How Did Mao Zedong Dbq

After the 1949 civil war, Mao Zedong and his communist revolutionaries took control of China. Mao and his followers wanted a classless society. Around this time, China was a poor country, its population was the largest in the world, and it was still growing. Though China’s population was large, birth control was discouraged. Mao wanted to catch up economically with the United States, and this movement was called “The Great Leap Forward.” It included a program to build backyard furnaces for steelmaking, but with too many furnaces replacing farms, China ultimately faced a food shortage. The food crisis ended up killing an estimated 30 million people. Mao changed his mind about discouraging birth control and decided to take a closer look at the large population. Around this time, Mao introduced the slogan “Late, Long, and Few,” meaning for couples to marry late, wait to have children, and when they do have children, only have one. In general terms, China introduced a one-child policy, though there were …show more content…
In document C, the author gives a quick explanation of the province of Henan. Henan is one of the most environmentally-stressed areas in China. “The large number of people has put very big pressure on all resources, especially water.” And after the policy was put into action, people noticed that Henan was becoming less and less polluted due to there not being as many people to sustain. With it, the average person in Henan could live a normal life. Then, looking at document D, it goes on about how the policy helped the way girls were viewed and treated in society. Women started to be viewed as treasures, and they were no longer killed as children due to just being female. Jobs started to pop up just for the women in this generation, and the women were no longer being looked at as just people who could give birth. “For these young women, the one-child policy seems to be a real

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