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longbeforethelandreformlawwaspromulgatedon30june1950,theccphadbeenexperimentingwithmeasurestoreturnthelandtothevastnumbersofpeasants.theseexperiments,whichhadtakenplacewhereverthepartyhadbeenabletomaintainastronghold,includingthejiangxisovietandyan'an,hadknownvariousradicalaspects,butboileddowntotheabolishmentoflandownershipbythelandlordclassandtheintroductionofpeasantlandownership.anewelementthatwasintroducedin1950wastheprovisionthatthedevelopmentofagriculturalproductionresultingfromthiswouldpavethewayfortheindustrializationofchina.asaresult,manypeasanthouseholdsheldthedeedfortheirpieceoflandforthefirsttimeever.
nationwideagiculturalreformstookplacefrom1950untilthespringof1953.insomeplaces,thelawwasexecutedwithmoreforcethanwascalledfor,leadingtothemistreatmentofformerlandlords.inall,aboutonemillionofthemwereexecuted.althoughtheposterabove,publishedin1952,boaststhatlandreformbasicallyhadbeencompleted,thiswasonlyaccomplishedin1953.inall,700millionmuofland(1muis.0867hectares)andvariousmeansofproductionwereredistributedamong300millionpeasantswhohadbeenlandlessbefore.onlytheareasinhabitedbytheminoritynationalitieshadnotbeentouchedbythelawyet.despitethecentralityoflandreformintheparty'spolicies,publicationdatafrom1949indicatethatlessthantwopercentofthetotalposterproductionwasdevotedtotypicalruraltopics,includingmethodstoimproveproduction.thissuggestsevenmorestronglytheextenttowhichposterswereintendedtosupportothertypesofmobilizationaltechniques.itmayalsopointtoimportantshiftsthatemergedinthepoliticalagenda.shortlyafterthefieldshadbeenturnedovertothetiller,preparationsbegantofamiliarizethepeasantrywiththenextstepinagriculturalreform.beforelong,thelandthathadbeenhandedouttothepeasantswasslowlyreturnedtothestate.inaprocessofcollectivizationthatstartedin1953,thefarmerswerefirstorganizedinso-calledmutualhelpteams.theseweregraduallymergedintoloweragrariancooperatives.duringthegreatleapforward,theselowerformsofcooperativeswouldbemergedintohugepeople'scommunes.
asaresultofthecollectivizationofthecountryside,certainamenitiesandservicesthathaduntilthenbeenreservedforcitydwellers,nowcamewithinreachoftheruralpopulation.the"electrificationofthecountryside",incombinationwiththemechanizationofagriculture,wasamongthese.judgingbytheposterbelow,theavailabilityoftheseamenitieswasapparentlyusedtoenticethepeopletojoinsuchcollectives.