Based on the photograph and your knowledge of social studies, what was the ultimate goal of Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward?

Answer 1

The given photograph is not available for reference. However, I can provide you with information based on my knowledge of social studies.

The ultimate goal of Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward, implemented in China from 1958 to 1962, was to rapidly transform China from an agrarian society into a modern communist society through rapid industrialization and collectivization of farming. Mao believed that by organizing rural peasants into large-scale communes and encouraging backyard steel furnaces, China could surpass the industrial production of the Western capitalist countries.

The Great Leap Forward aimed to mobilize the entire population to achieve ambitious economic and agricultural targets set by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). These targets included increasing agricultural output, steel production, and overall industrialization. Mao's vision was to create a self-sufficient and prosperous socialist society.

However, the Great Leap Forward ultimately resulted in disastrous consequences. The policies implemented led to mismanagement, centralized planning errors, and exaggerated production reports. Agricultural reforms, like the collective farming system, caused a decline in food production. The Leap also diverted resources from agriculture to industry, exacerbating the famine.

The Great Leap Forward resulted in one of the deadliest famines in history, with tens of millions of people dying from starvation. The policies were later abandoned, leading to a shift towards a more moderate economic approach known as the "Four Modernizations" under Deng Xiaoping's leadership in the late 1970s.