China's People's Communes and the Great Leap Forward (1958–1962)

1. CCP outlines Great Leap Forward goals

   Sep 20, 1957Labels: Chinese Communist, Great Leap

   • CCP Plenums
   • Cambridge Core

2. First commune experiments begin in Henan

   Jan 1, 1958Labels: Henan, People's Commune

   • Britannica
   • Britannica China

3. Four Pests campaign launched nationally

   Feb 12, 1958Labels: Four Pests, public health

   • Four Pests
   • Sparrows

4. Beidaihe Politburo endorses people’s communes

   Aug 29, 1958Labels: Beidaihe Politburo, People's Commune

   • Beidaihe 1958
   • Britannica China

5. Backyard furnace steel drive intensifies

   Sep 1, 1958Labels: Backyard Furnaces, steel campaign

   • Britannica
   • Backyard Furnace

6. Communes spread nationwide; communal dining expands

   Dec 1, 1958Labels: People's Commune, communal dining

   • Britannica
   • Britannica China

7. Nationwide famine emerges amid falling output

   Jan 1, 1959Labels: Great Famine, grain procurement

   • Britannica
   • Great Famine

8. Lushan Conference purges Peng Dehuai

   Aug 16, 1959Labels: Lushan Conference, Peng Dehuai

   • Lushan Conf
   • Laogai Archive

9. Leadership retreats; private plots begin returning

   Jan 1, 1960Labels: policy retreat, private plots

   • Britannica
   • Great Leap

10. China ends sparrow extermination policy

    Mar 18, 1960Labels: Sparrow Campaign, pest policy

    • Sparrows
    • Four Pests

11. Seven Thousand Cadres Conference declares Leap “over”

    Jan 11, 1962Labels: Seven Thousand, Mao Zedong

    • 7000 Conf
    • Famine

12. People’s commune system endures but is later abolished

    Jan 1, 1983Labels: People's Commune, rural reforms

    • People s Commune