US support for Chiang Kai Shek and policy towards China and Taiwan

Question 1

What were the two sides of the Chinese Civil War?

Answer 1

-Nationalists (Guomindang) led by Chiang Kai Shek
-Chinese Communists led by Mao Zedong

Question 2

What happened in the Chinese Civil War?

Answer 2

-Communists were successful in quickly gaining a hold over these areas
-By 1949 they were strong enough to push the Nationalists out of mainland China
-Chiang Kai Shek and remnants of his party fled to Taiwan

Question 3

How did the US view the communist takeover of China?

Answer 3

Seen as evidence of Stalin’s work in spreading world communism
-Also viewed as result of the failure of the USA to send enough support to the Nationalists

Question 4

Why was the Chinese communist party so popular?

Answer 4

The communists ‘raised production and standards of living’

Question 5

How did US foreign policy towards China change 1945-1949?

Answer 5

Truman accused of losing China to communism -> soft on communism
-So expanded further into Asia