The People and the State (J410/01) - Establishing Communism in China…

The idea

This content covers how the Chinese Communist Party under Mao consolidated and reshaped China between 1950 and 1965. You need to know the early purges against opposition across cities, countryside and regions, and how the Hundred Flowers campaign invited criticism before being turned against critics, with consequences for trust and dissent. Learn the social policies that broke with Chinese traditionalism — for example campaigns against Confucian customs and arranged marriage — and the specific policies towards women, young people and education, such as the 1950 Marriage Law and expanded schooling. On the economy, trace early land reform that redistributed land to peasants, then collectivisation into cooperatives and communes and its effects.

What earns the marks

• Identifies the early purges against opposition in the 1950s as occurring across cities, the countryside and regions, not in one location only.
• Explains that the Hundred Flowers campaign invited criticism and that its impact included a later backlash against those who spoke out.
• Distinguishes Communist social policies under Mao from Chinese traditionalism, citing a specific change such as the 1950 Marriage Law or campaigns against old customs.
• Describes agricultural policy in sequence, moving from early land reform to collectivisation and its impact on peasants and production.
• Explains that the First Five Year Plan prioritised heavy industry and links this to industrial policy under Mao.
• Explains the Great Leap Forward's effect across Chinese society and gives a reason for its failure, such as unrealistic targets or disrupted farming.
• Uses Dazhai Commune as a case study to illustrate Mao's economic policies rather than as an isolated fact.

Common mistakes and how to put them right

• Places the early purges in a single city only.

  Put it right: They reached cities, the countryside and regions.

• Treats the Hundred Flowers campaign as simply an invitation to free speech.

  Put it right: Include its intentions and the impact on those who criticised the Party.

• Confuses land reform with collectivisation.

  Put it right: Keep the sequence of redistributing land first, then pooling it into cooperatives and communes.

• Describes the Great Leap Forward without explaining why it failed.

  Put it right: Link failure to specific causes such as inflated targets and rural disruption.

Exam tips

• Learn the chronology of economic policy in order — land reform, collectivisation, First Five Year Plan, Great Leap Forward — so sequence questions are secure.
• Attach one concrete detail to each policy, such as the 1950 Marriage Law for social change or Dazhai for economic case study.
• When a question asks for impact, name who was affected — peasants, women, young people or industrial workers — rather than describing policy alone.