China’s Great Famine (1959-1961): Causes

China’s Great Famine (1959-1961): Overview

Great Chinese Famine三年大饥荒 Event Great Chinese Famine Country People’s Republic of China Location Half of the country. Death rates were highest in Anhui (18% dead), Chongqing (15%), Sichuan (13%), Guizhou (11%) and Hunan (8%). Period 1959–1961 Total Deaths 15–55 million Theory Result of the Great Leap Forward, people’s commune, Four Pests campaign and other factors. Consequences Termination of the Great Leap Forward campaign; considered China’s most devastating catastrophe....

China’s Great Famine (1959-1961): Summary

The biggest famine ever recorded happened in China between 1959 and 1961. While the lack of rain made things worse, most of the suffering was caused by people, mainly Mao Zedong. We can’t say for sure how many people died, but estimates suggest around 30 million. Even now, two generations later, China hasn’t openly looked into what caused the famine and what happened because of it....

China’s Great Famine (1959-1961): Origin

The famine’s beginnings can be traced back to Mao Zedong’s decision, supported by China’s communist party leaders, to start the Great Leap Forward. This ambitious plan aimed to rapidly boost China’s economy, mimicking the progress other countries took decades to achieve. Mao believed heavily in heavy industry, so he focused on making steel, ordering millions of peasants to work in mines and build furnaces instead of farming. Unfortunately, this effort mostly produced low-quality iron. People were forced to stop farming for themselves, and communal farming was pushed, leading to less grain being grown, which was a major food source. False reports of great harvests were spread to show off communal farming’s success. But in reality, grain production dropped drastically, and by 1959, famine hit a third of China’s provinces. The famine was caused by actions and decisions made by those in power, like not admitting the problem and not seeking help from other countries quickly enough. The government’s actions, like taking away private food sources and prioritizing cities and the elite, made the situation worse. Mao’s government didn’t feel the consequences of their decisions like the people did. In a democracy, where leaders are accountable to the people, there’s more pressure to prevent or stop famines. But China didn’t have this accountability during Mao’s rule. While bad weather made things worse, it wasn’t the main cause of the famine, despite what official reports claimed. China’s own data contradicts this. It was only when China started to adopt more sensible economic policies and opened up to the world that things began to improve. In the 1970s, after Mao’s death, China started buying modern fertilizer plants from the US and later dissolved communal farms, allowing farmers more freedom. By 1984, food rationing ended in cities, and China’s food supply nearly matched Japan’s....

China’s Great Famine (1959-1961): Extent of Famine

The full extent of the famine wasn’t known to the world until 1982 when China conducted its first reliable population census. This census revealed single-year age distributions, which allowed experts to estimate the number of extra deaths between 1959 and 1961. Initially, American researchers estimated between 16.5 to 23 million deaths. Later studies provided more detailed insights, suggesting between 23 to 30 million extra deaths, while some Chinese documents hinted at numbers closer to 40 million. However, the true toll will never be known because the official Chinese figures from that time didn’t accurately reflect the drop in births and the increase in deaths, and it’s difficult to reconstruct these vital statistics accurately....

China’s Great Famine (1959-1961): Need for Open Discussion

No matter how much information or analysis is added, the undeniable truth remains: Mao’s misguided policies led to the worst famine in human history. Surprisingly, unlike other major famines of the 20th century, such as those in Ukraine and Bengal, China has never openly discussed the causes and responsibility for the depth and duration of its famine. Even Western scholars and politicians have largely overlooked it. There’s a clear need for moral examination and historical closure. Eventually, China will have to confront the causes and consequences of this tragedy, which surpasses the toll of all other famines the country has faced in the past two centuries....

China’s Great Famine (1959-1961): Death Toll

Experts, including former Chinese Communist Party officials and international scholars, have estimated the excess deaths caused by the famine. These estimates typically range from 15 to 55 million deaths. Mobo Gao, an author with Maoist leanings, suggests that writers critical of communism tend to exaggerate the death toll, while those supportive of the Chinese Revolution prefer to minimize it. Here are some specific estimates:...

China’s Great Famine (1959-1961): Cannibalism

During the famine, there are many reports, although not officially documented, of people resorting to cannibalism in different ways to survive. People were desperate and did whatever they could to stay alive, including eating things like soil and poisons, stealing, killing, and even consuming human flesh. Because of the widespread nature of the famine, some speculate that the scale of cannibalism during this time could be described as unprecedented in the 20th century....

China’s Great Famine (1959-1961): Causes

Here are some causes for China’s Great Famine (1859-1961):...

FAQs on China’s Great Famine (1959-1961)

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