IGCSE History

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• Introduction to IGCSE
• The Road to Affluence: USA 1917 - 1941 (A9)
  • 1917 - 1929
    • The impact of the First World War
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    • The Wall Street Crash
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• International Relations 1919-1939 (A8)
  • Collective Security
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  • Appeasement
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    • Appeasement in action
• Revolution in China 1949 - 1996 (A14)
  • 1949 - 1976
    • China under Mao
    • Reform under Liu and Deng
    • The reasons for the Cultural Revolution
    • The impact of the Cultural Revolution
    • China 1971 - 1976
  • 1976 - 1996
    • The defeat of the Gang of Four
    • China under Deng Xiaoping
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• Conflict and Crisis is the Middle East 1946 - 1996 (A16)
  • Unit overview
  • 1946 - 1967
    • The creation of Israel
    • The impact of the war of 1948 - 1949
    • The Suez Crisis
    • Superpower involvement in the Middle East
    • The Six Day War
  • 1967 - 1996
    • International terrorism
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    • Successes and failures from Camp David to Oslo
• The First World War (B4)
  • The Schlieffen Plan
  • Deadlock on the Western Front
  • Gallipoli
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• The USA 1917-1929 (B7)
  • The Roaring Twenties
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• China under Mao Zedong 1949 - 1959 (B10)
  • The creation of the Communist State
  • Land Reform
  • Communist society
  • The First Five Year Pan
  • The 100 Flowers
  • The Great Leap Forward
• The Changing Nature of Warfare (C3)
  • Unit overview
  • Warfare at the beginning of the 20th Century
  • Land warfare
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  • Warfare at the end of the 20th Century
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Reform under Liu and Deng

The effects of Collectivisation and the Great Leap Forward hit Mao’s reputation very hard. In 1958 Mao had resigned as President of the People's Republic of China and was replaced by Liu Shaoqui. Mao remained, however, as Chairman of the CCP. In 1962 Mao handed over responsibility for the economy to President Liu Shaoqi and CCP General Secretary Deng Xiaoping and withdrew from the political scene. Liu and Deng were both more moderates and accepted that Mao' s reforms had gone too far too quickly.

Liu and Deng brought in Chen Yun, the leading Chinese expert in agriculture, to advise them. The big problem that China faced was the threat of famine. Chen Yun recommended that some free markets should be allowed as the only way of combating famine. This would allow farmers to sell some of their produce and make profits and so would increase production. This was an implied criticism of Mao's policies. Liu and Deng allowed peasants to own individual plots of land. Ownership of individual plots of land had disappeared in Collectivisation and was a major grievance and meant that peasants were not able to produce food for their families. The reforms meant that rural markets began to re-open. By 1962 about half of the farm land in China was in the hands of individual families once again. The results of these changes were sudden increases in the amounts of food being produced in China.

Liu and Deng also attempted to tackle the risk of famine by introducing population control. Mao had always opposed population control because he believed that a large population was a sign of strength. He wanted to make industrial progress through manual labour. But Liu and Deng saw that an uncontrolled increase was potentially disastrous. By the early 1960s the CCP had exact figures for the overall rate of increase for the first time. To tackle the rate of increase, young people were required to postpone marriage and the use of contraceptives was encouraged by the state.

These changes reduced the influence of Mao and also reversed many of his ideas. But whilst Mao had little influence in government or the CCP, to the great majority of the Chinese people he remained the embodiment of the Revolution. Mao was prepared to bide his time and to use other tactics to re-establish his position in China.

By 1963 Mao was already regretting his loss of power and was becoming concerned at the changes that were taking place in China. In particular the growing dominance of the economy by an educated elite. His response was to begin to build up support in the PLA (People's Liberation Army) and his supporters gradually occupied key posts in the government and gained control of the Central Cultural Revolution Committee.

Although Mao lacked supporters in the upper reaches of the government and the CCP, he had many supporters in lesser positions. Many people shared his view that the revolution was being undermined by the policies of Liu and Deng, who appeared to be adopting western, revisionist ideas.

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