Question 3:
I agree that they are not useful sources for study of the GLF. This is because they are propaganda from the Chinese government. They do not give a full picture of the GLF as both sources are of praise. E.g. only advantages are shown in the picture no disadvantages- they are being ignored. They do show some important details though. They certainly show that there was lots of public support for projects like the GLF and it would be difficult to suggest are totally useless as if source G was staged it would have been a difficult task to achieve because of the magnitude of its content. Source F is less useful as it is more like propaganda. When propaganda is in the form of an illustration it is much easier to create as it is done to how the artist wants it and in comparison to the photograph it is easier to stage if it was.
All sources are valuable and E also has some usefulness as it does show that there was a large involvement from the Chinese people as I mentioned earlier. It also shows the scale of projects and of course the scale of involvement. One could argue that it only shows a few highly spirited people digging a hole and the success from it. It is highly possible that it could have been staged and there is no doubt that it would have been used as propaganda and that its purpose would have been highly likely for use as propaganda to show how great the GLF is. However from the detail of it and the spirits of the people involved it most likely happened and that the people involved were actually doing this work.
Source F does fall under slightly more scrutiny. It is easier to create illustrations than set up large scale ‘stunts’ for photographical purposes. Again I say however. As I know that from my own knowledge mainly from GCSE text book ‘Modern World’ that changing of unusable fields into arable land did happen like the Dazhai and Shanxii community actually happened. But if one did not have such knowledge I would believe that the poster was giving a false message that its message never happened. For one thing the man in the poster just smiles and looks too happy and this adds to the ‘fake nesses of it. Knowledge would be required to understand the writing as it could say ‘All hail the communist party’.
In conclusion I think source E is more useful to historians as it is more reliable than F for the reasons I have covered. But because both sources likely come from China they are equal in reliability this way because items that came from China during Mao’s rule were generally propaganda and not factual.
Question 4:
Sources G and I show that Mao was prepared to accept some responsibility for the GLF disaster.
Source G does not in any way show that he was prepared to accept. I believe this from the information about the source. Allow me to explain the message of the source:
A member of the CCP in position of defence minister complains that the GLF was a failure in a letter that he sent to Mao.
The background information tells me that the minister was sacked for writing this letter. Because of this I believe that this source does not show that Mao considered himself responsible. If it were to qualify to match the criteria needed the additional information would have to say something like ‘Mao replied to his minister and understood the problems. And he believes that it was due to bad decisions that he made that it was a failure’. This did not happen and instead he was sacked several years later died in prison under the Cultural Revolution a time when Mao rooted out his enemies and those who spoke against him and punished them.
Source H tried to persuade the reader that the disaster that was the GLF was the fault of Mao. This is attempted in a speech from Mao to the CCP. I think that it is very fake and my reason fro this is in a sentence that Mao wrote. ‘Comrades you must all examine your own responsibility’ This suggests that Mao was taking the blame for other peoples mistakes and that everything he said previously he did just to suggest that he caused all the problems. But this phrase does not suggest this. He is moving the blame from himself to his ‘comrades’
Source G fits into H in an important way. Your question that you have put to me may try to suggest that source H was the results of source G being written and that Mao accepted source G. But this is not so. Source G’s background information says that the author died in prison during the Cultural Revolution. I know from my own knowledge that during the CR Mao encouraged young people to find and punish objectors and criticisers of communism. The author, defence minister Dehuai was therefore considered by Mao to be an objector to communism and died for it. I also know that the CR occurred in the late 1960s after the GLF. The fact that Mao’s so called acceptance of the responsibilities of the failure of the GLF was much earlier than the CR. So from this information I can suggest that Mao never really believed it was to be his fault and the fact that he imprisoned the minister during the CR means that Mao never really cared nor was willing to accept responsibility even after a few years.
I realise that what I have said to the latter of this answer contradicts my initial statement but I do not withdraw it because my writing show how I made progression in belief that more of the sources show that Mao was not ready to accept the responsibility.
Question 5:
I think that Mao would have the manager removed from his position in the company as he would think that he was a middle class reactionary even though the manger tried to persuade the reader that the idea of increasing the pressure of the boiler was ludicrous and his reaction to the idea was understandable.
Mao would have never understood the manager or wanted to. He would not be able to grasp the idea of increasing the pressure on old machinery that is not capable of such standards is a bad idea. Mao was very narrow minded and always believed that his ideologies were absolutely right.
I know that the instruction to carry out the increased work of the boiler would have been Mao’s idea as this was the idea of the GLF-doing a lot in a short space of time. (With unreliable equipment). I also state that with my belief that he would have reacted badly if he understood the manager’s complaint even though his complaint to any normal person is understandable. Mao still believed that he was the absolute correct individual as he was an absolute dictator. In the Cultural Revolution all those who had once objected were punished and even those who were punished at the time of the Great Leap Forward were punished again and often died as a result of it.
