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Why did the Communists Win the Chinese Civil War? (Weakness of the…
Why did the Communists Win the Chinese Civil War?
Mao
his prestige grew steadily
The Long March
began in October 1934
Communist soliders and party leaders (numbering 100,000) were forced to march 12,500 km across 11 provinces
throughout this march, Mao emerged as a leader by:
advocating guerrilla tactics
ousting his rivals
making tactical decisions as to he path the CCP should pursue
Communists st up their headquarters in the Yun'an
from where the movement would grow rapidly across 10 years
Weakness of the Nationalist Government
Many Chinese blamed the GMD for the
resumption of the civil war
in 1946
Chiang Kai Shek wanted to preserve a monopoly of power for the GMD
therefore, he refuse to accept the suggestion of a coalition government with the CCP (that they US urged Chiang to agree to)
in December 1946, there was widespread student demonstration in Beijing and Shanghai agains the GMD government
The way the GMD behaved when
reoccupying areas
formerly held by the Japanese lost them support
GMD failed to punish those who collaborated with the Japanese
GMD officials and officers who took control of Taiwan were corrupt
provoked a rebellion in 1947
GMD appointed officials and commanders drawn from outside Manchuria to run the region
GMD became increasingly
repressive
led to a number of factions within the party breaking off and going into opposition (e.g. Revolutionary Alliance)
most infamous victim of political assassination by GMD was the popular poet Wen Yiduo - professor at Southwest Associated University in Kunming
in 1948, the GMD secret police killed many of the GMD's opponents in cold blood on the streets of Shanghai
Governments attempted to control
inflation
failed
August 1938, the gold yuan note was introduced to replace the national currency
People were encouraged to convert their gold and foreign currency into gold yuan
November 1938, the gold yuan collapsed
many people lost their savings
Chiang Kai Shek miscalculated how the
War in Asia
would end
had assumed that there would be large-scale intervention from the US in China to drive out the Japanese
had hoped to persuade the US (once Japanese had been defeated) to use its troops against the CCP
instead the war ended abruptly with the Nagasaki A-Bomb in August 1945
USA only provided
limited support
to the GMD
US government had hoped to broker a peace between he GMD and CCP
sent General George Marshall to China for that purpose in 1945-46
the Truman administration was disappointed by the failure of Marshall Mission
following the renewal of civil war, the US government severely restricted aid to Chiang
as it was concerned by the reports of corruption in his regime
by 1948, when the US realised Chiang was in serious danger of losing
it was too late for increased US aid to have a significant impact
Chiang's key
military mistake
was committing most of his troops to occupation and retention of Manchuria
GMD forces were over extended and vulnerable to counteroffensives by the People's Liberation Army (army of the CCP)
Chiang interfered disastrously in military decision-making
GMD Army
Morale Low
GMD army was much bigger than the PLA (CCP army) at the start of the Civil war
the morale of many soldiers was low
discipline was brutal
many GMD soldiers were conscripts - often roped together to stop them deserting
desertion rates in GMD units were often 70% a year
Strengths of the CCP
General
CCP was a small movement
founded in 1921
composed largely of intellectuals
CCP decided (on the advice of Comintern) to form a United Front with the GMD in 1923
CCP soon began to develop popular support as it began offering the best chance of:
tackling lower class poverty
ending foreign domination of China
Prior to the Yan'an Era (before 1935)
CCP won
lower class support
by 1927: there were 58,000 CCP members - many recruited from factory workers in China's eastern cities like Shanghai
Mao in charge of the Peasant Institute - had attracted 2 million peasants by 1927
the White Terror
a huge blow to the CCP
survivors established the Jiangxi Soviet and built support through land reforms
e.g. taking land from richer landlords and distributing it to the peasants
CCP leadership showed great resilience in surviving the White Terror
the various GMD extermination campaigns against the Jiangxi Soviet and the Long March provided the CCP with an inspiring legend to draw on for propaganda purposes
by 1935, the CCP had begun to acquire
strong leadership,
Mao
Mao advocated moderation in contrast with the extremist Comintern members
Mao's moderation was better at building support
Mao eliminated his political opponents by force:
the Futian incident
(December 1930 - January 1931
thousands of CCP members were tortured or executed
allegedly GMD agents - but really they just supported Mao's rivals
Mao chosen as Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Politburo in January 1935 (during the Long March)
During the Yun'an Era (1935-46)
CCP
united
under
Mao
at Yan'an Mao asserted his dominance over the CCP - by a combination of intellectual brilliance and ruthlessness
the Rectification of Conduct Campaign of 1942 established Mao's ideas as official CCP ideology
members would report anti-Maoist behaviour as this would reflect better on them
a leadership of cult of Mao developed from 1943
Mao was talented at
adapting Marxist theory to fit China
making the peasantry the revolutionary class
opposed by the Bolshevik comintern members and many CCP leaders
CCP broadened its support base by appealing beyond the peasantry to other classes
Mao co operated with the middle classes
CCP Membership
CCP won peasant support through land and education reforms
Mao advocated
the Mass Line
CCP officials were to live among the peasants and learn from them
fair treatment of peasants (Mao's Eight Rules of Conduct)
any CCP members who abused peasants were to be harshly disciplined
that peasants held local positions
CCP members held only 25% of government positions Yun'an by 1941
CCP able to take control of much of Northern China
due to withdrawal of Japanese
because the GMD were spread too thinly
Red Army
were better disciplined than the GMD forces
morale was higher
were well fed
Mao had control of peasants - therefore could obtain lots of food
played a more active role in expelling the Japanese than the GMD - gained support
used guerrilla tactics
aided by peasants behind enemy lines
Summary/PLA
PLA (CCP army) were in a better position to take the surrender of
Japanese weapons
in Manchuria
soviet troops, taking the Japanese surrender handed Japanese weapons to the PLA (offered no other help during the civil war)
PLA did not try to context GMD control over Manchuria's towns
this was sensible
instead, they retreated
encouraged the GMD to overextend themselves
June 1947, PLA went onto the offensive and isolated many of the GMD garrisons
end of November 1948, PLA had captured the whole of Manchuria
the most decisive campaign in the Civil War
PLA had
capable generals
particularly Lin Biao
Mao did not interfere unnecessarily with military decision making
CPP success in Manchuria was partly the results of
peasant support
won by the CCP's record against the Japanese
won by the CCP's land reforms post 1945
Mao was prepared to be
flexible
in terms of land policy
1946-47, CCP pursued a radical land policy
involved the total expropriation of landlords and some rich peasants
Mao moderated this from 1948, when it became clear that many middle peasants were being alienated
GMD's numerical troop advantage rapidly eroded
at the start the GMD army was much bigger than the PLA (4.8 million rather to 1.2 million)
PLA were assisted by Peasant Militias (additional 2 million)
many GMD soldiers deserted and joined the PLA (or were willing to join when captured)
CCP promised generous treatment of GMD soldiers who defected
CCP overtook the GMD army, and by the end of the war had 4 million PLA members to the GMD's 2 million