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===Three years of disasters===

===Three years of disasters===

:{{Main article|Great Leap Forward}}

:{{Main article|Great Leap Forward}}

In the early 1950s, China chose to model its socialist economy after that of the Soviet Union. The Soviet model called for capital-intensive development of heavy industry, with the capital to be generated from the agricultural sector of the economy. The state would purchase grain from the farmers at low prices and sell it, both at home and on the export market, at high prices. In practice, agricultural production did not increase fast enough to generate the amount of capital required to build up China’s industry according to plan. Mao Zedong (1893-1976) decided that the answer was to reorganize Chinese agriculture by pushing through a program of cooperativization (or collectivization) that would bring China’s small farmers, their small plots of land, and their limited draught animals, tools, and machinery together into larger and, presumably, more efficient cooperatives.  The Great Leap Forward was a campaign to [[nationalize]] industry and agriculture.

In the early 1950s, China chose to model its socialist economy after that of the Soviet Union. The Soviet model called for capital-intensive development of heavy industry, with the capital to be generated from the agricultural sector of the economy. The state would purchase grain from the farmers at low prices and sell it, both at home and on the export market, at high prices. In practice, agricultural production did not increase fast enough to generate the amount of capital required to build up China’s industry according to plan. Mao Zedong (1893-1976) decided that the answer was to reorganize Chinese agriculture by pushing through a program of cooperativization (or collectivization) that would bring China’s small farmers, their small plots of land, and their limited draught animals, tools, and machinery together into larger and, presumably, more efficient cooperatives.<ref>http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/ps/cup/mao_zedong_agricultural_cooperation.pdf</ref> The Great Leap Forward was a campaign to [[nationalize]] industry and agriculture.

Mao promoted a policy of disposing of "rightist" opponents and sharing the wealth in state-run cooperatives.  Mao declared an intention to overtake [[the West]] in 15 years.  Two former [[New Deal]] economists, [[Frank Coe]] and [[Solomon Adler]], were recruited as advisers.  Peasants were forced to produce steel in backyard furnaces to raise China's steel output.  45 million people perished in [[famine]].<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jan/01/china-great-famine-book-tombstone</ref><ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=5NsMWCHDStQC</ref> Party Secretary [[Deng Xiaoping]] claimed the death toll to be 16 million, while the lowest estimate is 8 million <ref> ''Mao: The Real Story'', by Alexander P. Pantsov with Steven I. Levine, pg. 472.</ref>  According to the [[Japanese]] [[Wikipedia]], "It is the socialist policy with the highest number of casualties in the world."<ref>https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A4%A7%E8%BA%8D%E9%80%B2%E6%94%BF%E7%AD%96</ref>

Mao promoted a policy of disposing of "rightist" opponents and sharing the wealth in state-run cooperatives.  Mao declared an intention to overtake [[the West]] in 15 years.  Two former [[New Deal]] economists, [[Frank Coe]] and [[Solomon Adler]], were recruited as advisers.  Peasants were forced to produce steel in backyard furnaces to raise China's steel output.  45 million people perished in [[famine]].<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jan/01/china-great-famine-book-tombstone</ref><ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=5NsMWCHDStQC</ref> Party Secretary [[Deng Xiaoping]] claimed the death toll to be 16 million, while the lowest estimate is 8 million <ref> ''Mao: The Real Story'', by Alexander P. Pantsov with Steven I. Levine, pg. 472.</ref>  According to the [[Japanese]] [[Wikipedia]], "It is the socialist policy with the highest number of casualties in the world."<ref>https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A4%A7%E8%BA%8D%E9%80%B2%E6%94%BF%E7%AD%96</ref>