Ep 3 Part 1 - 1949-1979: Twin Tasks of the Revolution Part 1

This week’s class covers the first 30 years of the People’s Republic, the period of the initial construction of socialism and the struggle between two lines. After liberation in 1949, China set about stabilizing the economy and establishing new governmental institutions. Land Reform and the 1950 Marriage Law began a process of social and economic transformation, including agricultural collectivization and urban industrialization. The Great Leap Forward was a high tide of this process, but was undermined by bureaucratic abuses within the CCP. The Soviet Union, which had aided China in the 1950s, withdrew that aid in 1959 as the Sino-Soviet Split intensified. Efforts at Party reform in the early 1960s left Chairman Mao frustrated with the Party’s alienation from the masses, and the Cultural Revolution was aimed at encouraging mass oversight of the Party. Prolonged and complex struggles within the Party remained unresolved until the death of Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong in 1976, after which Deng Xiaoping emerged as the leader of the Party, now focused on a developmental model using market mechanisms to advance the productive economy. Class page: https://liberationschool.org/china-class-3/