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1934 - 1949 (The Civil War (People thought the GMD would win as they had…
1934 - 1949
The Civil War
People thought the GMD would win as they had the international support of the USA as well as aid and military assistance and the stronger army.
DEC 1945, General Marshall of the USA attempted to prevent the civil war but failed, the relationship was hostile by early 1946.
JUNE 1946 - GMD 1MILLION troops launched an offensive in Northern China, and by March 1947 they had captured Yanan.
Lin Bao led the CCP in a series of Guerrilla attacks to fight the GMD. By 1948, the PLA were strong enough to fight the GMD head on in the battle of Huai-Hai. The GMD lost 1/2MILLION men.
By January 1949, Chiang fled to the island on Taiwan with 200,000 troops and most of China's gold
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PLA army had grown to 1MILLION by the end of 1945 because of peasant support and claimed to have 4MILLION men by the end of 1949. They were disciplined and respectful to the peasant and so were viewed as liberators giving the peasants hope,
Chiang's government was corrupt and unpopular. The brutality of the Blueshirts and the support of the landlords meant they lost the support of the majority.
USA could see that the GMD was going to fail, and so after giving $200MILLION in aid stopped in 1947, and the forces of the GMD fell to 1.5MILLION as many left to join the PLA.
The Long March
GMD troops launched their 5 extermination campaign and surrounded the CCP at their base in Jiangxi, CCP tried to fight back with guerrilla tactics but failed.
Soviet advisors, Otto Braun, suggested they force through enemy lines and move towards their base at Yanan. This marked the start of the Long March
16th Oct 1934 - 87,000 soldiers broke out of the Jiangxi Soviet, with Otto Braun leading the way.
6 weeks to break out of the blockhouses formed by the GMD.
November 1934, they reached the Xiang River, where they lost half their men fighting the GMD.
Braun was blamed for the defeat, therefore Mao and Zhu De took over as leaders in JAN 1935
Mao often changed routes and reduced the amount of supplies the people were carrying, all in order to confuse the GMD
Avg. of 17 miles walked a day, 18 mountain ranges crossed, 24 rivers, 12 provinces, captured 62 cities.
Enabled the CCP to survive under the threat of Chiang, allowed them to spread their ideas across China and confirmed Mao's position as leader of the CCP.
The War with Japan
The Japanese had occupied Manchuria since 1931, and launched their full scale attack on China in 1937.
Mao fought back immediately as he was aware of the hardship and horrific rule of the Japanese. Chiang however was reluctant and was determined to defeat the CCP first
This was out of tune with the Chinese population's patriotism and lead to a further loss of popularity for Chiang. Mao called for the Second United front, however Chiang did not agree to it until 1937 after being kidnapped by GMD generals in DEC 1936 on order to persuade him to agree.
Chiang's attack on the Japanese was weak and he gave in very easily. He retreated and moved his Capital to Sichuan Province, away from the westernised areas of China and the ports meaning he could do little to fight back.
GMD became increasingly corrupt and officials in the party were more interested in personal power. Inflation grew rapidly and the power of warlords began to rise again.
Chiang governed as a military dictator, calling himself 'Generalissimo' and had a private army, the 'Blueshirts' which continued to track enemies of the GMD
The CCP came out stronger than ever, they could move into occupied areas, particularly in the countryside where they won the support of the peasants as their soldiers were respectful. They gradually progressed eastwards from Yanan and slowly removed the Japanese from Northern China.
The Japanese attempted to retaliate with the 3 all campaign in 1941 - "Kill all, Burn all, Destroy all" with the aim to turn people against the CCP in areas where they had taken control by burning homes and crops.
By 1937, the CCP controlled 30,000 square miles of China and 2MILLION people.
By 1945, when the Japanese surrendered the CCP controlled 300,000 square miles and 95MILLION people.
The CCP were respectable and liberators to the peasants, abolishing outdated practices, confiscating land and punishing harsh landlords, reducing rents and taxes and helping to give women more freedom.