Mao Zedong

=== Five-year plans of China ===
Following the consolidation of power, Mao launched the first [[Five-year plans of China|five-year plan]] (1953–1958), which emphasised rapid industrial development. Within industry, iron and steel, electric power, coal, heavy engineering, building materials, and basic chemicals were prioritised with the aim of constructing large and highly capital-intensive plants. Many of these plants were built with Soviet assistance and heavy industry grew rapidly.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1998 |title=China – Economic policies |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/China/Economic-policies |website=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |language=en}}</ref> Agriculture, industry and trade was organised on a collective basis ([[Worker cooperative|socialist cooperatives]]).<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6zJaAAAAYAAJ |title=Doing Business in the People's Republic of China |date=1994 |publisher=Price, Waterhouse |pages=3 |language=en |quote=At the same time, agriculture was organized on a collective basis (socialist cooperatives), as were industry and trade. |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> This period marked the beginning of China's rapid industrialisation and it resulted in an enormous success.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1998 |title=China – The transition to socialism, 1953–57 |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/China/The-transition-to-socialism-1953-57 |website=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |language=en}}</ref>

Despite being initially sympathetic towards the reformist government of [[Imre Nagy]], Mao feared the "reactionary restoration" in Hungary as the [[Hungarian Revolution of 1956|Hungarian crisis]] continued and became more hardline. Mao opposed the withdrawal of Soviet troops by asking [[Liu Shaoqi]] to inform the Soviet representatives to use military intervention against "Western imperialist-backed" protestors and Nagy's government. However, it was unclear if Mao's stance played a crucial role, if any role, in [[Nikita Khrushchev|Khrushchev]]'s decision to invade Hungary. It was also unclear if China was forced to conform to the Soviet position due to economic concerns and China's poor power projections compared to the USSR. Despite his disagreements with Moscow's hegemony in the [[Eastern Bloc|Socialist Camp]], Mao viewed the integrity of the international communist movement as more important than the national autonomy of the countries in the Soviet sphere of influence. The [[Hungarian Revolution of 1956|Hungarian Revolution]] also influenced Mao's [[Hundred Flowers Campaign]]. Mao decided to soften his stance on Chinese intelligentsia and allow them to express their social dissatisfaction and criticisms of the errors of the government. Mao wanted to use this movement to prevent a similar uprising in China. However, as people in China began to criticize the CCP's policies and Mao's leadership following the Hundred Flowers Campaign, Mao cracked down the movement he initiated and compared it to the "counter-revolutionary" Hungarian Revolution.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.globalpoliticsreview.com/publications/2464-9929_v01_i01_p18.pdf |journal=Global Politics Review |volume=1 |number=1 |date=October 2015 |pages=18–34 |title=The Hungarian Connection: the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and its Impact on Mao Zedong's Domestic Policies in the late 1950s |first=David Tibor |last=Teszar}}</ref>

Programs pursued during this time include the Hundred Flowers Campaign, in which Mao indicated his supposed willingness to consider different opinions about how China should be governed. Given the freedom to express themselves, liberal and intellectual Chinese began opposing the Communist Party and questioning its leadership. This was initially tolerated and encouraged. After a few months, Mao's government reversed its policy and persecuted those who had criticised the party, totalling perhaps {{formatnum:500000}},<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Vidal |first=Christine |year=2016 |title=The 1957–1958 Anti-Rightist Campaign in China: History and Memory (1978–2014) |url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01306892/document |journal=Hal-SHS}}</ref> as well as those who were merely alleged to have been critical, in what is called the [[Anti-Rightist Movement]]. The movement led to the persecution of at least 550,000 people, mostly intellectuals and dissidents.<ref name="1Mac">{{Cite book |last=MacFarquhar |first=Roderick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yrkpx6iKq48C&dq=550000+anti-rightist+china&pg=PA82 |title=The Politics of China: The Eras of Mao and Deng |date=13 January 1997 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-58863-8 |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> Li Zhisui, Mao's physician, suggested that Mao had initially seen the policy as a way of weakening opposition to him within the party and that he was surprised by the extent of criticism and the fact that it came to be directed at his own leadership.<ref>{{Harvnb|Li|1994|pp=198, 200, 468–469}}</ref>