Social developments: the destruction of rightists, class enemies and rectification campaigns; women's rights and welfare campaigns; the impact of collectivisation; the famine
After taking power, Mao's government reshaped Chinese society through political purges, new rights for women, and forced collectivisation of farming. These changes brought both genuine reform and catastrophic suffering, including a famine that killed millions.
Real World
The 1950 Marriage Law abolished arranged marriages and gave women the right to divorce — within three years, Chinese courts processed over one million divorce cases, the vast majority filed by women, illustrating the scale of social change the CCP was willing to engineer from above.
Exam Focus
Balance your answer: examiners expect you to acknowledge both genuine social reform (women's rights) and the catastrophic human cost of collectivisation and famine in the same response.
Essay Framework
Use PEEL to structure every paragraph. Tap each step for guidance and an example.
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