Mao Zedong
In the 1950s, Mao Zedong had many plans for how China could move forward in technology very quickly and catch up with countries like the United Kingdom and United States. Mao was responsible for the Five Year Plan.  The Second Five Year Plan included the Great Leap Forward, which was a disaster for the Chinese people. Poor farming practices led to significant crop failure, and cities did not make many  of their daily items like clothes and machines. The famine that came as a result killed millions of people via starvation. In the aftermath of the Great Leap Forward, Mao launched the Cultural Revolution in 1966 in order to keep his power and position within the Chinese Communist Party. The Cultural Revolution lasted for a decade until Mao's Death in 1976.