Chairman Mao's Great Leap Forward Documentary

Chairman Mao was the dictator who starved 45 million of his own citizens, yet if you ask the average American today who the world's worst dictator was, they will tell you Adolf Hitler. In reality, it is a toss-up between Russian dictator Joseph Stalin and Chinese dictator Chairman Mao Tse Dung; commonly spelled today as "Mao Zedong."

Based on previously unheard testimony by survivors, archive footage, secret documents and interviews, this landmark film provides insight into the folly of the 1958-1962 Great Leap Forward. It examines the decisions that led to possibly the worst famine in modern history under Mao in China.

During this period, Mao's emphasis on population growth contributed to a baby boom that ultimately strained the country's food supply, leading to the Great Chinese Famine from 1959 to 1961.

His intent was that if there was an inevitable nuclear war with the west, they would still win because their population would greatly outnumber the rest of the world.

Resumption of family planning: A weak family planning campaign was re-launched in 1962, but it was largely ineffective. Throughout the 1960s, birth rates increased as Mao continued to see the large population as a source of strength and a vehicle for spreading Marxism.

Shifting policy: As the population continued to grow rapidly, the government's stance shifted toward limiting family size. Even while Mao was still alive, the government made a dramatic policy change in the early 1970s.

"Later, Longer, Fewer" campaign: This program, known as wan, xi, shao, was implemented to enforce mandatory birth limits. It encouraged later marriage, longer birth intervals, and fewer children (urban families were limited to two children, and rural families to three).

Increasing coercion: Under this campaign, birth quotas were established, and tactics that would become more notorious under the one-child policy—such as forced abortions and sterilizations—were already being used.

Legacy and Aftermath
Precursor to the one-child policy: Mao's death in 1976 removed the main ideological obstacle to more aggressive population control. The "Later, Longer, Fewer" campaign set the stage for the highly coercive one-child policy, which was officially implemented in 1980.

Complex legacy: Mao's inconsistent and often contradictory views on procreation and population left a complicated legacy, as his early encouragement of large families directly contributed to the overpopulation crisis that the later Communist Party sought to rectify.

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