China's Great Leap Forward
Mao Zedong, China's then-leader, wanted a modernized economy to rival that of the United States around the year of 1958. To obtain this goal, Zedong announced a 5-year plan from 1958 to 1963. This time period was to be known in as the Great Leap Forward. The Great Leap Forward was put into place to better develop China's industry and agriculture. Industry and agriculture needed each other to grow and prosper. Industry would only do well if the work force was well-fed, while the agricultural workers needed industry for producing tools in order to achieve modernization in China. To better China as a country, Zedong decided to split China into communes. The average size for a commune was approximately 5,000 families. People in communes gave up their belongings and goods and then it was owned by the commune. People worked for the commune instead of working for themselves. All adults worked selling general goods at various places, like a grocery or clothing store. Every 12 families formed a work team and every 12 work terms formed a brigade, making 144 families per brigade. At the end of 1958, 700 million Chinese people were placed into more than 26,500 communes. This growth was accomplished at an amazing speed. The government did all they could do to keep everyone in the communes enthusiastic so the change would be easier. The stages of Genocide represented here were Preparation because everyone was getting relocated.