The Wars of China

The Renewal of the Communist Parry

There were a series of disasters which had overwhelmed the CCP in 1927.
These events forced a re-evaluation of the Party's strategy.
At the 6th Party Congress, (Moscow, June 1928), Li Lisan took over as secretary-general.
He took over from Qu Qiubai, who was condemned for his leftist opportunist deviation.
The Party agreed to concentrate its efforts on the countryside.
When Li Lisan returned to China he acknowledged the importance of rural bases
These rural bases had been established by Mao Zedong and others.
His commitment remained in the cities and to the industrial proletariat.
His authority was weakened by the presence of the 28 Bolsheviks.
This was a group of Moscow-trained Chinese Communists.
They considered it their task to rebuild and redirect the Party.

In 1930 Li Lisan embarked on another attempt at armed uprising.
There were reasons for this:
a) the weakness of his position.
b) he believed that it was the right time because of two distractions.
1) there was the world economic depression.
2) the Guomindang was at war with the warlords Feng Yuxiang and Yan Xishan.
The plan was to foment strikes and demonstrations in Changsha, Wehan, and Nanchang.
Then it would be time for the newly formed Red Army to capture those three cities.
The coup was launched in the summer of 1930.
The greatest success was achieved at Changsha which was held for ten days.
Three problems:
a) the Red Army was inadequate for the task.
b) the popular response was half-hearted.
c) the support of some rural-based leaders, notably Mao Zedong, was withheld.
The result was a disaster.
In the next year Pavel Mif, the new Comitern representative, arrived in China.
Under his direction Li Lisan. was condemned for blind opportunism.
The 28 Bolsheviks took over the leadership of the Party.
After the failure of theAutumn Harvest Uprising, Mao Zedong had retreated to the mountain.
The mountain ranges were on the borders of Hunan and Jianxi known as the Jinggangshan.
It is here that he joined up with two bandit chiefs.
In April 1928 Zhu De brought in the survivors of the attack on Nanchang.
Later Peng Dehuai, a future minister of defence, arrived with a group from Hunan.
These forces, the nucleus of the Red Army, were soon called into action.
This was to repel Guomindang attacks.
Mao had concluded the Jinggangshan area was too small and too rugged to be a suitable base.
In January 1929, he moved east to Ruijin in southern Jiangxi for his base of operations.
The Ruijin area became the most important of several Communist bases.
For Mao, possession of a rural base was an essential part of his revolutionary strategy.
At the Ruijin base, he began to put into practice three key policies:
A) to make the Red Army a disciplined and politicized force.
Already at Jinggangshan Mao had enunciated the basic principles of guerrilla warfare.
"The advances, we retreat; the army camps, we harass, the enemy tires, we attack, the enemy retreats, we pursue."
He had required every soldier to know the Three Rules:
a) to obey orders.
b) to take nothing from the peasants.
c) to pool all captured goods.
But the Red Army soldiers lacked discipline.
They didn't understand the aims of the revolution.
They didn't understand the role that the army was expected to play.
In the future, political officers were appointed to
1) help the army mobilize the masses
2) set up new regimes.
At least one in three soldiers had to be a Party member.
The army was intended to be democratic.
The soldiers wore no badges of rank.
All received the same pay and all shared in the discussion of any proposed action.
B) they had to confiscate the land from the landlords and redistribute it to the poor peasants.
This policy had only been adapted by the CCP at its fifth Congress in April 1927.
This was on the eve of the split with the Guomindang.
There was no agreed line on whether land should also be confiscated from rich peasants.
These were peasants who owned more land than they could farm with their own labour.
At Ruijin, Mao introduced a moderate policy.
This allowed rich peasants to retain their land.
Villages were encouraged to revolutionary committees.
These committees first classified the inhabitants of the village as
a) landlord,
b) rich peasant,
c) middle peasant,
d) poor peasant.
After that they would apply the agreed distribution of land.
C) to put in social reforms and to change the position of women in Chinese society.
At the time of the May Fourth Movement, Mao Zedong had criticized arranged marriages.
During his research of the peasant movement in Hunan, he had drawn conclusions.
He had approved the formation of women's associations.
This challenged the authority of the husbands.
In 1930, he carried out a study of Xunwu in south-east Jiangxi.
This was tp provide himself with recent and detailed information on a rural community.
He studied the effect of permitting freedom of marriage and divorce.
He said that male peasants opposed the emancipation of women for one reason only.
Because they were uncertain of the outcome of land reform.
Ma's position in the Jiangxi soviet was unchallenged untli 1931
This was when members of the Central Committee abandoned their undercover existence.
This was in Shanghai and they moved to Ruijin.
Later that year the Chinese Soviet Republic was established at Ruijin.
Mao Zedong was its first president.
But his authority and policies were now being challenged by the 28 Bolsheviks.
The Soviet Republic immediately passed a radical land law.
This provided for the confiscation of the land of the landlords and also the land for rich peasants.
It also approved a marriage law.
This law defined marriage as a "free institution between a man and a woman."
Both men and women could apply for a divorce.
divorced women were given some economic protection.
What followed was a spate of divorce petitions.
The survival of the rural soviets was threatened by developments for within & without.
In Dec. 1930, the Nationalist Army made its first determined attack on the Communist bases.
This was on the on in southern Jiangxi but they were forced to withdraw.
.The attack coincided with the Futian Incident.
This involved the alleged infiltration of the Jiangxi action committee.
It was allegedly infiltrated by the pro-Guomingdang Anti-Bolsheviks League.
what followed was
a) a mutiny in a Red Army unit
b) a purge by Mao Zedong of his suspected opponents.
in July 1931 Jiang Jieshi took personal command of the Nationalist forces
he moved in on the Communist bases, which now numbered 300,000 men,
he was making good progress when the campaign was called off
this was because of the Japanese occupation of Manchuria
two things encouraged the 28 Bolsheviks to denounce Mao’s tactics
a) the respite from the Japanese in Manchuria
b) the idea the world depression would lead to a world revolutionary upsurge,
they said Mao’s tactics of guerrilla warfare were too cautious, not aggressive enough.
Mao lost his place on the Party's Military Council
their strategy promoted by Zhou Enlai of positional warfare and capturing cities was adopted.
in the Jiangxi central base the CCP had begun to apply its revolutionary land policy.
many landlords were dispossessed and others were killed
it became apparent that some landlords & rich peasants hid the extent of their landholdings.
in June 1933 a Land Investigation movement was launched,
it was at first launched with Mao Zedong's support
it was to identify cases of evasion
later Zhang Wentian, one of the Twenty-eight Bolsheviks, took charge
the investigation became increasingly oppressive.
in November 1933 the Guomindang Nineteenth Route Army, in Fujian province, mutinied
they did this as protest against Jiang Jieshi's failure to oppose Japanese encroachment
Zhou Enlai was in favour of assisting the rebels but Mao Zedong counselled caution
as the Communists leadership was arguing, Jiang Jieshi stepped in and crushed the mutiny
a great opportunity for the Communists was lost.
in October 1933 Jiang Jieshi commenced his fifth encirclement campaign
this comprised both a major military offensive and a comprehensive political campaign.
the Nationalist Army, now numbered over 750,000 men in the field,
it was supported by German advisers and equipped with heavy guns and aeroplanes.
there was a method to counter the Communist tactic of mobile warfare
they had ringed the Jianxi central base with 15,000 blockhouses.
on the political front the Guomindang attempted to match the CCP propaganda
it did this by requiring
a) the officers in its armies to wear the same uniform
b) eat the same food as their men.
the population of the areas near the Communist bases was required to support the blockade
this was the blockade of all essential supplies.
it was at Nanchang in 1934, that Jiang Jieshi laun
ched a the New Life Movement,
this was when he was planning his Fifth extermination campaign
this was in part a response to the threat of Communism.

