Mao's Great Leap Forward, initiated in 1958, aimed to quickly transform China from an agrarian society into a socialist society through rapid industrialization and collectivization. The plan sought to increase agricultural and industrial production by implementing large-scale collective farms (people's communes) and encouraging backyard furnaces for steel production. However, the Great Leap Forward was a catastrophic failure due to unrealistic productivity targets, poor planning, and lack of expertise which led to widespread famine, with an estimated death toll ranging from 15 to 45 million people. The movement's policies disrupted the agricultural sector, depleted resources, and ultimately set back China's economic development.
