S2 Ep2: Maoism, the Great Leap Forward / Famine and the Sino-Soviet Split
In the Shadows of Utopia: The Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian Nightmare
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The Great Leap Forward
In 1958 Mao Zedong attempted to dramatically accelerate China's economic development with the great leap forward. He ignored warnings that this defeat of the sparrows would actually cause more harm to China's crops, whereas the caterpillars that they ate would remain unscathed. So I consider Mao to be the third or fourth great prophet of communism. Now some might throw Stalin in there as well, but I guess it depends on who you ask. It was an audacious gamble, and it would fail miserably, end quote.
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