the CCP's idea to leave the Jianxi base & set out on the Long March was taken in May 1934,
but the departure was delayed until October
the main reason for going was the deteriorating military situation
the application of the Land Investigation movement had lost the Party much popular support.
about 86,000 people set out from the Jiangxi base
some 20,000 sick and injured people and a force of 30,000 soldiers remained behind.
after breaking through the Guomindang blockade the Red Army marched due west’
it crossed into Hunan and then Guangxi
the first major engagement was the crossing of the Xiang river north-east of Guilin
this is where the Red Army lost about half of its strength.

in January 1935 the Communists captured Zunyi in northern Guizhou
it was there that an important conference took place
the main issue was the military failure which resulted in the abandonment of the Jiangxi base.
the policies pursued by the Politburo and by the military leadership, were criticized
the military leadership included Otto Braun, the Comitern military adviser
those advocated by Mao Zedong were endorsed.
Mao did not become Party leader at this point, but his rise to power had begun.
the marchers left Zunyi
they intended to join up with Zhang Guotao's Fourth Front Army,
The Fourth Front Army had moved from its original base in Anhui to Sichuan.
various final destinations were under discussion
Mao Zedong proposed moving north to oppose the Japanese.

first the upper waters of the Yangzi river had to be crossed
this meant they had to march far to the west to shake off the Nationalists,
they would finally have to cross the Jinsha or Golden Sands River
the marchers then turned north through areas inhabited by hostile minority groups.
then came the most celebrated incident of the march, the crossing of the Dadu river
this was by the Luding Bridge
it was an ancient chain suspension bridge guarded by the Guomindang machine-gun post.

the next obstacle was the Great Snowy Mountain
this is where hundreds of men died of exposure
in June the two main branches of the Red Army met at Mao'ergai in north Sichuan.
on the surface, the reunion between Mao Zedong and Zhang Guotao was cordial
but past differences and political rivalries soon appeared and,
Zhang Guotao chose to move west to Xizxang
Mao Zedong continued northwards through Gansu
this is where he came up to one final challenge - the vast swamp of the Great Grasslands.
in October 1935, Mao Zedong and the First Front Army reached the north Shaanxi rural base.
the Long March had extended over 5000 miles
less than 20,000 of those who had set out arrived at its final destination.
the result of the march made the Communist operations transfer from the south to the north.

