THE CHINESE CIVIL WAR[1] 1927-1937; 1945-1949
SECTION A
THE BASIC STORY
The Civil War in China is usually understood as the war between the forces of the GMD and the CCP. It can be broken into two periods, or, like a film, Part 1 and Part 2.
The first part of the ‘civil war’ was the ten year struggle, known in mainland China as the "Ten Year's Civil War", between Chiang Kaishek, the leader of the GMD and Mao Tsetung, leader of the CCP.
This first ‘civil war’ began in 1926, when the two parties of the GMD and the CCP had agreed to work together as the United Front, in order to defeat the War Lords who had taken over the various provinces of China and restore a central government, started fighting each other.
The Communists had to go into hiding and the GMD became the Nationalist government of mainland China. The GMD pursued the CCP throughout its ten year rule, in addition to continuing their fight against many of the War lords who remained in power.
The GMD were on the side of the financiers and business interests of Shanghai and Nanjing (Nanking) as well as the big landowners of the countryside.
The CCP were the champions of the lesser peasantry, the urban working class as well as the poor.
The Comunists were forced into hiding in the Yenan.
This first ‘civil war’ lasted ten years, until the Xi'an Incident in 1936 (The Xian indicident took place in a city called Xia’n. It was when Chiang Kai-shek, the lmeader of the GMD, was kidnapped by his enemies, the Communists, whilst he was visiting Xian, who then set him free once he had promised to form with them the Second United Front to fight against a new common enemy, the invading Japanese.
The struggle against the Japanese lasted from 1937 to 1945. Once the Japanese were beaten, the GMD and CCP once again turned their attentions to fighting each other.
Despite the attempted peace negotiations between Kaishek and Mao, the truce fell apart on June 26th 1946 and a full scale war between CCP and GMD began a Civil War that lasted until 1949/50.
It began again because, it could be argued, “despite many achievements by the government in the areas it fully controlled, the social, and economic reforms which might have produced a more united China were not pursued.”
In the end, it finished with Communist victory. The Communists took power in China, set up a one party state and Mao-Tsetung became the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party.
The leader of the GMD, Chiang Kaishek fled to Taiwan with most of the Chinese gold reserves. There he set up an alternative Republican Government of China. Until 1970, it was Kaishek in Taiwan, and not Mao and the CCP in China, who was recognised as being the offical Chinese government by the USA and thus most of the rest of the non-communist world.
SECTION B
SOME FACTUAL MATERIAL TO REMEMBER
NOTES ON THE CIVIL WAR FROM Fairbank and Goldman, China a New History, and Jack Gray’s Rebellions and Revolutions. China from the 1800s to 2000.
1916-1927 was the warlord era.
1919: May 4th, the start of the May 4th movmeent. (decision at Versaille to leave former German concessions in Shandong in Japanese hands)
1945: August: Japan surrenders
1945: October: Chiang and Mao meet with US Ambassador Hurley in Chongqing. But the Nationalists were already working with the Japanese to fight the Communists.
1946: January: General Marshall tried to bring them together.
It is surprising that the Communists won when you consider that the GMD’s army was at least twice the size of the CCP’s in 1945 and was being supplied with US equipment. In addition they controlled all of China’s major cities and most of its territory.
The main reasons were strategic errors on the battelfields and what Fairbanks calls “incompetence behind the lines”.
He should have waged war from the Yangzi Valley in South China against the Comunists in the North.
CCP beat them into the North East.
GMD made mistakes in other aspects of their control:
Inflation was out of control.
Corrupt seizure of assets.
Alienated the people
Violent repression of peace movement.
The currecny reform of 1948 and the issuing of the gold yuan was the last straw. Prces rose 85,000 times in six months.
The CCPs land reforms began in January 1946 in the villages of North China.
As Fairbanks writes, the GMD were modernising and reactionary:
“the GMD walked on two legs which unfortunately went in opposite directions, one modernizing and one reactionary.”
SECTION C
SOME IB RELATED QUESTIONS
“May 4th 1919 is a more significant date in Chinese history than October 10th 1911.”
How far do you agree with this statement?
