WHY DID CHINA FALL TO COMMUNISM IN 1949?

Question 1

Soviet Intervention

Answer 1

• Soviets helped CCP to acquire Japanese arms after their surrender in 1945
• Stalin was great handicap to Mao: 1949- Moscow ordered Communists to not cross Yangtze River; Mao ignores, proceeded and finished off GMD resistance
• Soviet Ambassador: one of last to recognise communists were on verge of victory

Question 2

US Actions

Answer 2

• After defeat of Japan: US initially continue financial + military aid: 2 months after Japanese surrender, Truman gave Jiang $450 mill + 50,000 marines (mainly to prevent CCP gains)
• 1945: Truman sends George Marshall to China: Marshall organised a GMD-CCP Truce but collapsed in april 1946
• China Aid Act 1948: Granted Jiang $125 mill —> Dec 1948- Truman administration cancelled all aid as they were convinced Jiang couldn’t ever defeat communists
• ALL SHORT TERM

Question 3

Japanese Invasion

Answer 3

• Japanese distracted Jiang + cost him many of his best troops and a lot of his money
• Japanese enabled CCP to regroup and establish itself more fully in countryside (had almost been destroyed by Long March)
• Jiang’s refusal to co-operate with the CCP when China was in mortal danger during war against Japan made him look less patriotic

Question 4

Communist appeal to the peasantry

Answer 4

• Peasantry made up 85-90% of population- many were forced to give between 50-80% of their crops as wealth- chronically in debt
• Communist emphasis on equal distribution wealh naturally held great appeal to Peasantry
• Mao understood and wooed the peasants
• Battle of Xuzhou 1949 demonstrated importance of peasantry: CCP aided by 2 million peasant labourers, mobilised by Deng Xiaoping

Question 5

Jiang’s loss of middle class support

Answer 5

• JJ + GMD rose to prominence on a tide of middle + upper class exasperation but once in power, GMD lost its revolutionary dynamism
• Many of Jiang’s supporters were further disillusioned when he refused to cooperate with CCP in struggles against Japan + post war economic dislocation
• April 1949: A grain of rice cost 2500 chinese dollars- Jiang made no attempt to stabilise currency - hit urban dwellers badly

Question 6

Jiang’s Military Strategy

Answer 6

• After 1946, concentrated too many of his troops in battle for manchuria without gaining control of the parts of north + central China- refused to listen to generals
• Deeply suspicious of too successful generals but not suspicious enough of communist spies- Assistant chief of staff: General Liu Fei who told Communists about all upcoming GMD military movemenys
• Xuzhou: chose to attack where his forces could be attacked on all sides: lost 500,000 men

Question 7

Jiang’s Military Performance

Answer 7

• GMD army was riddled with corruption- so much so it provoked a rebellion in Taiwan
• Jiang’s officers sold food on black market: ordinary soldiers underfed
• Lost hundreds and thousands of men- desertion rates 70%- had to tie them down to stop them running away
• Conscription rates hit the peasantry hard- encouraged many to switch to CCP

Question 8

Mao’s Military Strategy

Answer 8

• Won more supporters than Jiang through his social and economic policies
• Adjusted his land reform policies in order to maximise support
• More democratic than Jiang in his willingness to participate in coalitions + listen to the people

Question 9

Mao’s Military Performance

Answer 9

• 8 Rules of Conduct ensured communists had better relations than GMD army e.g told to help villagers, pay for what they damaged, not molest women, not to dig latrines near homes
• Communists relied on guerilla warfare rather then trying to resist Japanese head on- lost fewer men than GMD
• Repeatedly used the effective strategy of withdrawal - enticing the enemy into over-extension of its forces in hasty ill-judged pursuits