Great Leap Forward

The Great Leap Forward was a program introduced by Chinese leader Mao Zedong in the late 1950s. It was meant to rapidly increase the production of food and goods in China. The government encouraged farmers to share knowledge and resources, like tools, to help each other produce more food. People worked together on many huge projects like building dams and irrigation systems and planting trees. The government also encouraged people to start small businesses and build factories.

At first, the program worked and the Chinese economy improved. But because of bad weather and mistakes by the government, production dropped and large numbers of people went hungry. The Great Leap Forward is considered one of the biggest failures in China's history.