Political+platform+and+policies,+Mao+v+Stalin

Mao

(1952) General line of policy ~ Raise standard of living ~ Increase production ~ Strengthen China's defenses

(1957) Mao began the 100 Flowers campaign ~ The GLF was a huge failure
 * 'letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend'
 * Mao encouraged free intellectual and scientific thought.
 * However, when Mao realized that much criticism was being directed at him, he began an Anti-Rightest campaign which resulted in the relocation of nearly 700,000 intellectuals to the countryside.
 * Gave way to the Great Leap Forward
 * Huge communes were established
 * Unrealistic production targets were set.
 * The Iron produced during the GLF was largely worthless
 * In 1961, production output of numerous products dropped 30%-40%
 * Famine ensued as a result of shortages
 * 20 million people died

(1966) the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.
 * Initiated because Mao feared that the revolution was threatened by capitalist from within.
 * Thus Mao created internal chaos to fight this perceived threat.
 * “Mao sought to revive the revolutionary spirit by unleashing a conflict between the masses on the one hand and the party functionaries, the bureaucracy and all those who had a stake in preserving the //status quo// in China on the other.”
 * fighting reached civil war proportions and as a result, the lives of many people were negatively effected.

Stalin

5-year plans:
 * Rapid Industrialization of the Soviet Union
 * Quantity however, was emphasized over quality
 * Placed the Soviet Union as one of the major steel producing nations in the world.
 * Prepared the Russian economy for the onset of WWII

Purges:
 * Many top military officials were killed
 * Led to an inexperienced officer core upon the outbreak of WWII.

Secret Police Network:
 * The NKVD sought out and eliminated political opponents

Comparison:
 * Mao and Stalin rapidly modernized their respective nations at the expense of the people
 * Opposition was ruthlessly eliminated via mass purges and executions
 * Both eliminated the most skilled worker (the Kulaks in U.S.S.R. and the intellectuals in China)
 * Stalin and Mao emphasized heavy industry and energy supplies as a means to economic modernization.
 * Each adopted 5-year plans
 * High production quotas were set
 * Quantity over quality.
 * Both, at one point or another, established collectives.