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he genocide that took place during Mao Zedong's rule in China is by far one of the worst genocides in history; worst being in terms of lives lost. It is estimated that Mao Zedong more than quadrupledthe death toll of that during Hitler's rule in Germany. From 1958-1961, which was known as the Great Leap Forward, the most lives were lost. Many people were tortured, and many others went missing.Mao Zedong's background 
For years, he formed a group of anarchist, known as the "Revolutionary Army of Workers and Peasants" in a bookstore located in Changsha. Then, after the Chinese CommunistParty was founded, Mao Zedong began fighting for his title as the Chairman. In 1945, he reached his goal and began using it to further his pursuits. As Chairman he led a Chinese Civil War and with thehelp of the rest of the CCP, formed the People's Republic of China. For ten years (1949-1959) he was the leader of this new government (and the genocide), and in the year of 1979, he was confirmed to bedead due to heart attack.
Lives lost in this genocide 
The entire time period of this genocide was from 1958 to 1969. There were different segments during this time in which greater lossesoccurred. The worst being the three years of the Great Leap Forward, in which anywhere from 16 to 40 million lives were lost. The total amount - making this one of the worst genocides - is at minimum 45million. This amount varies up to 70 million since new death records uncover more details. With the evidence being hidden, researchers must carefully search China's documents.
Reasons 
One reason behindthis genocide, is that Mao Zedong wanted China to catch up economically with the western world; setting a goal of little over a decade to equal production output of competitors such as Great Britain.Land was taken from farmers due to the growth of communism, and steel grew as the main import; over 50%. With metal being purchased, there was less money left for food production. This of course led...