A Study On The Great Leap Forward And The People’s Communes In Tongwei County

The Great Leap Forward was in full swing in our country after the second Session of the Eighth Congress of the Communist Party of China on May 16, 1958. A new form of social organization, namely the rural People’s Communes also sprang all over the country, which was driven by the general line and the Great Leap Forward.Influenced by the whole country’s situation, the Great Leap Forward and the People’s Communes in Tongwei county. However, good wish ended with tragedy. Although the movement passed fifty years, we should make deep reflection for its consequences. As a case study of the Great Leap Forward and People’s Communes in Tongwei county,the author made a serious analysis for the movement.Tongwei county was known for its barren land and poor people with too little rain and no other way for people survival in addition to planting. Such a special condition affected the way of the Great Leap Forward and Movement of People’s Communes to some extent. The first chapter of this thesis will mainly analyze the reason of the Great Leap Forward and the People’s Communes happening in Tongwei county based on social conditions at that time. The second chapter will briefly summarize the Great Leap Forward movement. Author thought that the Great Leap Forward began with the struggle of anti-rightist and of anti-bourgeois ideology which was realistic, bourgeois academic views, and to sand firm against boasting and exaggeration, which removed the obstacles and paved the way for the Great Leap Forward. Under the new situation of the Great Leap Forward, greatly making steel and iron movement also launched in whole county. However, agricultural production dropped for harvest year because of transferring part of agricultural labor to make iron and steel. The third chapter will mainly discuss the situation of development of people’s Communes in Tongwei County. Tongwei county which had big mountains and deep gullies was agricultural county. Such nature condition decided that the Great Leap Forward was the agricultural Great Leap Forward in Tongwei county. After realizing rural People’s Communes, Tongwei county set off constructive climax of agricultural production as corps, including the construction of water conservancy,collecting manure and so on. That production and life of people were turned upside down.The rural public canteens rushed into mass action at the same time. Communistwind’s problems seriously highlighted. The County Commission issued polices named“three papers of notices” to correct policies and measures for the People’s Communes existing problems. The fourth chapter will emphatically discuss the serious consequences of the Great Leap Forward and the People’s Communes. Tongwei county appeared serious famine during the Movement which leaded the production and life of people being in the edge of collapse. The Central Committee of the Communist Party held the Lanzhou meeting in northwest to take all measures as much as possible, which made the situation of Tongwei ease. After the Seven Thousand People Congress, the Tongwei problems gradually was solved effectively.Back to Tongwei county’s Great Leap Forward and the People’s Communes in1958, we should make an objective and fair evaluation. For one thing, We should be sure the masses of pride of battle; for another thing, we must also see the serious consequences. As the saying goes, we can draw lessons from the past if we don’t forget it. That warns us that we should remember the experience and learn lessons of the Great leap Forward and the rural People’s Communes on the way of construction of socialism with China.