Covers Unit 2 of the AQA A-level History Course (The Transformation of China )
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, SECTION 2: Communist Victory & the consolidation of
Mao’s rule (1946-1952)
Chinese Civil War, 1945-1949
The breakdown of the Nationalist/Communist United Front:
The division of China at the end of WW2:
- End of the war China = divided country
- GMD government = claimed to be the government of the whole of China – actually only controlled
a fraction of the country’s territory
- Main territorial divisions at the end of the war:
o Japan still occupied the north and much of the centre of Chine, much of the coastline & big
cities were still waiting for surrender
o GMD controlled large areas of southern & western China from their capital – Chongqing
o CCP controlled countryside in northern & north-eastern China from their base in Yenan
o USSR – Red Army had moved into Manchuria on 8th August 1945
- At the time of the Japanese surrender GMD & CCP were both trying to get as much land as
possible
- GMD = advantage = the recognised & legitimate Chinese government by foreign powers &
therefore was given the right to take the surrender of the Japanese forces still in China
o Where the GMD was still weak they took control of the Japanese forces & used them to
launch operations against the CCP
o US aircraft transported 500,000 nationalist troops to do this
o But it meant moving into areas of communist control
- The CCP started to move into Manchuria (had a border with USSR & was rich in coal & mineral
deposits & one of the most industrialised parts of China)
- There were clashes between the GMD & CCP throughout China
Attempts to avoid a civil war:
- Both the USA & USSR didn’t want a civil war in China so quickly after WW2
- USSR made sure that Mao agreed to meet with Chiang for peace talks
- USA made Chiang agree to meet with Mao for peace talks
- For propaganda on both sides = essential that it seemed like they were trying to avoid a civil war
- 28th August 1945 = peace talks in Chongqing
- Whilst the talks took place there was still fighting in some parts of the country
- By October 1945 both sides agreed to:
o A democratic political system – with free elections & guarantees of personal freedom
o Release of political prisoners
o Unified military force
o Elections for national assembly
, - Agreement = relatively easy to achieve
- Difficult to agree as to who should control the military forces and local governments in areas under
CCP control
- Mao = didn’t want to lose communist control
- Chiang = determined to extend GMD control over the whole country
THEREFORE…
- Almost immediately after the agreement was signed – fighting got worse as Chiang’s forces invaded
Manchuria
- CCP troops couldn’t match the GMD in open warfare
- CCP = weakened Stalin made them give up cities in Manchuria to the GMD (due to the Treaty of
Friendship)
- BUT… Stalin gave huge amounts of weapons and ammunition to the CCP in Manchuria which the
Red Army had taken from the Japanese
- Stalin also delayed the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Manchuria until April 1946 to give the CCP
time to establish a strong presence in the countryside
- Stalin enabled the CCP to keep fighting but wasn’t giving it enough to enable it to win – in his
opinion.
USSR’s policy towards China:
- 14th August 1945 Stalin signed the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship with the
GMD government. to protect the USSR from Japan & to gain control of
Manchuria – signed by Molotov
- Mao regarded this as an act of betrayal from Stalin
- Stalin had no faith in the abilities of the CCP to defeat the GMD and he
didn’t want to be drawn into a civil war.
- Stalin also wanted fighting to continue in China as it meant it would remain
weak and prone to foreign intervention – which Stalin could potentially
exploit
The Marshall Mission:
- December 1945 – Truman sent General George Marshall to China to mediate between the 2 sides
- Marshall persuaded them to agree to a ceasefire in January 1946 & pressurised Chiang into calling a
political conference to discuss China’s future
o The conference had representatives from all of China’s main political parties
o They reached an outline agreement of a constitution
o Agreement fell apart as soon as it was signed
o Chiang tried to change it to allow him to create an autocratic form of government with him
at the head = the CCP & other parties withdrew their cooperation
- GMD drafted a new constitution without other parties
- Spring of 1946 fighting had spread from Manchuria to northern and central China
- Key battle over Harbin developed = the last city in Manchuria under CCP control
o June 1946 forced Chiang to sign a ceasefire again = with the threat of the withholding of
American aid
, o Only lasted 15 days but it gave the CCP respite from the GMD attacks
o CCP forces = time to regroup Chiang views the ceasefire as a ‘most grievous mistake’
- Mutual mistrust
- CCP thought that the GMD wouldn’t honour its promise and allow them to keep the liberated areas
they now held
- GMD thought that the CCP, whilst in public recognised Chiang as the legitimate ruler of China, they
were not genuinely willing to cooperate with him & were planning to overthrow him.
January 7th, 1947 – Statement by General Marshall to President Truman regarding the state in China:
“Greatest obstacle to peace has been the complete, almost overwhelming suspicion with which the
CCP and the GMD regard each other”
GMD = “strongly opposed to a communistic form of government” / “interested in the preservation of
their own feudal control over China”
CCP = “frankly state that they are Marxists and intend to work towards establishing a communistic form
of government in China” / “by their unwillingness to compromise in the national interest” they are
“evidently counting on an economic collapse to bring about the fall of the government, accelerated by
extensive guerrilla action” / “completely distrust the leaders of the GMD”
American Policy towards China:
- USA wanted to be the dominant power in East Asia & the Pacific after WW2 alliance with the
GMD = part of this strategy
- Working with Chiang = many American diplomats and military commanders = highly critical of his
style of leadership
- Even some American diplomats who looked more favourably on Mao & the CCP
- USA didn’t want China to be in civil war after the end of the war against Japan – it might allow the
USSR to exploit the situation
- Led the Americans to try to mediate between the 2 sides in 1945-46
- They also didn’t want to see a CCP victory (communist expansion)
- So, they supplied the GMD with military aid given on the condition that Chiang would introduce
democratic political reform & when he failed to do this = the aid stopped between September 1946
& July 1947
- American policy in China = inconsistent
Outbreak of civil war:
- Civil war = had no official starting date (August 1945)
- The continuation of hostilities which started in 1927? But briefly interrupted by the United Front
from 1937 - 1945
- Fighting began as soon as the Japanese had surrendered in August 1945
- December 1945 = fighting became more serious
- July 1946 – all hope of peace = gone & China = in complete civil war
Mao speaking at Beijing University in 1957: Saying why he ignored Stalin’s suggestion of a partition of
China between the CCP and the GMD.
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