What were results of the 1949 Communist Revolution?

Answer 1

The victory of the Communists in the Chinese Civil War made vast changes to the people and institutions of the country. Most of the religions of China were suppressed, and many non-Communists were killed, or sent to re-education and work camps. The economy, weakened by two wars, suffered as the remaining foreign investment disappeared in the face of government takeovers.

The Communists were able to enact the land reforms that they had promised, but even with the relocation of urban workers to the fields, there was no immediate relief from famine conditions in many areas.

Mao's success put his country on its own, as there was little common ground with the Soviet Union, the other major Communist power. But given the vast manpower of China, it exerted political pressure on Asia, leading to the annexation of Tibet and the Korean War.

It was not until years later, during the Great Leap Forward (1958), that China was able to begin the modernization of its industry and become an economic superpower, its populace becoming both a vast labor supply and a coveted consumer market.

Answer 2

• land reform;
• economic reform;
• Great Leap Forward;
• political reform;
• social reform;
• the Cultural Revolution.