Chinese Civil War and Communism

1. Chinese Civil War and Communism

2. Origins of the Civil War • China had been under European domination for centuries. • In 1911, the Qing Dynasty, the last of the Chinese dynasties, collapses due to: • Refusal to modernize China. • Loss of the Sino-Japanese War (1905) • General desire amongst the Chinese for political reform.

3. Sun Yat-sen and the Kuomintang • Several warlords carve up China between them in the aftermath of the Qing collapse. • Sun Yat-sen, a doctor, becomes a revolutionary and establishes the Kuomintang to unify China. • Sun Yat-sen seeks aid from the West. Refused. • Accepts aid from the Soviet Union.

4. Kuomintang and Disunity • Kuomintang, armed and financed by the USSR, are to be able to defeat most of the warlords. • In 1925, Sun Yat-sen dies from cancer. • Kuomintang splits into two different factions: • Kuomintang Nationalists (Conservative Nationalist) • Chinese Communist Party (Communist)

5. Chang Kai-Shek and the Kuomintang • Chang Kai-Shek comes to lead the Kuomintang. • Nationalist movement that becomes more and more autocratic. • Chang becomes ever more obsessed with creating a powerful central government and alienates many in China. • Kuomintang dominates the major cities.

6. Mao Zedong and the Communist Party • Mao will come to lead Chinese Communist forces. • In 1927, Mao will lead a rebellion against the increasingly-autocratic Kuomintang. • Communists come to dominant the countryside.

7. Second Sino-Japanese War • Japan invades in 1937 (some of the first fighting of WWII.) • Mao offers to unite with Chang to drive out the Japanese. • Chang refuses. • Believes he is not strong enough to defeat the Japanese. • Sees the Communists as the greatest threat. • Wants to put down the Communists so that he will be strong enough to face the Japanese.

8. Alliance • Kuomintang leaders become fearful of Chang’s unwillingness to unite with the Communists against the Chinese. • Kuomintang leaders arrest Chang and force him to agree to an alliance. • Mao and Chang disagree on tactics: • Chang wants to fight the Japanese out in the open. • Mao wants to wage a guerilla war against the Japanese.

9. Alliance and Tactics • The alliance exists in name only. • The two factions fight two different wars against the Japanese. • Agree not to fight one another until the Japanese are defeated. • In general, the Communists are more effective.

10. Wider War and Victory • After Pearl Harbor, the United States begins to provide assistance to Mao and Chang. • Japan surrenders • United States orders Japanese forces to surrender only to the Kuomintang; Do not want Japanese weapons to fall into the hands of the Communists. • In Manchuria, there were no Kuomintang forces. Japanese surrender their weapons to the Soviet Union. • Stalin turns the weapons over to Mao.

11. Aftermath and Communist Party • Communist forces emerged from World War II in a much stronger position. • Fought better/battle hardened. • More widely liked by the population. • Soviet Union fully backs Mao and can provide surplus weapons to the Communists.

12. Aftermath and Kuomintang • After the war, Kuomintang is fearful. • Frantically arm against the Communists. • United States provides aid to the Kuomintang. • Kuomintang alienate ever more people • corruption, • a forced draft, • seizing property for the war effort. • Areas of China under Kuomintang control watch the economy collapse: Shanghai has a 37% unemployment rate.

13. American aid to Chang • The United States strongly supported the Kuomintang forces: • Over 50,000 Marines were sent to guard strategic sites, and 100,000 US troops were sent to Shandong. • The US equipped and trained over 500,000 Kuomintang troops, and transported KMT forces throughout the country. • American aid included substantial amounts of both new and surplus military supplies. • Within less than 2 years after the Sino-Japanese War, the Kuomintang had received 4.43 billion dollars from the US.

14. Outcome • Despite the American assistance, the Communists win. • Mao’s forces inflict a series of defeats on the Kuomintang. • Chang is forced to retreat from mainland China to the island of Taiwan. • Mao proclaims the People’s Republic of China. • Chang proclaims the Republic of China in Taiwan. • The United States recognizes Chang’s government as the official government of China despite not actually controlling China. • Soviet Union recognizes Mao’s government as the official government of China. • Mao regards Taiwan as a part of China that is a “breakaway province.”

15. Taiwan • Everyone assumes Taiwan will fall to the Communists as well. • United States is disinterested in defending Taiwan. Assume that they have lost. • However, Korean War breaks out and the United States needs Taiwan as a base. • US forces are deployed to Taiwan and Mao determines that he doesn’t want war with the USA.

16. Chinese Development: The Great Leap Forward • An attempt to modernize China, like the USSR. • Extraordinarily difficult campaign • Involves widespread death and suffering. • Development of Chinese industry • Backyard smelters/forges (poor quality.) • Infrastructure projects. • Education/training for children.

17. Sino-Soviet Split • Stalin dies in 1953. • Mao was very close to Stalin. • Khruschev replaces Stalin and attempts to liberalize the USSR and undo some of the worst effects of Stalin’s reign. • Mao regards this as an attack on Communism and breaks with the USSR. • Soviets and Chinese come close to war in the early 1970s. • In 1976, Mao dies from health problems.

18. Mao’s Legacy: Positive • Supporters regard him as a great leader: • modernizing China and building it into a world power, • promoting the status of women, • improving education and health care, • providing universal housing, • increasing life expectancy as China's population grew from around 550 to over 900 million during the period of his leadership

19. Mao’s Legacy: Negative • Widespread death during the Great Leap Forward • Opposition to political parties other than the Communist Party • Destruction of Chinese historical works of art as being too “bourgeoisie.”

20. Mao’s Successors • Deng Xiaoping replaces Mao. • Attempts to reform China: • Opened up the government to criticism • Increased economic growth • Lowered the standard of living for many Chinese • Turned China into an “export economy,” favoring the United States in particular.