The Sino-Japanese War: 1937-45

after having occupied Manchuria in 1931, Japan continued to encroach on north China]
in the following year China and Japan fought an undeclared war in Shanghai
the Chinese Soviet Republic in Jiangxi declared war on Japan
but Jiang Jieshi, recognizing the weakness of his position,
so he refused to allow China to be drawn into hostilities
he declared that the Japanese were a disease of the skin,
he then declared that the Communists were a disease of the heart.
by 1936 Hebei and Inner Mongolia had established autonomous governments
this was done under Japanese protection.

protests against Jiang Jieshi's policy came from various quarters
they were particularly loud on university campuses
the Guomindang treated student political movements with suspicion
he thought that the t student agitation must be fomented by the Communists.
the student movement of December 9th 1935 challenged this view.
it began when Beiping Police tried to suppress a student protest against the Japanese
the Japanese had plans to turn areas of north China into autonomous regions
the student protest then spread to many other cities.
pressure on Jiang Jieshi to change his mind came from the National Salvation Association,
this had been founded by the journalist Zou Taofen.
among supporters of the association was Zhang Xueliang
he was the `Young Marshal' of Manchuria
his father had been killed by the Guomindang Army in 1928.

Zhang Xueling

Zhang had moved his forces into north China
he had reluctantly taken on the task of suppressing the Communists in Shaanxi
in December 1936, Jiang Jieshi flew to Xi'an
he went there to encourage Zhang to campaign more vigorously
but the Young Marshal took him prisoner and detained him
he held him until
a) Jiang Jieshi had agreed to end the civil war against the communists
b) lead the resistance to Japan.

early in 1937 the Guomindang and the CCP negotiated a second united front.
the Communists agreed to abandon armed insurrection
they also agreed to cease confiscating the landlords' land
in return the Guomindang undertook
a) to end the attacks on Communist bases,
b) release political prisoners
c) prepare to resist Japan.
0n July 7th 1937, an incident at Lugouqiao (Marco Polo Bridge) led to the war
the first phase of the war (until October 1938) was marked by
a) a rapid Japanese invasion
b) some heroic Chinese opposition.

in North China, Japanese troops advanced along the main railway lines
there Chinese forces fell back in disorder
but in Shanghai, Chinese resistance was better organized and more determined
Chinese ground forces surrounded the Japanese settlement
in a tragic error Chinese aeroplanes bombed the International Settlement
the battle for Shanghai continued for four months
this was until Japanese troops landed on the coast to the south of the city
there they forced the Chinese forces to fall back on Nanjing
Jiang Jieshi had ordered that the capital should be defended to the last man
but his orders were ignored

on December 12th Japanese troops entered the city
they perpetrated the atrocities known as the `Rape of Nanjing.’
the Nationalist government transferred the capital to Chongqing,
Chinese troops continued to fight and in April 1938 obtained a significant victory
this was when forces ,under Li Zongren, defeated a large Japanese force at Tai’erzhuang
in June, there was an attempt to delay the Japanese advance on Wuhan
Jiang Jieshi ordered the Yellow River defences near Kaifeng to be breached.
in October, however, Wuhan fell and in the same month Guangzhou was occupied.
in December 1937 Japan offered Jiang Jieshi peace terms, but he refused them
he refused because they required recognition of Manzhouguo
this was the puppet regime which established in Manchuria under the last Chinese emperor.
as Japan could not force Jiang to surrender,
there was an alternative solution
this was to establish puppet regimes in parts of China now under Japanese control.

