My current understanding –

  • It was a terrible famine, no denying that, one of the worst in human history.

  • 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)

  • Mao's mismanagement should probably be blamed. Liu Shaoqi said the causes were 30% natural factors, 70% mismanagement

  • Collectivisation doesn't seem to have been the problem. Collectivisation in China was comparatively smooth, not like the USSR and elsewhere.

  • A bigger problem was bad agronomy.

Are these takes mistaken? Should I correct or expand my understanding?

  • tuga [he/him]
    ·
    1 year ago

    First of all that, some "anti-revisionists" (obviously not you) need to hear this, it DID happen and millions of people DID die, and it should be easy to admit that in a friendly socialist space.