Communist China:

When the Communist party took control of China and re-distributed wealth in the nation, Chairman Mao decided that the most efficient manner to preserve the power of the party was to maintain a constant state of Revolution. The nation even experienced a late blooming cultural revolution led by the Red Guard while the education system was being modified. One of his greatest feats in The People's Republic was the launch of a radical policy change, a Great Leap Forward. At the peak of reform, production was at an all time high, rivaling any success ever gained before or since in the history of the world. Innovative farming techniques also aided in the sharp rise of the Chinese economy. The Chinese also began to use technological advances to farm on once barren land. They even brought the nation together through the process of communization where many small family farms were joined together to allow for the sharing of resources. The healthy and happy Chinese people who had been freed from aristocratic oppression were kept safe from impure western ideals by the regulated media which prevented them from learning about the selfish greed being practiced throughout the world.

Even during the revolution, the rest of the world recognized China diplomatically right away. Especially strong were the ties between Mao's government and Soviet Russia. The Soviets even inspired the Chinese to industrialize their economy. Why worry about growing food now when you can guarantee the money to buy it later just by making steel in small backyard furnaces alongside your crops. Of course like any industrialized nation, China saw the need to further their economic agenda a bit more by becoming a well known exporter.

Red China: 1,000,000,000 starving people - living proof that Socialism WORKS!

But did it really work?

re-distributed wealth:

A common theme in nations in the aftermath of a communist revolution. What this essentially involves is taking, without compensation, anything of value in the nation. Instead of equally dividing land and resources among hard working people, the CCP claimed control of such resources and distributed these resources in paltry quantities among the masses. The result was a nation that had once had a few rich landowners and many poor workers now had wealthy government officials and a poor general population.

maintain a constant state of Revolution:

Mao succeeded with this effort to keep the nation running at the fever pitch of revolution for the length of his life and beyond. From the many Battles, to the Great Leap Forward, Even the Cultural Revolution where many dedicated Communist leaders were persecuted for not being loyal to the cause. Decades of revolution eventually burned the people of China out and limited the availability of resources for years to come.

cultural revolution:

Often times, a cultural revolution is a time when people open their minds to new ideas. The European Renaissance in the early part of the seventeenth century is an example of how a cultural revolution typically changes the people it touches. Much like anything dealing with Socialism, the Cultural revolution in China was driven to halt the free flow of discovery and modernization. Although Communist China had openly discouraged religious expression since the revolution, they had never actually attacked it until this time. Religious teachers were murdered or imprisoned. Religious texts were burned or otherwise destroyed. Even the teachings of the great philosopher Confucius were cast aside with scorn.

Red Guard:

An organization similar in nature to the Hitler Youth movement in Nazi Germany, the Red Guard were seen as the future of the CCP. Made up of young people who were taken out of school in 19--, this group was dangerous to everyone who was not able to quote key phrases from Mao's little red book. Many people were violently attacked because they could not produce a copy of the book upon request by a member of the Red Guard. The revolutionary tactics of this group resulted in a delayed re-opening of the schools. An entire generation of Chinese people grew up with little to no formal education as a result.

The People's Republic:

The name would lead a casual observer to believe that the Chinese people have full control over their government. Unfortunately, the name is quite misleading. Just as in any other Socialist nation, the people actually have little control of their government. All of the power is in the hands of the men at the head of the Chinese Communist Party.

Great Leap Forward:

Upon realizing that the starving people were ready to turn the revolution against him, Mao sought to use this revolutionary zeal to secure his power once more. He asked the people to make more sacrifices for the good of the nation. Many refused and were aided in compliance by use of force. The Great Leap Forward decimated the already weak Chinese economy.

production was at an all time high:

An Anti Rightist campaign had most people so frightened of persecution that they feared to report anything other than good news. The result was a trend of increasingly exaggerated accounting of production rates. Pressure to do better than the next group inflated the numbers even more.

Innovative farming techniques:

Some of these included planting crops too close together for anything to grow effectively. Close planting as it was known actually lowered the production of food below the inadequate levels it existed at before development.

farm on once barren land:

Many modern Socialists view the system as being environment friendly. The Chinese destroyed their environment in ways that most people cannot even contemplate. One of their favorite areas of land to use for farming consisted of filled in lakes.

communization:

Many people were forced from land that their families had farmed for generations in the name of national unity. Often, people resisted the government intrusion in their lives and refused to allow some of their tools to be taken by the state and used in other communes. The most damaging situation created out of this new policy was the fact that people were doing work that they had never done in their lives. If a man grew rice, but they needed more people to cultivate tomatoes, that man was forced to farm tomatoes.

healthy and happy Chinese people:

Hardly the case here. The people were greatly oppressed (see Tiananmen Square and regulated media) In addition to the oppression, the people are starving as a result of decades of failed economic reforms and what has been described as mother nature's wrath in response to the blatant disregard for the environment in the pursuit of economic gain. Only recently, with the aid of reforms turning away from Socialism, has the Chinese economy begun to reach a level where it can sustain the nations large population.

freed from aristocratic oppression:

Only to become oppressed by the heavy hand of an incompetent Socialist government.

regulated media:

I can't think of any reason why anyone would ever find this acceptable. The media was a propaganda machine. Anything that showed the flaws of the Party was never permitted to be seen by the public. By keeping the people in the dark it was easy for the revolutionary leaders to promote their agenda by focusing only on the (largely exaggerated) positive news.

recognized China diplomatically:

It took 20 to 30 years for most of the world to recognize the People's Republic as the official government of China. Most preferred to deal with the former government which had taken refuge on the tiny island of Taiwan. The United States did not recognize the government in place in Mainland China until the early 1970's

Soviet Russia:

In spite of the common bond of Socialism, China and the Soviet Union did not have the strong relationship that is often implied. In fact, the two governments often found themselves at odds over which of the two was practicing a truer form of Communism. Competition with the dominant Soviet Union inspired the dramatic policy change and reformation which would come to be known as The Great Leap Forward.

small backyard furnaces:

Much of the steel (and many other metals as well) was melted down in these furnaces in an attempt to bolster the industrial sector of the Chinese economy. This caused a sharp decline in the amount of available steel in the country because everything that could be found was melted down. What exactly was produced from this effort? A whole bunch of worthless steel of less than poor quality. The Socialist Chinese government had succeeded in not only getting rid of many valuable historical relics, but also in making a whole lot of junk. During this time, if you had something that had a made in China label on it, you could bet that it was going to be of low quality. The Chinese also succeed in further destroying their own environment because much of the available timber in the land was used to fuel these furnaces.

crops:

Actually, many crops were left to rot in the fields of the communes when the government put steel making on the list as its new top priority. It is a sad state of affairs to realize that Socialism which claims to help feed everyone while protecting the environment and creating a functional economy actually managed to starve tens of thousands of Chinese while destroying the environment and making many items which actually had some value (historical relics and such) into worthless junk-such a sound economic policy.

exporter:

Some of the exports which account for a large percentage of the products sold to other nations include missile technology and weapons systems. Since they weren't doing as well with these as they had hoped, they also made it a point to step up opium production. At least they can be on the winning side of the Battle on drugs.

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