Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping were two leaders who were both at the forefront of Chinese politics at different periods in time (Deng Xiaoping emerged the de facto leader of China though he never officially held office as head of State or head of government). Though they both wanted a communist government, they had ideological differences in the economic policies they felt was ideal for China.
Owing to the economic reforms introduced by Deng Xiaoping, the Chinese economy expanded by leaps and bounds, with the nominal GDP growing 19-fold in the period from 1978 to 2005. His ideology and pragmatic approach to economic policy was encoded in a set of short quotes that we attribute to him today. One such maxim of Deng's, which dates back to the …show more content…
The Great Leap Forward (1958-61), or the Second Five Year Plan was intended to industrialize the then primarily agrarian economy. The motivation was that economic and industrial growth could be achieved by the collective efforts of the Chinese peasants, and Chairman Mao saw great potential in the masses. This however, had disastrous consequences and ultimately led to the Great Chinese Famine (1959-61) with over 15 million excess deaths. The Cultural Revolution (1966-76) was aimed at removing any 'anti-revolutionary' elements of Chinese society. The means used to achieve this end were indiscriminate violence and ill treatment meted out by a radical group called the Red Guards who claimed to be 'purifying China'. Chairman Mao gave the Red Guards political legitimacy as a class of their own in …show more content…
Many (state owned) factories were set up, and the national wage increased at around 9% annually as opposed to Russia, where the national wage declined. As a result of agricultural collectivization in the rural areas, half of China was now irrigated. As a side effect, this also brought about electrification of the countryside.
On the other hand, Deng Xiaoping was not bothered about whether a person was a revolutionary or not as long as he or she was efficient and could competently get the job done. Having succeeded Chairman Mao as the leader of China after an internal power struggle in the CPC, he firmly believed that any policy must not be rejected outright solely on the grounds that it was upheld by Mao (in fact, he was a supporter of Mao in the 1950s), demonstrating his practical approach to decision making.
Some of Deng's economic reforms like opening up of South China to foreign investment and provisions for non state-owned businesses were met with scepticism by certain members of the Party. They believed that his stance was too rightist and that he was leading China away from her ultimate goal of communism, leading to a rift of sorts among the CCP. Deng remained steadfast in his views and expressed that China's economic prosperity was of utmost priority, regardless of whether the policies were right-leaning or left-leaning. Despite allegations of him taking China on a road towards capitalism, the First Wave of economic
Owing to the economic reforms introduced by Deng Xiaoping, the Chinese economy expanded by leaps and bounds, with the nominal GDP growing 19-fold in the period from 1978 to 2005. His ideology and pragmatic approach to economic policy was encoded in a set of short quotes that we attribute to him today. One such maxim of Deng's, which dates back to the …show more content…
The Great Leap Forward (1958-61), or the Second Five Year Plan was intended to industrialize the then primarily agrarian economy. The motivation was that economic and industrial growth could be achieved by the collective efforts of the Chinese peasants, and Chairman Mao saw great potential in the masses. This however, had disastrous consequences and ultimately led to the Great Chinese Famine (1959-61) with over 15 million excess deaths. The Cultural Revolution (1966-76) was aimed at removing any 'anti-revolutionary' elements of Chinese society. The means used to achieve this end were indiscriminate violence and ill treatment meted out by a radical group called the Red Guards who claimed to be 'purifying China'. Chairman Mao gave the Red Guards political legitimacy as a class of their own in …show more content…
Many (state owned) factories were set up, and the national wage increased at around 9% annually as opposed to Russia, where the national wage declined. As a result of agricultural collectivization in the rural areas, half of China was now irrigated. As a side effect, this also brought about electrification of the countryside.
On the other hand, Deng Xiaoping was not bothered about whether a person was a revolutionary or not as long as he or she was efficient and could competently get the job done. Having succeeded Chairman Mao as the leader of China after an internal power struggle in the CPC, he firmly believed that any policy must not be rejected outright solely on the grounds that it was upheld by Mao (in fact, he was a supporter of Mao in the 1950s), demonstrating his practical approach to decision making.
Some of Deng's economic reforms like opening up of South China to foreign investment and provisions for non state-owned businesses were met with scepticism by certain members of the Party. They believed that his stance was too rightist and that he was leading China away from her ultimate goal of communism, leading to a rift of sorts among the CCP. Deng remained steadfast in his views and expressed that China's economic prosperity was of utmost priority, regardless of whether the policies were right-leaning or left-leaning. Despite allegations of him taking China on a road towards capitalism, the First Wave of economic