What happened to China in early 1960s immediately after the disastrous Great Leap Forward?
Following the GLF, China was devastated by a flood and a famine and nearly 30 million people died. The poor planning of the GLF was the cause of the famine. Liu Shaoqi took over as Chairman after Mao withdrew and greatly struggled to help rebuild one Chinese state, however China did manage to recover quite fast. An estimate 30 million people died of famine. Liu Shaoqi was elected chairman. He shifted heavy industry to producing consumer goods. These were quite years for Mao. Mao refuted and studied political science. However soon Maos cult of personality begain to rise. Mao soon became irradical. Mao resigned as chairman. Foreign relations were really bad with both U.S. and Russia and the Russian advisors left the country. Thus, emphasis was given to consumer goods and not as much heavy industry. The cult of Mao was created. The campaign to Remember the Bitter Past was meant as a reflection on pre 1949 experiences but turned into remembering the difficulties of the Great Leap Forward.
