Stalin And Mao Case Study

Register to read the introduction… Stalin continued on with the second and third 5 Year Plans in 1933 and 1938, respectively in addition to the economic policy of collectivization. However, Mao realized that the Soviet model for industrial development was not working in China due to China’s high ratio of people to resources and what first started off as Soviet aid had now turned into excessive loans and exploitation. Therefore, Mao modified the goals of the first 5 Year Plan and progressed towards the Great Leap Forward as his version of the second 5 Year Plan. While Stalin’s second and third 5 Year Plans set more realistic targets and focused on a greater production of machinery and arms for defence, they were considerably effective. Production of consumer goods and food was apparent however towards the third 5 Year Plan and the forthcoming of war, consumer production was once again put on hold. For Stalin’s economic policy of collectivisation, peasants were forced to collectivize farms and agriculture to accumulate more money towards industrialization which led to famine and mass death, not to mention a decline of both harvest and yield, which was quite a failure. Mao`s Great Leap Forward shifted its focus from heavy industry onto agriculture where the population was forced to collective. Farmers had to grow crops but also had to work to produce steel and iron in addition to infrastructure projects. This policy led to deaths of millions of Chinese peasants and what came to be known as the biggest famine in history. This was a huge failure for Mao, and threw off his position as …show more content…
Whereas Stalin stuck by his three 5 Year Plans, Mao chose to take a detour through the Great Leap Forward. While both leaders’ economic policies increased economic output for their respective nations, they did not do so without the cost of human lives. Stalin seemed to be more focused on self-sufficiency whereas Mao’s focus was on social reform. Through comparing and contrasting both the economic policies of Stalin in Russia and Mao in China, it is visible that these leaders had similar ideas for their respective nations, with little discrepancies throughout the establishment and results of the