HW 7

1. Mao's aims included turning China into a modern industrial state, gaining the support of the people, eliminating his opposition, and collectivizing agriculture.
   
2. Mao tried to use 5-Year Plans similar to what was done in the USSR in order to industrialize his country, setting certain economic goals to reach within 5 year periods. To gain the support of China's people, Mao introduced his "100 Flowers" policy, which encouraged everyone to say what they thought of their nation. Mao also eliminated much of his opposition, labeling those who disagreed with him as "reactionaries" and punishing them. Collectivization, another major aim of Mao's regime, was achieved through land reform, which redistributed land from wealthier people and landowners to groups of peasants.
   
3. Mao's 5-Year Plans were a legal method of achieving his economic aims, as were his land reform laws. However, he also used force in some cases, arresting people who spoke against his government through the 100 Flowers policy, and having many landowners killed in order to make land reform easier.
   
4. The Great Leap Forward was in some ways a cause of the Three Bitter Years that China experienced. In his attempt to industrialize China as quickly as possible, Mao took too many people away from agricultural work, causing the amount of food produced to decrease. This made China less prepared to deal with the floods and droughts that occurred afterward.
   
5. Mao's 100 Flowers policy seemed to be a form of propaganda, giving the people of China the illusion that their opinions were considered by the government. Mao's apology regarding the failure of the Great Leap Forward could be interpreted similarly; one could say that Mao was showing more care for his people than he actually had. A third example of propaganda is how Mao turned China's lower class peasants against the land owners during his attempts at collectivization.