in December 1938, Wang Jingwei defected from the Nationalist side
he was the leader of the left-wing of the Guomindang
he offered himself as leader of a collaborationist regime with its capital at Nanjing
this regime was to last throughout the war, although Wang himself died in 1944.
it claimed o be an independent gov’t exercising authority over central and south-east China
it maintained diplomatic relations with Japan and Germany
it had its own armed forces and the trappings of a government,
its dependence on Japan was never in doubt.
the Nationalist gov’t claimed to govern an area containing nearly half the population of China,
in truth its political authority was weak
it had lost control over the lower Yangzi provinces, its main political base
now it had to rely on local power-holders, for example Long Yun in Yunnan
this weakness was not immediately apparent
at the start of the war the Guomindang & Jiang Jieshi had national and international support.
before the move to Chongqing, Jiang Jieshi was given a title
this was that of director-general of the Guomindang
he was also chairman of the Military Affairs Commission
to broaden the basis of the Guomindang's support, a People's Political Council was formed
it included representatives of minor parties and even Communists.
the Three People's Principles Youth Corps was created
this was to mobilize the nation's youth and revitalize the Guomindang
Jiang Jieshi did not understand this form of modern pluralistic politics
independent members of the People's Political Council had criticized the government,
in 1942, the Guomindang was given the majority of seats on the council
the council was really of no importance after that.

relations with intellectuals and students also soured
when Japan invaded China, universities migrated to areas outside Japanese control
staff and students, from Beijing National University, Qinghua, and Nankai University left.
Also this from Tianjin
they made their way to Kunming in Yunnan
here they formed the National South-West Associated University.
but the university's liberal values were not acceptable to the Guomindang
the Three People's Principles Youth Corps had secret groups on the campus
they spied on the staff and students
before the end of the war the political strains within the Guomindang were evident
at the Guomindang's 6th Party Congress, the gov’t was described as corrupt and inefficient
Jiang Jieshi was accused of having become increasingly dictatorial.

War Economy

as a war of resistance, the Nationalist gov’t had to establish a war economy
this was within the Free Zone, as the area under its control was called
this was a demanding task, as much of the region was economically backward
at the beginning of the war they tried to shifted industrial plant and skilled workers
they would be shifted from areas threatened by the Japanese invasion to the Free Zone
the government established a National Resources Commission
this took control of heavy and technical industry
between 1939 and 1943,
a) industrial output grew rapidly,
b) coal output doubled,
c) over 1000 miles of rail track were built,
d) electricity production increased seven-fold,

after the closing of the Burma Road in 1942 petroleum supplies were stopped
this was the amount that could be brought by air
but ingenious attempts were made to produce liquid fuels from alternative sources
the industrial growth began from a very small base
the industrial output was insufficient to satisfy demand
the rate of growth declined sharply after 1943,
this was when the Free Zone began to experience an industrial crisis.

the industrial crisis was a symptom of a deeper economic malaise
this manifested itself in inflation
during the Nanjing decade the government had been unable to balance its budget
it had borrowed heavily
with the move to Chongqing it had lost its main sources of revenue
it now incurred heavy wartime expenditure.
it tried to recover control of the land tax from the provincial authorities
in order to secure food supplies for its troops, it began to collect taxes in grain
these measures did not solve the particular problem of inadequate revenue.

between 1942 and 1945 inflation rose over 230% annually.
official salaries declined sharply and this encouraged corruption.
because of the shortage of commodities, especially petrol, a black market grew up.
the vast majority of the population of the Free Zone were peasants.
to fight a war of resistance effectively their co-operation was essential
but the policies which the Guomindang pursued alienated peasant support
inflation generally benefits primary producers
gov’t regulations required the selling at fixed prices and be transported to collecting stations
this resulted in poor peasants incurring costs which were more than double their tax burden.
the gap in incomes between rich and poor in the countryside widened
landlord-tenant conflicts reached epidemic proportions
the consequences of heavy extractions to feed the troops resulted in the Henan famine
this was in 1942-3, which left 5 million people starving, many to death
peasants also bore the main burden of conscription,
this applied to all males between 18 and 45, but fell most heavily on poor families.

after a year the main Nationalist forces withdrew to the Free Zone to regroup and retrain.
thereafter the Nationalist armies remained largely on the defensive
the fighting between Nationalists and Japanese never stopped
between 1939 and 1941, Chongqing & other cities held by the Nationalists were bombed
the only land link with the outside world available to the Nationalists was the Burma Road
it had been built at immense human cost in 1938
it was to close in 1942 after the Japanese invasion of Burma.

at the start of the war the Nationalists and the Communists had reached an agreement
this was about the zone in which the Red Army was to be allowed to operate.
adding to its forces in the north, renamed the Eight Route Army, the CCP raised a new army
this was the New Fourth Army in Jiangxi
in October 1940 Nationalists commanders ordered the new Fourth Army to move north.
its failure to comply fully led to fighting between the Nationalist and the Communist forces
this eventually ended the united front.
the Japanese invasion of China was condemned by the United States
from December 1938 American aid began to reach the Nationalist side.
after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Dec. 1941,the two countries became allies.