The events following October 10th 1911 saw the overthrow of the Qing (Ch’ing) and the
establishment of the Republic, which was followed by its betrayal by Yuan Shikai (Yuan Shih-kai).
There was a change of regime, but not a change in political culture. May 4th 1919 saw a new type
of political activism and gave its name to an intellectual, cultural and political movement,
which may be dated back to the founding of New Youth in 1915 and lasted into the early 1920s.
Politically, expect reference to student demonstrations, opposition to the Treaty of Versailles,
the impact of the Russian Revolution and Communist ideology, the creation of the Chinese
Communist Party and Sun’s reform of the Guomindang (Kuomintang). Intellectually, it included
the rejection of Confucianism, the debate between science and metaphysics, the vernacular
language movement and emergence of writers like Lu Hsun (Chou Shu-jen).
Credit candidates who argue for either date. Some may argue that the act of creating a republic may
not have had the immediate effects hoped, but that doing so lay the foundation for what was
to follow. Others may see the real change as stemming from the events of May 4th 1919 and the
intellectual and cultural renaissance it came to represent.
In what ways, and to what extent, was Yuan Shikai (Yuan Shih-k’ai) responsible for the rise
of warlordism in China in the early twentieth century?
You will need to define “warlordism” and to recognise that its roots may be traced to the
decline of the authority of the Qing (Ch’ing) central government and the rise of provincial leaders in
the second half of the nineteenth century. Yuan Shikai was himself a protégé of Li Hongzhang
(Li Hung-chang), who had remained governor-general of Chihli province for 25 years. Yuan’s actions
during 1911–1925 showed that he had no loyalty to either the Qing or the new Republic. Yuan failed
to become emperor, but his example undoubtedly encouraged other military commanders to use
their armies to establish control over whatever regions they could and then to expand if possible to
control all China.
“The role of Sun Yatsen (Sun Yat-sen) in the emergence of modern China has been greatly exaggerated.” To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Sun Yatsen (Sun Yat-sen) is remembered as the “father” of modern China, whose opposition to the Qing (Ch’ing) led to their overthrow in 1911. Sun’s uprising in Canton in 1895 failed and he spent most of the following years abroad, organizing opposition to the Qing (Ch’ing) and raising support for the revolutionary cause in Europe and the United States and amongst the Overseas Chinese in general. In 1905 he formed the Tongmenghui (Tung Meng Hui) in Tokyo, along with another revolutionary, Huang Xing (Huang Hsing) (1874–1916). In the following years several unsuccessful revolutionary incidents occurred in the South. In 1911 the situation was worsened by severe flooding in central China, economic depression, opposition to the proposed nationalisation of the railways and discontent within army units. The 1911 rising began when a planned insurrection was brought forward after the plot was discovered. Sun was abroad and did not return to China, instead raising support in the United States for the revolution which was supported by the provincial assemblies of southern and central China. Though Sun returned to China and accepted the presidency of the revolutionary government, he turned it over to Yuan Shikai (Yuan Shih-kai). Sun continued to play an active role until his death in 1924. Expect reference to his role in reorganizing the Guomindang (Kuomintang) and defining the Three Principles of the people.
To what extent was Sun Yixian (Sun Yat-Sen) responsible for bringing about the revolution of 1911 in China?
Analyse Sun Yixian’s (Sun Yat-Sen’s) role in fomenting rebellion, obtaining funds and devising a political programme, although the details were not fully worked out. His role needs to be seen in relation to other revolutionaries and the actual revolution placed in the context of the situation in, and events of, 1911. The revolution itself took place without Sun and was not of his planning, but his impact on the events before and after was significant.
Compare and contrast the aims and policies of the Communists and the Nationalists in China during the First United Front established in 1924.
Most people would probably conclude that each party had its own agenda but a common immediate purpose; the defeat of the warlords and the establishment of a unified government for China. However, they differed as to the ultimate form of that government. Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai Shek) used the Communists’ support among the peasantry and workers to gain popular support for the military drive to the north. The Communists used the opportunities created by the northern advance to spread their ideology among the people. With the capture of Shanghai, Jiang Jieshi (Chiang hai shele) and the Nationalists gained access to the wealth and influence of the powerful commercial classes and turned on the Communists. The Communists, on the other hand, had also their agenda of social revolution in both town and country. The Nationalists struck first, but expect candidates to recognise that the programmes of the two parties were basically incompatible. You might also wish to point out the role of Stalin and the Comintern in support of the United Front, even after the events in Shanghai in 1927, and the role of factional leaders in both parties.
