Lecture 01-2: Recent History
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
12/30/2020 Lesson 1: Overview of China's Geography and Graphic Recent History Lecture 01-2: Recent History GEOG 399: Migration and Development of China Lecture Overview This lecture covers: • The 1950s • The 1960s and 1970s • The Economic Reform • 1989‐2009 Student protests in Beijing in 1989 1 12/30/2020 The 1950s • 1949: CCP won the civil war; founding of the PRC (Taiwan became a renegade province) • 1949‐52: Rural land reform – redistribution of land to tillers • 1953‐57: First Five‐year Plan, an industrialization program modeled after Mao proclaimed the founding of the PRC on Oct 1, 1949 at Tiananmen rostrum. Soviet Union. In the countryside, collectivization carried out. The Great Leap Forward • 1958: Great Leap Forward – a mass campaign to boost steel poduction, in an effort to "catch up" with the Great Britain • Farmers were drawn into producing steel ; urban residents also set up backyard furnaces. • At the same time, collectivization (forming communes) led to serious disruption of life and farm production This poster in the Great Leap Forward depicts the frenzy for steel production. • 1960‐62: the failure of the GLF led to mass famines, leading to an estimated deaths of about 30 million 2 12/30/2020 The 1960s and 1970s • 1963‐65: Economic readjustment program to deal with problems of the GLF • 1996‐76: Cultural Revolution • power struggle within the party top echelon • also a radical movement to create a “new world” • students were encouraged to attack the establishment • tens of thousands of intellectuals and cadres were purged • 1976: Mao died, leading to the arrest of the “Gang of the Four” A papercut in the Cultural Revolution period. The art shows the Red Guards holding up Mao’s “red books ” in their campaign to change the old world. Economic Reform • 1978: Deng Xiaoping became the paramount leader • 1979: China launched economic reform in the countryside – partial return to a system of family farming also "open door policy"; four "special economic zones" were set up; FDI was welcomed; China and USA formally established diplomatic relation. • Urban reforms were launched. Under Deng’s reforms, people were encouraged ”to get rich” and own stocks. Cell phones now replace ubiquitous Mao’s red books in people’s hands. 3 12/30/2020 1989 – 2009 • 1989: Students movement in Tiananmen Square but was suppressed. • 1997: Hong Kong was returned to China under the “one country, two systems” • 1999: Macao was returned to China • 2001: China entered the WTO • 2008: Beijing hosted the Olympic Games The web site for a well‐acclaimed documentary on the Tiananmen Incident in 1989. Major Problems Many problems brought forth by rapid economic growth under an authoritarian political system: • The wide gap between the rich and the poor • A huge poor migrant class in the city • A skewed economic model heavily reliant on state investment and exports Smog in Beijing, 2015 • Serious environmental degradation • Rampant corruption 4 12/30/2020 Lesson Summary In this lesson you learned • The 1950s • The 1960s and 1970s • The Economic Reform • 1989‐2009 Lesson 1: Overview of China's Geography and Recent History End of Lesson 1 Contact your instructor if you have questions or comments about this material. GEOG 399: State, Migration, and Development of China 5.