Mao’s First Five-Year Plan and the Great Leap Forward: contrasting the relative success of China’s early Soviet-style industrialisation with the ideological drive and outcomes of the Great Leap Forward.

Relevant for GCSE & A Level History:

• Edexcel GCSE – Mao’s China, 1945–76: covers economic policy, Five-Year Plans and the Great Leap Forward.

• AQA A Level – Revolution and dictatorship: China 1936-1997: includes economic strategies, the First Five-Year Plan and the Great Leap Forward’s consequences.

• Edexcel A Level – Mao’s China, 1949-76 (2E.1): study of industry, agriculture, Five-Year Plans and their impacts.

• OCR A Level – The People’s Republic of China, 1949-76: focuses on economic and social change under Mao, including planned economies and radical campaigns. (General specification connection)