General Joseph Stillwell

General Joseph W. Stilwell (`Vinegar Joe’) was sent to Chongqing
he had the job of encouraging Jiang Jieshi to go on the offensive against Japan
but Jiang Jieshi refused to commit his troops to support the British in Burma
this would have kept the Burma Road open.
nor would he agree to Stilwell's suggestions
Stillwell tried to advise Jiang how to make the Nationalist army more effective
The Nationalist army had 3,800,000 men

Operation Ichigo

in April 1944, d, Japan launched Operation Ichigo.
the short-term objective was
a) to disable the best National armies
b) to deny the United States the use of Chinese airfields
the long-term strategy was to establish a land supply route across China to Hanoi
although Japan might lose the war with the USA, she could not be evicted from China
that was the main goal of establishing a land supply
the operation resulted in a major Japanese victory,
this showed the corruption and the inefficiency of the Nationalist government
it left the Nationalist forces weaker than at any other time during the war.

The CCP during the Sino-Japanese War

at the end of the Long March Mao Zedong had established his headquarters at Yan’an
there, under his leadership, the CCP was to develop political, social, and economic policies
these policies were to transform the Party and gain it mass support
at Yan'an, Mao Zedong consolidated his position as Party leader
his two main rivals were Zhang Guotao, and Wang Ming, Zhang Guotao, losing much of the New Fourth Army, finally reached Shaanxi in late 1936. his disagreements with Mao were patched up.
He defected to the Nationalists in April 1938.
Wang Ming's position rested on the support he received from the Comintern
at first his political influence outweighed that of Mao Zedong.
but he held no military command
he had no experience of conducting a rural revolution
after the outbreak of war he lost his influence.

Mao ZedongMao Zedong also strengthened his position

he did this by laying claim to the ideological leadership of the Party
in 1938-40 he wrote three key works:
a) ”On the New Stage,"
b) ”The Chinese Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party,"
c) ”On New Democracy."

in the first he called for the "sinification of Marxism",
he argued that if Marxism had to be imbued with Chinese peculiarities,
he said "We must put an end to writing eight-legged essays on foreign models."
in the second, he reviewed Chinese history, emphasizing the key role of peasant revolts,
he also pointed out that earlier peasant revolts had failed for one reason
because they had not been led by the proletariat and the Communist Party.
in "On New Democracy" he repeated Lenin's well-known view
this was that in colonial societies revolution would be accomplished in two stages:
the first of which would be bourgeois-democratic the second socialist.
the "New Democracy' was the term Mao Zedong used to denote the point
he identified it with the May Fourth Movement
this was when the revolution began to be led, not by the bourgeoisie alone
it was to be by a joint revolutionary-democratic dictatorship of several revolutionary classes.
after the Communist victory, there would be a place for the bourgeoisie
at least that part of it which had not allied with feudalism or imperialism, in the new state.

Rectification Campaign

during the Sino-Japanese war the CCP underwent a drastic reorganization
at the start, as refugees flocked to Yan'an, the membership of the Party had soared
it rose to 800,000.
many of the new members knew little of Marxism and did not accept Party discipline.
in Feb. 1942, after setbacks and disagreements, Mao launched a rectification campaign.
cadres (trained leaders) were required to attend a Party school,
Mao gave lectures at the “Party school
he identified the main errors that threatened the Party,
by now he included 'subjectivism', as a threat
by this he meant the claim to superiority of cadres
these were the ones that had theoretical knowledge but no down-to-earth experience.
in another lecture he argued that art and literature must serve the masses.
the rectification campaign did not amount to a purge,
but a number of intellectuals were forced to make a self-criticism
all cadres were expected to study Mao's writings
they all had to strive to improve the quality of their work.

Yan’an was the capital of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia (Shaan-Gan-Ning) Border Region
by 1944 the Communists claimed to control four `border regions.',
these stretched across much of China north of the Yellow River
there were also about a dozen other `liberated areas',
most of which were in central China
in the border regions representative governments were established.
all men and women over the age of 16 could vote and the `three-thirds' system was adopted,
this meant that the Communists restricted themselves to one-third of all elected position
the rest was shared between two groups:
a) the `progressive (petty bourgeois)
b) the middle of the road (middle bourgeois or enlightened gentry) candidates.

like the Guomindang, the CCP had to develop a self-sufficient war-time economy
Shaanxi was a very poor area which had suffered badly in the 1928-33 famine
this was when many peasants had been forced to sell their land.
the local soviet had begun to confiscate and redistribute landlords' land.
this was before the Long Marchers had arrived.
under the united front agreement, the CCP had agreed to stop confiscations
throughout the war it maintained that policy
they made an exception for the landlords who collaborated with the Japanese.
from 1942 it promoted a Rent and Interest Reduction campaign
a rent ceiling of 37.5% of the crop - - was enforced strictly.
the figure was endorsed but never applied by the Guomindang
A programme of land registration was introduced and security of tenure was improved
these measures threatened the privileged position of landlords and rich peasants.
the border region government was desperate for tax revenue
by 1941 the tax burden was heavy, although it had eased by 1943.
in that year a campaign was launched to develop a more production economy
this was organized on co-operative principles
at the same time attempts were made to increase industrial production
this was done using primitive technology and surplus labour.

