The Great Leap Forward was a set of policies introduced by the Communist Party of China. It had been active from 1958 to 1962, aiming to transform the country into an industrialized socialist society. Mao Zedong developed this campaign to move China away from the agrarian economy. One of the elements of the policy was the combination of industries that had to be developed: light and heavy industry, and agriculture. Mao also hoped to reduce the discrepancies between urban and rural communities. As an outcome, many manufacturing plants and industrial organizations were placed in the countryside, while urban residents were hired to work in the countryside. These reforms were planned to balance the workload and the social status of the citizens, erasing the class differences enforces by landowners and previous systems.
The campaign was not successful in bringing China’s industrialization forward, and the country suffered from economic regression. Mao’s initiatives were viewed negatively by the rest of the Communist Party, and his reputation suffered, leading to him developing the Cultural Revolution as a response to criticism. The consequences of the Great Leap Forward were disastrous for Chinese people – severe famine led to an increase in death rates. Government officials executed people who failed to meet the quota for production and agriculture. The economy suffered from expensive reforms and their ineffectiveness. The high expectations set by the campaign damaged the party’s image in the eyes of the people, and other leaders took the position of Mao to lead the country.