China. The so-called “Great Leap Forward” promoted by Mao causes a terrible famine, resulting in the deaths of tens of millions of people. Estimates range from a minimum of 15 million to a maximum of 40 million people in a single year. The Great Leap Forward ultimately causes at least 45 million deaths. The most terrible famine in absolute terms ever to strike humankind. The first description in English of this failure of the central government and its five-year plans was not published until 1996.