at Yan'an, important experiments were made in the delivery of mass education.
many primary schools were minban schools,
these were schools paid for and run by the people, who hired the teacher
they also suggested the curriculum.
-their priority was for the pupils to become literate
but literacy was closely connected with the needs of the world of work
so the schools closed at harvest time.
in secondary schools, courses were reduced from 6 to 3 years,
the curriculum was simplified
all students did at least 20 days of productive labour a year.
in 1941 Yan'an University was founded,
here too study was combined with productive labour
emphasis was placed on political study.

while these policies were being pursued the Communists were also fighting a war.
in 1937 the Eight Route and the New Fourth armies had 92,000 men
these troops did engage the Japanese forces at the time of the invasion
but for the next two years they restricted themselves to guerrilla tactics, l
this left the Nationalist armies to take the brunt of the Japanese attack.
faced with an elusive enemy, the Japanese instituted a `cage policy',
they sealed off the Communist areas within a cage of blockhouses and trenches
in 1940 the Communist forces were now numbering 500,000 men,
it was then that launched the Hundred Regiments' campaign,
they broke out of the cage and inflicted heavy losses on the Japanese
the Japanese response was to counterattack
they were also to carry out reprisals against civilians who helped the Communists
as a consequence, the population of the areas under Communist control fell sharply
the strength of the Eight Route Army declined from 400,000 to 300,000 men.

the Communist change of tactics turned out to be a disaster
thereafter the Communist forces reverted to guerrilla activity and small-scale attacks,
their attacks were often on the forces of the puppet regimes rather than on Japanese army.
the balance of power between them shifted during the Sino-Japanese War
this was because the Japanese invasion and the Operation Ichigo had a damaging effectt
this damaged the Nationalists' military capacity.
another reason was that Jiang Jieshi's government earned a bad reputation f
it was undemocratic, corrupt, and inefficient
the Communists at Yan'an took made great efforts to project a contrasting image.
this image was manipulated by the Communists who were no democrats.
in 1942 the rectification movement at Yan'an focused on literature and art
its target was intellectual freedom.
one of the victims of the rectification movement was Ding Ling
she was China’s foremost woman writer
in a story entitled, "When I was in Xia Village" she had criticized male Communist cadres
they were criticized or having double standards on sexual morality.
for this she lost her post of literary editor of the Yan'an newspaper Liberation Daily
she was sent to work in the countryside for two years.
the consequence of the increased scepticism of the United States towards Jiang Jieshi
they could not longer see him as a reliable ally.as a reliable ally.
it may be that it was a combination of factors which gave the Communists their success.

the war saved them from extinction at the hands of the Nationalists.
at Yan'an, the Communist leaders emphasized the Party's role in leading resistance to Japan.
the Yan'an Way policies were not new,
they had been pioneered in the Jiangxi period
the Communists had learned from their mistakes
in the border regions they had the security
they also had the time to implement a modified version of these policies consistently.

Civil War & the Communist Victory

the bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki by the USA brought the war to an abrupt end
it left the Nationalists and the Communists jostling for advantages.
under the Yalta agreement of Feb.1945, Japan were to surrender only to the Nationalists
the Communists also occupied territory held by the Japanese and seized Japanese weapons.
right after the bombing of Hiroshima the Soviet Union finally declared war on Japan
they then proceeded to occupy Manchuria.
by the time they arrived the Communists had already planted themselves in the country-side.

in December 1945 General George C. Marshall took up his post as ambassador to China
in January 1946 he persuaded the Nationalists and Communists to agree to a cease-fire
this is what happen after:
a) a Political Consultative Conference was convened
b) a range of political and military issues were decided
c) Jiang Jieshi announced that one-quarter of the Nationalist army would be demobilized.
but neither Nationalists nor Communists were sincere for a peaceful settlement
there were no superior power to enforce the agreement they had made.
the Soviet forces began to withdraw from Manchuria in March 1946,
they took with them industrial machinery in lieu of war reparations..
Chinese Communist troops took their place
by May the cease-fire had ended in Manchuria
General Marshall continued his peace mission until the end of the year,
both sides were using the pretence of negotiations as a cover for their preparations for war.