If I look at source G I see that Mao had the minister sacked for his comments and was the same year as source I 1959 so why would he change his ways if source I had come later but not changed or went back to the way he was for the Cultural Revolution? The answer is simple he didn’t. He would have reacted the same was as G. Loose job> send to prison during the Cultural Revolution. It is a ‘punishment cycle’.
Question 6:
Before I answer this question I must remind you that it does not matter how many sources support the statement or disagree. It is how reliable they are to agree or disagree with the statement.
I will lay out my answer by dealing with the agreeing sources and then the disagreeing but also in relation to reliability. Then from the sources and the data I have gathered I can conclude by fully answering the question.
Source A does not support the statement. It makes no mention to natural disaster but instead focuses on the decisions of Mao such as the time that people neglected producing crops when they were producing steel. This disagrees therefore that natural disasters were the cause of a failure because no mention is made to them. The writer left China in 1978 years after Mao’s death as I know that to publish material in China that he has covered at the time surrounding Mao would have resulted in punishment because this source is criticising Mao.
Source D does make a mention to natural disasters and it does say that according to communes natural disasters had resulted in a poor harvest. But were afraid to tell Mao because of fear of punishment it implies. I think that it does suggest that natural disasters were to blame but the writer is trying to suggest that nothing was done about it because people were too frightened to tell Mao. I think it is reliable even though the author was Mao’s doctor. The author is showing some good and bad points that make the source more reliable, if it just talked about good/bad points it would be less reliable and less useful because it could be totally against or totally for Mao. This source does not do this. The author obviously thought his views to be too sensitive (China is still communist) to publish his writings inside China as stated by the caption.
Source C suggests that natural disasters were to blame as it is the only thing that it mentions. It is difficult to state it as reliable or unreliable because there is very little information on its origin. It could have been pro Mao because it is only about natural disasters. The source doesn’t say that in some ways Mao was partly to blame for example. It therefore only shows one viewpoint which I think makes a source less useful and reliable.
Source D gives information from another source as it does not directly say that natural disasters were to blame. As such a statement is in brackets. The source therefore offers some different viewpoints and does not strongly say like in source C that natural disasters were the only things to blame. The reliability is the same as source A as it is by the same author. I know from source A that this writer is predominately anti Mao and he makes no reference to natural disasters as his opinion for the reason of the failure of the Great Leap Forward as in source A.
In sources E and F are pictures and both are propaganda they suggest no failures or any general arguments whatsoever just that the Communist Party are great. The pictures only show smiling Chinese. They are too unreliable to be considered and also they give no viewpoint. But if they did it would be that natural disasters were solely to blame because they are in total support for Chairman Mao and the CCP.
Source G suggests that Mao was to blame for the failures of the GLF and the deaths it makes no reference to natural disasters. The source is reliable because the author died for what he wrote. This would only happen if something was said that needed denying because the truth had come to the surface and the CCP would have wanted to keep hidden. For this reason it is seen as reliable.
Surprisingly source that Mao wrote makes no reference to natural disasters. Instead a false acceptance in my opinion is made for the failure of the GLF. It has a half/half reliability in one way it is not saying that natural disasters were to blame but that it was the fault of him. Mao cannot be trusted for what he says because he is the leader of the CCP and the manipulator. The one who hides information and only hears what he wants to hear. However because it makes no reference I will consider it in my conclusion.
Source I does not say that natural disasters were responsible. It suggests that bad decisions were made that lead to the disaster. For example it says that the increase of the pressure on the boiler as commanded by the CCP caused it to blow up. It doesn’t say that floods caused it. It is reliable as it was interpreted by a British journalist who one can consider to be reliable because of the free speech rights in British society even though it is only witnessed by a Chinese person and not the journalist.
There is a general trend to be found. If the source makes no reference to natural disasters the source is normally stating that Mao was to blame for the GLF’s failure. If the source does state that it agrees that natural disasters were the cause of the failure of the GLF and the death of millions due to poverty then it doesn’t generally say that Mao was to blame except in one where both sides of the argument are given.
From my review it is no doubt clear to you that I have discovered that there is only one suggestion that natural disasters were to blame. Therefore I believe that they were not to blame for the failures etc. I think that when one ‘tears’ the sources apart one would find that only one source shares an absolute belief that they were responsible and that is source C. But it is an extract from a history book. I have categorised it as a direct belief that natural disasters were to blame simply because no other references are made to other possibilities. But it is possible that the book could say that these were other reasons but I have no such evidence.
From the sources that I have been given the predominate idea that leadership and ideas were the causes of the disaster that was the GLF. The thought that I have from the sources is that too much was done in a short space of time. (Like the boiler incident; doing too much with old equipment). And that there was no free communication from the people to Mao and the party about different ideas and strategies (Refer to source G). If Mao wasn’t so narrow minded and followed the guidance of others (Like the minister who wrote to him) then this might not have happened.
There is quite simply an overwhelming amount of sources to suggest that natural disasters were not responsible for the GLF but the judgements and decisions by the CCP and specifically chairman Mao Tse-Tung.