Geography of Human Wellbeing Report - China

Every five years starting in 1953, the Chinese government issued an outline of the countries economic outline for the next five years. The First Five-Year Plan followed the Soviet model, which focused on stimulating economic growth by developing heavy industry such as mining and iron/steel manufacturing. The plan was effective, but because of China's late start it caused them to fall back behind other industrial nations. Mao mobilized the Chinese people to speed up the process of industrialization in order to catch up with the other nations. Mao needed to change direction but he faced disapproval with the Chinese Communist Party because of his massive failing for the Great Leap Forward. Mao became concerned that China was moving away from socialist ideals to capitalism.

Well, first of all China is currently and has always been located in the continent of Asia, towards the East Side. It is surrounded by approximately fourteen countries, and by the Pacific Ocean. China is currently ranked the fourth biggest country is the world. It has a population of approximately of 1,382,094,034 billion of

based in lowland plains which makes up 12 percent and basins that take about 19 percent of

The 3 5-year plans focused on heavy industry, as well as an emphasis on electricity, coal, oil and steel. The latter sections of industry greatly increased including coal (million tons) rising to 128 in 1937. Although during this time period, famine and forced labour occured, the 5-year plans were a success. Through the implementation of Collectivization and the 5-year plans, it can be seen how Stalinism impacted upon the economy, and thus the Soviet State.

Looking back in history, one of the most dominant figures in Chinese politics in the 1930’s was Mao Zedong. Mao is very well known as the leader of the CCP as well as a dictator. Mao was inspired by revolutionary potential of peasantry and wanted to create a revolutionary strategy that would rely on their strength. During the First Five-Year Plan, a period between 1953 and 1957, some of the goals of the communist Chinese government were to increase heavy industrial production, collectivize light industry and retail enterprises, and create agricultural communes.

For any of those willing to travel around China, we will now explore China’s geography. China is located on the eastern Eurasian peninsula. The Yangtze and the Yellow rivers flow through China bringing silt and water, making farming possible. These rivers are supported by heavy rains and snowmelt. Sadly, in the flood season, the Yellow River gives out some deadly floods. This is why we nicknamed it “China’s Sorrow”. Even though it is a deadly danger, the Yellow River brings and deposits 1.4 billion tons of silt, some of which goes into the Yellow Sea. Our civilization grew up because of cities on the banks of rivers, which were supported by the fertile silt brought over which could be used for agriculture-just like in Mesopotamia.

In the year 1958, the People’s Republic of China was looking to be on the cusp of modernization. With the Communist Party of China (CPC) coming to power in 1949 and the nation ripe for communist organization similar to that of the Soviet Union, Chairman Mao Zedong and his advisors looked to transition China from a socialist structure until the standard of living improved to the point where the country could become fully communist. With a population of over half a million, this goal was not out of reach, and the people of China knew that they had the potential to establish their dominance as an industrial superpower. The Great Leap Forward, set to span over several years starting in 1958, was a movement meant to industrialize China to the level of the UK by utilizing the massive peasant farmer population and moving part of them to the urban center in northern and western China, collectivizing the remaining farmer population.

China, located in East Asia, is the third largest country by area and the largest

China is the third largest nation in the world it has 3,691,502 square miles. China boarders’ thirteen countries, including Russia and Mongolia to the north, Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam to the south and India to the southwest, The Yellow Sea, the South China Sea, and the East China Sea to the east. The climate is extremely diverse, ranging from subarctic to the north and tropical to the south. Hills, plains and deltas characterize the eastern regions. China also hold the highest point in the world, the great and ever challenging Mount Everest, on the border between

The first step taken by Zedong was to promote the technology. The promotion of technology wasn't an easy move though he managed by turning all the crop fields especially the rice fields into factories. Even though it was a great move, it left many farmers jobless. Mao followed by focussing on educational institutes where he conducted his goals through the help of the Red Guards group. This group was formed through mass mobilization and it consisted of only the youths from the urban centers.

Mao did not let this alliance slow his reforms as he began to create small, peasant landholders throughout the country to attempt to create a more economically equal society. These land reforms were associated with the Mass Line approach in 1955 and 1956 that pushed for agricultural cooperatives throughout the peasant class considering Mao believed that the key to driving communist revolution was peasant power. Similarly in 1958, Mao initiated the Great Leap Forward reform that created industrializing small-scale projects in more rural locations in hopes of improving their standards, only resulting in multiple failures and eventual disaster of the program in 1960. The Great Leap Forward causes economic and environmental struggles that would persist for decades to come. This reform abruptly contrasted with the Mass Line movement in that it pushed for collectivization of land, which only resulted in soil depletion, an increase in air pollution and famine that led to

When Chairman Mao took control of the Chinese government as leader of the newly established Communist Party, he was most notably commended for helping unite China after years of civil war. After the previous regime left the country nearly bankrupt, Mao faced the challenge of rebuilding China’s economy, and he believed that it could only be accomplished through true Communism, modeled after the Soviet Union. Mao’s vision was highly approved by the people initially as it reinvented the working class and gave more power to peasants, but it was not long before the country would see the detrimental impacts of Chairman Mao’s goals. The Communistic approach to rebuilding China made several changes in the agricultural sector that lead to severe consequences, before the country eventually recognized its problem and identified a solution.

The Soviet-inspired first Five Year Plan led by Mao was generally considered to be somewhat of a success in developing China. It ran from 1953 through to 1957, and made major increases in the production of steel and coal, though agricultural output struggled. The plan enhanced quality of life for Chinese citizens, such as the life expectancy increasing from 36 years to 57 years and urban populations boomed. Centralized governmental control over citizens also expanded however. Private ownership was essentially impossible and as such the state managed a monopoly on grain which caused dissatisfaction among rural areas. Agricultural collectivization grew significantly and farmers struggled to produce enough. Despite these drawbacks however, the first Five Year Plan produced good results. Yet Mao was not yet satisfied – still seeking more industrial growth and modernization in China – and soon came up with a second plan he named the Great Leap

The first thing I wanted to find out was some basic information about China. There was a lot of information about China. First of all China’s location is located in the eastern part of Asia. China’s land area is pretty massive. It’s about 9,596,960 square kilometers, therefore that’s enormous.

China is one of the largest countries on earth, it is four times the size of the United States. In recent years China has made headlines in becoming a global powerhouse. However, China was not always a vibrant country due to domestic problems that caused little to no economic growth for a period. Under the leadership of Mao, the focus was to increase the food supply to feed China’s growing population. The Mao administration redistributed farm land to the peasants where they did not have to pay any rent. This meant that the peasants could invest extra profit to help better the farming soil. Mao would buy the crops from the peasants for a low price and then sell them to outside for a high price. The profit Mao made would be put back into the economy to stimulate growth. Over time the peasants began to consume more food resulting in less food for the