Mao believed that the key to the Chinese revolution would be driven poverty-stricken peasants in the countryside rather than by the urban working class.

To speed up the economic growth, Mao began a more radical program, known As the great leap forward,in 1958. The Great Leap Forward was a disaster.

Bad weather and the peasants hatred of the new system drove food production down.
As a result, almost fifteen million people died of starvation.

In 1960, the government began to break the the communes and return to collective farms and some private plots.

Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong

The communist party, under the leadership of its chairman, Mao Zedong, now ruled china.