Civil War

at the start of the conflict it appeared that the Nationalists held a clear advantage
they controlled China's major cities and the country's industrial base.
their armies numbered more than twice as many men as the Communists
they were supported by an air force and a small navy.
the United States placed an embargo on the shipment of arms to China in July 1946
this was rescinded within less than a year and the Nationalists were not short of weapons
within three years they were driven from the mainland.

the civil war may be divided into three stages:
1) the first stage lasted from July 1946 to June 1947,
it began with the Nationalists occupying the main cities of Manchuria
they recovered large areas of north China including Yan'an, captured in March 1947.
the People's Liberation Army, (Communist forces) adopted new tactics,
the tactic was surrendering territory but harassing and destroying the Nationalist forces
Lin Biao, was the commander of the Communist forces in Manchuria,
he carried out lightning attacks that halted and then reversed the Nationalist advance.
2) the second stage of the civil war began in June 1947,
at this time the People's Liberation Army overran much of Manchuria and north China
this is apart from key cities and main lines of communication.
in June, Communist forces crossed the Yellow River and cut off Xi'an,
it then began to isolate concentrations of Nationalist forces.
by March 1948, the Nationalist hold on Manchuria was reduced to three cities
from the middle of the year the power balance had begun to shift to the Communists' favour
by now the People's Liberation Army had over 1,500,000 troops
it had seized large quantities of weapons and equipment.

3) the final stage began in the autumn of 1948.
by November Lin Biao had captured Shenyang, and Manchuria had fallen to the Communists.
he then moved into north China and in January 1949 he took Tianjin
each of these victories was accompanied by the surrender of thousands of Nationalist troops
they were able to seize vast quantities of material.
between November 1948 and January 1949, the decisive battle of Huai-Hai was fought.
communist forces methodically cut off the Nationalist force
it forced the Nationalist force of 300,000 men to surrender.
after this battle Nationalist resistance north of the Yangzi came to its end.
in April 1949 Communist forces captured Nanjing and in the following month Shanghai fell
in December Jiang Jieshi and 2 million of his supporters fled to Taiwan
they took with them China's foreign reserves and art treasures.

Explanations for the Nationalist Defeat

the Nationalist defeat was a military disaster which can be explained in military terms.
the Nationalists made the strategic mistake of trying to recover Manchuria
the leadership of the Nationalist army was very poor
it contrasted sharply with the brilliance of some of the Communist military leaders.
the Nationalists had resorted to a defensive strategy which allowed them to be surrendered
the morale of the Nationalist troops, who were poorly paid & badly treated, was very low
they frequently deserted.

the civil war had its origin in a political struggle
it was success in that struggle which was to determine the outcome of the war
on the one hand the Nationalists, through errors and omissions, lost the political struggle
on the other hand the Communists profited from the Nationalists' mistakes
the Communists presented themselves differently
they showed themselves as a moderate, efficient, & patriotic alternative to the Nationalist Party.

the Guomindang had begun to lose the political struggle during the Nanjing era
this was when it had failed to live up to the expectations of a modernizing government
the Nationalists forfeited support during the Sino-Japanese War
it did this by ceasing to fight the enemy
they also did this by ignoring urgent political, social, and economic issues.

after 1945 the Guomindang government made further mistakes
it eventually destroyed its basis of support
the mistakes began as soon as the Guomiondang government returned to Nanjing.
many expected that those who had collaborate with the Japanese would be punished
only a few collaborators were executed and others were allowed to retain their jobs.
the Guomindang officials were accused of commandeering Japanese property,
the industrialists & merchants had their property seized by the Japanese
but they received no compensation.
when the Nationalists reoccupied Manchuria, they were suspicion of the local leadership
so they appointed outsiders to administrative posts
thus they presented the Communists with a grievance to exploit.
when returning to Taiwan they treated the Taiwanese more harshly than the Japanese had
Taiwan had previously been a Japanese colony for more than 50 years
The Giuomindang provoked a serious uprising.

much of the blame for the outbreak of the civil war had fallen on the Guomindang.
the most coherent criticism came from radical students,
the students believed the Guomindang should have formed a coalition government
this would be a coalition with the Communists
they regarded the close links between the Nationalists and the United States with suspicion
they especially resented the continued presence of American troops on Chinese soil.

in Dec. 1946, two United States marines were accused of raping a student
this was at at Beijing University
this provoked a series of demonstrations on campuses throughout most of the country
anti-American and anti-government sentiments were expressed.
student agitation continued throughout the civil war
some issues made them turn university communities against the government
one issue was the economic hardships of students and intellectuals
the Guomindang insisted that this hostility was fomented by Communists
there probably was an underground Communist organization supporting the protest.
but the agitation could be explained readily by
a) reference to government incompetence
b) the brutal suppression of student demonstrations.
two other issues served to alienate the Guomindang's basis of support:
a) the lack of political progress
b) economic mismanagement.

