Great Leap Forward (China)

The Great Leap Forward (1958-1962) was a campaign launched by China's government under Mao Zedong to rapidly modernize agriculture and industry. The goal was to boost economic growth through collective farming and large-scale industrial projects. However, the policies disrupted traditional farming, led to forced collectivization, and caused a significant decline in food production. This resulted in a severe famine that caused millions of deaths. The Great Leap Forward is now viewed as a major policy failure that had disastrous social and economic consequences for China.