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Mao's Experiments
Mao's Experiments
In 1949, Mao Zedong controlled the most populous country in the world, at the beginning of what would eventually become the largest period of economic growth worldwide in human history (the post WW2 boom). Nevertheless, over the next quarter century Mao's political and economic decisions would drive China into serious economic decline, famine, and cultural chaos by destroying the intellectual leaders of his country, by isolating China from its natural allies abroad, by enacting counterintuitive economic strategies, and by enforcing a "cult of personality." Through these policies Mao bears responsibility for the death of approximately 40 million people.
Key Questions:
How did Mao attempt to modernize China's economy with the Great Leap Forward? How and why did this fail?
What was the purpose of the Cultural Revolution? What were its results?
Why did relations between China and the USSR weaken during the Cold War? Why did relations between China and the USA improve in the 1970s?
Homework:
Read pages 77-80 in your Reader.
Click here for a link to a graphic organizer you can use to take notes.
By the end of this assignment, you should understand and be able to explain:
The statements “Let 100 flowers bloom” and “walk on two legs”
China’s changing role on the world stage in the 1950s, particularly its relationship to the Cold War powers the USSR and the USA.
The goal of Mao’s Great Leap Forward and its effects
The rationale for the Cultural Revolution, how it unfolded, and its effects
Changes that took place in China’s foreign policy in the 1970s
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