. In addition, in the heavy pursuit of the “phantom of the Great Leap in industry,” the Chinese leadership slackened it’s attention to agriculture and the grain problem, so when harvest time came the responsibility was “thrust onto the shoulders of women, old men and children”. Despite the sober reality of the setbacks that the Great Leap Forward had caused, inflated figures of the amazing growth in the quantity of agricultural products were sent in reports by leaders who feared Mao’s wrath. The Great Leap Forward proved to be a giant blunder when a “terrible famine ravaged the country, and a horrifying number of peasants starved to death.” The famine was on a gigantic scale, claiming the lives of twenty million or more between 1958 and
“Mao’s beginnings were commonplace, his education episodic, his talents unexceptional: yet he possessed a relentless energy and a ruthless self-confidence that led him to become one of the world’s most powerful rulers”. Mao Zedong was the icon of the communist revolution and the founding father of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which he governed as Chairman of the Communist party of China (CPC) from its establishment to his death. His influence is still a force to contend with today as he remains China’s most famous or infamous leader of the twentieth century.
Aiming to rapidly transform the country from an agrarian economy to a modern industrialized society, Mao launched the Great Leap Forward in the spring of 1958. What started as a drastic movement that would bring China into the world stage and improve the living conditions of peasants, the Great Leap quickly took a dark turn. No matter how well intentioned, the campaign had a heavy toll on agriculture as the intense focus on industry left peasants discontent and famished after …show more content…
The entire people must grasp industry” the metal smelted in these primitive furnaces proved to be useless. In addition, in the heavy pursuit of the “phantom of the Great Leap in industry,” the Chinese leadership slackened it’s attention to agriculture and the grain problem, so when harvest time came the responsibility was “thrust onto the shoulders of women, old men and children”. Despite the sober reality of the setbacks that the Great Leap Forward had caused, inflated figures of the amazing growth in the quantity of agricultural products were sent in reports by leaders who feared Mao’s wrath. The Great Leap Forward proved to be a giant blunder when a “terrible famine ravaged the country, and a horrifying number of peasants starved to death.” The famine was on a gigantic scale, claiming the lives of twenty million or more between 1958 and