Sun Zhongshan had prescribed that a constitutional form of government would be introduced.
this was after a period of political tutelage by the Guomindang,
a constitution had been drafted in 1936
the Political Consultative Conference of January 1946 had agreed to introduce it forthwith.
but the Guomindang commitment to constitutionalism was undermined
it was undermined by the Renovationist faction
they would not accept that the Guomindang should give up its monopol
the constitution was promulgated on January 1st 1947
election for a National Assembly were held later in the year.
but the elections were condemned as a farce
the sessions of the National Assembly ended in an uproar.
- by now the Guomindang was regarded as
too corrupt,
too intolerant of minority parties,
too indifferent to the issues of civil liberties,
so it was not qualified to introduce a constitutional form of government.

monetary inflation had already set in during the war
it started to accelerate in 1946
by mid-1948 the Shanghai wholesale price index (September 1945 = 100) had risen
it had risen to 1,368,049
the economy was on the verge of collapse.
in August the government replaced the worthless fabi with the gold yuan note,
it did this without previously having attempted to balance the budget or
it did not back the new currency with reserves.

hopes of a currency stabilization loan from the United States was dashed.
when the new currency was issued, the rich were urged to turn over
a) their gold
b) foreign currency holdings
to the government in exchange for certificates
in October, the government, to reduce the budgetary deficit, raised taxes on consumer goods
this prompted a rush to stockpile goods,
this was within three months of the collapse of the currency reform.
so disastrous was the gold yuan experiment was a complete disaster
some observers at the time regarded it as the main cause of the government's fall.
the failures of the Guomindang is only half the explanation for the shift in the political balance
the other half lies in the CCP's success in winning the battle for hearts and minds of people
this was especially those in the countryside.

revolutionary land reform has been seen as the key factor in this success.
the CCP had renounced land reform as part of the second united front agreement
but on May 4th 1946, a directive was issued
this authorized the seizure of land from collaborators,
the Outline Agrarian Law, provided for the confiscation of all land belonging to the landlords
also it provided for its division among the total population.
these measures sanctioned the violence against landlords
this was already occurring in many villages in north China,
it really amounted to a rural revolution.

a revolutionary land reform only attracted peasant support under certain conditions.
when the CCP cadres returned to Manchuria in 1945 they found that it was not enough
the simple promise of land was not enough to bring the peasants over to their side.
what was needed was an `equation of revolutionary transformation,’
this meant convincing poor peasants they would receive a share of the landlords' land
also they would participate in new decision-making bodies after the revolution.
these peasants were those who supported the Communists in civil war,
they had done this by supplying them with taxation, military, and labour services and food.
this promise was only credible only on one condition
only if the peasants were confident that the revolution would not be reversed
in many parts of north China, it was not landlordism which afflicted poor peasants,
it was
a) low wages,
b) high taxes,
c) the arbitrary exercise of power by the local elite.

to obtain their support, CCP cadres had to awaken peasants to their condition of exploitation
they had to give them the confidence to act against it.
to do this they organized `struggle meetings'
at these meetings the poorest of peasants were encouraged to voice their grievances.
cadres would then encourage, a movement to seize goods
these goods were those of members of the exploiting class and to wreak vengeance on them.
the CCP also encouraged the formation of women's associations
this implied that the revolution would lead to their emancipation.
the new marriage law, & revolutionary land reform gave women a reason to support them
the new marriage laws gave women rights relating to divorce and custody of children
the revolutionary land reform gave women a share of the redistributed land,

the final act of the civil war was played out in the cities
there were a number of things that undermined the position of the Guamindang
a) student unrest,
b) the alienation of intellectuals,
c) corrupt and undemocratic government
d) chaotic economic conditions
but the Communists had lost touch with the industrial proletariat
they had little experience of dealing with urban populations.
in August 1945, the Communists captured Zhangjiakou (Kalgan)
this is 200 miles north-west of Beijing.
here they engaged in an urban experiment
this was to show that they could administer a city more effectively than the Nationalists. -

the following events took place:
a) collaborators were arrested,
b) streets were cleaned
c) beggars and prostitutes were found alternative employment
d) the workers were unionized
e) wages were raised,
f) private businesses were left untouched.

a reputation of being honest and effective administrators served the Communists well
this is when the cities of north China fell into their hands in 1949
the following events took place:
a) Beijing was occupied in January 1949 without a shot being fired.
b) the People's Liberation Army enforced strict discipline
c) no looting took place.
d) workers & students co-operated in restoring production and maintaining essential services.
e) the gold yuan notes were replaced with `people's notes' or `renminbi'
f) an attempt was made to curb inflation.
g) political groups opposed to the Guomindang were invited to participate in a coalition gov’t
f) as the Nationalists fell back in disorder, the Communist approach prevented panic
g) they ensured that the final stage of the civil war was concluded swiftly.

Asia 210 - Modern China

Wednesday, October 27, 2021

The Wars of China

War Economy

General Joseph Stillwell

Operation Ichigo

The CCP during the Sino-Japanese War

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