Between 1958 and 1962, tens of millions of people starved to death as a result of the Great Leap Forward (GLF, ___), an attempt by Mao Zedong (___) to overtake Britain as an economic world power in less than fifteen years. During the GLF, private farming was entirely prohibited and households all over China were forced into state-operated communes. Anyone who dared challenge the practice or store their own food was violently persecuted, with many being beaten to death. The impact was catastrophic. An estimated 30 to 45 million died as a direct result of this man-made disaster.