Ap World History Dbq Essay
Prescribed Subject 2: The emergence and development of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), 1946 to 1964
1. (a) According to Source A, Mao wanted to start a technological revolution in China for several reasons. Firstly, he believed that after the anti-feudal land reform, agricultural co-operativization, and the socialist reconstruction of private industries, commerce, and handicrafts, a technological revolution would be the logical next step. Confirming this state of mind is Mao’s quote about continuous revolutions, “Our revolutions come one after another.” Mao also believed, like Stalin before him, that it was imperative that China catch up technologically in the world as they were behind the world leaders in innovation. Using the …show more content…
Source A conveys Mao’s desire to keep the party and the masses in a state of perpetual revolution and based on this viewpoint, Mao’s Great Leap Forward was an initial political success.
Source B, by Boda, explains the idea of a commune, which was a very significant feature of the Great Leap Forward. The idea of a commune, through which many different aspects of life was consolidated into, was initially, like the Great Leap itself, at first a political success, but was later deserted after being deemed a near-total economic failure in China.
Source C is an eyewitness account that depicts the ‘back yard steel furnace’ phenomenon, an attempt to build and operate industrial functions on a local scale. While hindsight will tell historians that it was a massive failure based on an economical and pragmatic viewpoint, the clear level of enthusiasm and excitement displayed by the Chinese in the source points to a definite initial political success. Therefore, although there was a desirable revolutionary attitude going around at this juncture, because no backing technology existed to support it, the whole issue could be dismissed as a practical
1. (a) According to Source A, Mao wanted to start a technological revolution in China for several reasons. Firstly, he believed that after the anti-feudal land reform, agricultural co-operativization, and the socialist reconstruction of private industries, commerce, and handicrafts, a technological revolution would be the logical next step. Confirming this state of mind is Mao’s quote about continuous revolutions, “Our revolutions come one after another.” Mao also believed, like Stalin before him, that it was imperative that China catch up technologically in the world as they were behind the world leaders in innovation. Using the …show more content…
Source A conveys Mao’s desire to keep the party and the masses in a state of perpetual revolution and based on this viewpoint, Mao’s Great Leap Forward was an initial political success.
Source B, by Boda, explains the idea of a commune, which was a very significant feature of the Great Leap Forward. The idea of a commune, through which many different aspects of life was consolidated into, was initially, like the Great Leap itself, at first a political success, but was later deserted after being deemed a near-total economic failure in China.
Source C is an eyewitness account that depicts the ‘back yard steel furnace’ phenomenon, an attempt to build and operate industrial functions on a local scale. While hindsight will tell historians that it was a massive failure based on an economical and pragmatic viewpoint, the clear level of enthusiasm and excitement displayed by the Chinese in the source points to a definite initial political success. Therefore, although there was a desirable revolutionary attitude going around at this juncture, because no backing technology existed to support it, the whole issue could be dismissed as a practical