My current understanding –
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It was a terrible famine, no denying that, one of the worst in human history.
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It wasn't the first famine in China, in fact it was the last, so a positive spin would be to say it put an end to Chinese famines. Chinese famines happened under Sun Yat-Sen and the Qing Dynasty too. (Though this was was that bit worse)
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Mao's mismanagement should probably be blamed. Liu Shaoqi said the causes were 30% natural factors, 70% mismanagement
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Collectivisation doesn't seem to have been the problem. Collectivisation in China was comparatively smooth, not like the USSR and elsewhere.
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A bigger problem was bad agronomy.
Are these takes mistaken? Should I correct or expand my understanding?
KobaCumTribute laid out some good context. but its important to add that the withdrawal of Soviet aid was a major blow to China’s economy, as China’s industry was in its infancy and reliant on Soviet capital and expertise. China responded by decentralizing fiscal policy, and the inexperienced local governments all rushed to industrialize too quickly. Soviets began withdrawing in 1957, and by 1960 had completely withdrawn all investments and personnel. with loss of foreign capital and the costly kickstarting of industrialization, local gov expenditures skyrocketed as they struggled to maintain revenue
note that the CPC responded to the famine with an elegant solution that also addressed urban unemployment— sending urban dwellers to the countryside to work as peasant farmers
and in 1961 the CPC reversed its policy of decentralized fiscal planning