Compare and contrast the attitudes of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the
Guomindang (Kuomintang) to the First United Front (1924–1927).
The United Front was formed to defeat the warlords of central and northern China with the
Communists supporting the Northern Expedition led by Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-shek)
against their common enemies. The Communists operated largely among the peasantry and
the urban working classes, preparing the way for the advancing armies. Both parties looked
forward to a time when they would dominate China, but Jiang (Chiang), with the support of
the business and financial elites, struck first with the “White Terror” against the Communists
in Shanghai. The Nationalist government established in Nanjing (Nanking) in 1928 began a
long struggle to eliminate the Communist Party as a political force in China.
In what ways, and for what reasons, was the period 1928 to 1937 a turning point in Chinese history?
These years saw the Guomindang (Kuomintang) Party in power as the Nationalist Government of China after the break-up of the United Front with the Communists. 1937 marks the beginning of war with the Japanese. In 1928 there was the possibility of a united China under a single government, but many of the warlords remained in power after swearing allegiance to the new regime. The conflict with the Communists diverted the Government’s attention from the Japanese and, dependant on the financiers and business interests of Shanghai and Nanjing (Nanking) and on landowners in the countryside for support, it largely ignored the problems of the peasantry and the urban working class and poor. Although the Communists were driven to Yan’an (Yenan), they were not eliminated and forced upon Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-shek) the Second United Front in 1936. Despite many achievements by the government in the areas it fully controlled, the social, and economic reforms which might have produced a more united China were not pursued. Despite the pressures upon China it is possible to argue that the decade was one of missed opportunities for the Guomindang (Kuomintang), though some candidates may trace a more positive story through the survival of the Communist Party. Whichever line is taken, candidates will probably agree with the question.
Why were the Communists able to defeat the Nationalists in China in 1949?
Mention the improved military position of the Communists after the war with
Japan and their occupation of Manchuria; their ideological appeal based on their relatively
moderate policies in the areas they controlled; their military strength and experience; their freedom
from corruption; and their effective propaganda and the favourable impression they had made upon
western journalists and observers. The Nationalists had suffered severe defeats in resisting the early
Japanese invasion; had become demoralised and on their reoccupation of eastern China failed to
produce the social, economic and political reforms which may have won support. Unwise military
strategy, low morale, war weariness and corruption undermined support within China and dissuaded
the United States from effective intervention.
Why did the Communists win the Civil War in China between 1945 and 1949?
You will need to analyse Communist strengths and Nationalist failings and weaknesses during the period. Communist victory was not certain in 1945 and was aided by Nationalist mistakes in strategy, policy and behaviour in a situation that would have tested any government and tended to undermine its support while strengthening that of an ably led Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In the end, the Nationalists were weakened by corruption, weak government, poor military strategy and failure to retain respect and support, while the Communists possessed an able and confident leadership and offered policies attractive to the bulk of the population, undermining the morale of nationalist forces.
SECTION D
TOWARDS THE IDEAL ESSAY
Analyse the causes (and the effects) of the Chinese Civil War (1927-1949).
Those who support the Taiwanese perspective of the R.O.C. might most likely blame Mao and the Communists. Whilst those who support the views of mainland China will most likely blame Kaishek for the Civil War.
It was Chiang Kaishek who appears to have been the trigger for this Civil War, soon after becoming leader of the GMD on the death of Sun Yatsen in 1925. He certainly dealt the first blow in the Civil War on April 12th 1927 during what the Communists call the April 12th Incident or the Shanghai Massacre, in which Kaishek turned on the Communists during their Northern Expedition against the War Lords and begun what has come to be known as the ‘White Terror’. This is often said to led to a counter-reaction on the part of the Communists. Often referred to as the Autumn Harvest Uprising, it was an armed insurrection held by peasants and miners and communists led by Mao in the Hunan province.