By the fall of 1794, the Reign of Terror was ending.  France had turned anti-Jacobin.  The terror and tyranny offered by them was no longer seen as productive.  In 1795, the new French Constitution was adopted and the new government seated.  The new legislature was bi-cameral.  The executive functions of the nation to be run by a Directory.  The land war in Europe had once again turned in favor of France.  The English naval blockade, however, was working effectively.  Shortages began to appear. 

By 1973, the economic conditions in China had turned bad.  Poverty and famine were beginning to assert themselves.  The State planned economy, as well as the communist idea in China, was failing.   By 1974, shortages and deficiencies in medical care were obvious.  Disease spread.  Facilities that had existed to combat some of these diseases had long ago disappeared.  To help alleviate the medical care shortages, China encouraged the training and use of “barefoot doctors”.  Their lack of education, training, and experience, and in many cases incompetence, made conditions worse.