Mao's Great famine ( 1958 - 1961 )
Named a “ period of scarcity” by Chairman Mao, the Chinese famine was one of the most cruel some catastrophes of the century.Known as Mao’s plan to change from an agricultural economy and advancing forward as a modern society, the adverse weather patterns, droughts and lack of food source played major roles in the famine. Though Mao’s great leap forward was celebrated in the west as a major advance, many of the villagers gave to vast irrigation scheme were forced into harsh labor, and were also known as the “ killing fields”.
A staggering 2.5 million victims were assassinated, starved, beaten and treated with immense violence, leading to fatal results. In these camps, different individuals were divided into groups and distributed of food according to their capacity to work, very similar to the holocaust in Germany during the World War 2. As for the corpses of some of these workers, were left to be rendered into compost or traded in the black market. 40 percent of all housing was completely destroyed and many were left destitute and homeless as a result. |