Effects of the Chinese Civil War

1. Effects of the Chinese Civil War

2. Socioeconomic impact • Human Cost • 3.5 million were killed in the Chinese Civil War • In the war against Japan (1937-45): between 15 million and 20 million people died • Of this figure around 4 mil were military personnel and 10 mil were civilians, and 5 mil casualties to war-related starvation and disease

5. Social Impact • Victory of the Communists led to a social revolution in family life • Marriage Law 1950 gave equal rights to women, forbade arranged marriages, and allowed women to hold land in their own names • Out of marriage children – equal rights • Divorce equally available to men and women • Religion attacked • Christianity, Buddhism, and Confucianism denounced in communist propaganda

7. Impacts on Women • Overall, the civil war period witnessed an improvement in the legal status and educational and political opportunities for women, but this affected only the minority. • Women in Nationalist Zones: • During the Nanjing Decade there was some impact in legal rights, improved with Civil Code 1930 • Arranged marriages without consent prohibited • Wives were able to initiate divorce proceedings • Daughters were given equal inheritance rights to sons • Labor law in 1931 stipulated that women should be paid the same rate of pay as men for the same work • Educational Opportunities • Increase in opportunities for women, by 1935 over 6000 colleges and universities admitted women, who largely went on to pursue traditional female careers in education, nursing and the civil service • Distinct difference in ideas about male and female roles in society persisted, and women were still expected to fulfil a more domestic role within the home • For poor women, unable to access to education, very little changed at all

8. Women in Communist Zones • In CCP controlled zones there was, in theory at least, a greater acceptance of sexual equality: • Women were encouraged to participate in CCP committes and even serve as officials • Arranged marriages were strongly discouraged, even before the nationalist Civil Code outlawed the practice • Women were regarded as being as legitimate source of manual labor as men • Some women served in the Red Army and Communist militias • Women made clothing for the Red Army, operated as nurses and transported supplies. In some ways, their lives became harder, as they were expected to continue their domestic duties while also taking on new roles.

9. After CCP victory … • The Marriage Law of 1st May 1950 • Abolished arranged marriages • Granted husband and wife the right to seek divorce on equal terms • Guaranteed equality in the management and inheritance of family property • Stipulated that a husband could not apply for divorce if his wife was pregnant, and could only do so one year after the birth of the child

10. Economic Impact • Left China economically devastated • Widespread starvation and thousands died from hunger • Mao’s new regime implemented land reform in the countryside; • Violence – landowners killed • From 1956, CCP enforced collectivization on the countryside and all land, tools, and livestock were taken by the state from the farmers • Farmers had to hand over their grain to the state for a set price • By mid 1950, people in the countryside were on starvation rations • From 1952, business community was attacked • All industry and commerce was put under the control of the state • 1956 government took control of all private enterprise • 1957 – Great Leap Forward was launched - goal – bring about rapid industrialization • Catastrophic economic failure and led to worst man-made famine in human history

12. Political Impact • China was divided – Nationalists with Jiang withdrew to Taiwan – Republic of China • CCP consolidated its control in China • Society militarized • Mao – god-like status • Within year of Mao’s victory he implemented “Great Terror” – regime eliminated all enemies of the party • Anyone could be accused of being an enemy and quotes were set for those to executed • “School children as young as six were accused of spying for the enemy and tortured to death” (Dikotter) • 2 million people killed by 1951 and a vast network of prison camps held hundreds of thousands of political prisoners • All laws abolished and a legal system along similar lines like USSR’s gulag • Free speech, even mild criticism of the party of regime was silenced • Legacy of the Civil War – continued authoritarian rule by the CCP • China remains a single-party state

15. Effects for Asia • Mao’s victory led to globalization of the Cold War

16. For the USSR • Stalin feared Mao as a rival for the leadership of the communist world • Stalin did not view Maoism as “genuinely revolutionary” and did not agree with Mao’s “hybrid” ideology, which was a mix of traditional Chinese culture and Marxism • Mao became convinced that Stalin planned to create divided and weak China, which would leave the USSR dominant in Asia • He saw Stalin’s policies as rooted in self-interest rather than true revolutionary doctrine • Once the Mao visited Moscow in 1950 • Sino-Soviet Treaty of Alliance • Soviet press poured praise and admiration on Mao and the new People’s Republic of China • Soviet planners and engineers developed 200 construction projects in China in 1950s – traditional buildings were pulled down for Soviet-style construction, and Soviet scientific technology was prioritized in China • Sino-Soviet relations chilled during the Korean War • Soviets gave material assistance to the the 1 million Chinese troops engaged in battle - Mao complained when the soviets demanded the at he Chinese pay for all weapons and materials they supplied • Relations worsened dramatically after the death of Stalin; Khrushchev’s attack on Stalin’s cult of personality was seen by Mao as a n attack on his own style of leadership • Border clashes in 1969

18. China’s relations with the USA and the West • Mao’s victory led to much anxiety in the USA, and seemed at the time to shift the balance of power in the Cold War in the USSR’s favor • Bamboo Curtain • Mao’s victory was a key reason for the passing of a a vast new military budget to fun the struggle against the spread of Communism • Many in the USA initially saw the Communist victory as inevitable given the lack of support that listed for the Nationalists in China in 1949 • As the Cold War intensified and McCarthyism took hold in the USA • Saw Stalin as mastermind behind Mao’s CCP • USA failed to understand the different types of Communism or that there was increasing tension and hostility between Mao and Stalin • USA also refused to recognize the PRC as a legitimate state • Instead they backed Jiang Jieshi and the Chinese Nationalists who had fled at the end of the civil war to the island of Taiwan , the Americans ensured that Taiwan and not the PRC had China's seat at the UN • During the last 1960s China and the USA entered into a period of dialogue and rapprochement