What factors led to the 1949 Communist Victory?

Answer 1

(1) Throughout the early stages of the 21st century China had experienced widespread instability resulting in a rift between the Chinese people and the Nationalist Government which governed them. When war broke out in 1937 the newly created Communist Party found their opportune moment to win the favour of the demoralized and dissatisfied Chinese population. (2) During the Boxer rebellion in 1900, the Chinese had taken measures to expel all foreign influences from China. This rebellion was a defining moment in Chinese history. After the Chinese army were crushed by Western forces, China was forced to repay the war costs which took a heavy toll on the already suffering Chinese citizens. It was at this stage when the first signs of revolt were seen. Chinese people became increasingly unhappy with the little respect they received from their government. This led to a revolution in which 1000s 0f years of imperial ruling came to an end. China's government then shifted to become a republic which was moderately successful until the list of 21 demands. This list enabled the Japanese to effectively control China. To the shock and horror of the Chinese population, Yuan Shikai; the republic premier complied causing an uprising throughout the Chinese people. The republic government was quickly overthrown marking the beginning of the warlord era; this was a time of famine, war and suffering. The warlord era allowed warlords to fight for more land killing thousands in their paths. To make matters worse it was at this time that China experienced a terrible drought mixed with the hectares upon hectares which were destroyed during the wars. However in 1922 the Nationalist party also known as the Guomindang stepped in to take control of the war torn country. Nationalism is the devotion of interests towards one nation acting independently. The Nationalists had 3 principals which were all in turn broken, Nationalism, democracy, and the livelihood of the people. (3) The Nationalist government combined with the Communist government to great affect ending the wars and starvation. The Communist party was led by Mao Zedong who had grown up on a farm experiencing China's hardships first hand. He had later enlisted in the Nationalist army around the time of the revolution. He then went to study at the Peking University where he was first educated in the theories of Communism. Mao became heavily influenced by the theories of Marxism which prompted him to join the Chinese Communist Party. Mao Zedong's patriotism and firm beliefs in Communism allowed him to quickly gain the position of Communist Party leader. He swiftly took advantage of the unstable relationship between the farmers and the Nationalists by gaining the support of the predominantly poor citizens. The leader of the Nationalist party was Sun Yat-sen who believed in reclaiming China from the warlords to return peace and stability to the populace. His efforts were all in vein because following his death in 1925; Chiang Kai-shek became the new leader of China. Kai-shek was a greedy and appalling leader caring not for the people whom he represented. (4) During the mid 1920's the Communist support grew making Kai-shek hatred of the Communists grow. In addition to this, the Communist Party had been establishing Workers Unions which fought for workers rights. This slowed down Chinese industry considerably creating more tension between the Nationalists and the Communists. In 1927 Kai-shek instructed those loyal to him to destroy the Communists in what would come to be known as "The Shanghai massacre". By doing this Kai-shek destroyed all relations with the Communist party and any hopes of national prosperity. Kai-shek aimed to rid the entire country of Communists and commenced a campaign of bloodshed. This was a clear indicator of the Nationalist parties disregard for peace in China. (5) The Communist party managed to escape and continue enlisting the help of volunteers across the countryside the whole time being pursued by the blood thirsty Nationalists. The prospect of every person receiving equal provisions allowing all citizens to become moderately well of as opposed to having people at either end of the spectrum was a great attribute for Communist recruitment. Although at these early stages the Communists were unable to mount any effective campaign against the Nationalists due to their depleted numbers. The Communist Party continued to resist the Nationalist invasion but were far more concerned with the deterioration of Japanese Chinese relations. Communist priorities were to "Go North and fight the Japanese. Leading up to the start of the second Sino war, Nationalist armed forces were in heavy conflict with Communist Chinese forces. Nationalist China exhausted the bulk of their man power into defeating the Communists failing to acknowledge a pending Japanese invasion. On July the 7th 1937 the biggest war ever between two Asian nations broke out. This came as a shock to the Nationalist and grand leader of China Chiang Kai-shek, whose policy was "first internal pacification before external resistance". This policy clearly demonstrates the Chinese inability to prepare for an inevitable invasion. Despite the quickly advancing Japanese troops, Nationalist China remained pessimistic on defeating the Communist forces while completely ignoring a far worse situation. Kai-shek seemed reluctant to order his troops to fight the Japanese, concentrating instead on defeating the Communists. This ignorance in disregarding a national emergency far greater than the quest to rid China of Communists caused the Chinese public to loose yet more faith in the Nationalist Party. The Communist Party was quick to establish a truce in fear that soon there would not be a China to conquer. Communist and Nationalist troops combined to create the National Revolutionary Army. World War 2 marked the beginning of the end for Nationalist China. (6) It was during this time that the Nationalist Party really started to loose the support of the Chinese population. Until then the war between the Nationalists had been far greater in numbers heavily outnumbering the Communists. However, after the actions which occurred during the second Sino war, Nationalist support plummeted while Communist support skyrocketed. This eventually led to the Communist takeover. After the alliance of the Communists and the Nationalists, the Nationalists continued to make a series of incredibly bad mistakes that poorly affected the Nationalists support. Among these were the first few battles fought between the Chinese and the Japanese.The Nationalist soldiers used brute force to drive captured Chinese peasants; who were forced to leave their families to fight the Nationalists war for them, into a war with Japan. These so called "recruits" received absolutely no training, no equipment and were badly treated by their captors. Reports exist that the Chinese peasants were so poorly treated; being starved and beaten, that they were tied up at night in fear they would abandon their post. This malice shown to their own people ultimately led to mass slaughters on the battlefield where Japan made huge gains into China. The vast majorities of the Chinese peasants were killed due to their terrible commanders. Any Chinese person who failed to comply with the Nationalists demands was killed. It was estimated that 44 percent of Nationalist conscripts died or deserted before they even reached their units. This demonstrates the lack of support given to the Chinese peasants as they were forced to join the Nationalist "suicide squads". To make matters worse Chinese peasants experienced a tax increase on top of their already huge taxation. This tax hike caused innocent citizens to starve without any pity from their leaders. Chinese people were forced to travel vast distances to transport grain and goods to tax deposits. Women and children peasants had no choice but to work due to the huge tax increase and the high level of conscription. Kai-shek printed more money to continue the war causing high level inflation in which prices rose by 237 percent. The Nationalist government did little to help the Chinese people throughout the war years leading to a sharp decline in Nationalist support. (7) Another drop in soldier morale could be accounted for by the Nationalist officers terrorization of their own soldiers. Many officers were poorly trained and due to the suicidal orders given to them by their superiors, even surrendered whole units to the Japanese. These appalling tactics initiated by the Nationalists caused the once mighty Nationalist China to become weak and hated by their own people. Another factor leading to the eventual change to a Communist government was the in comparison, highly effective tactics of the Communist units. During World War 2 Communist forces were able to enlist many peasants into the Communist army.The Communist government was perfect for the poor Chinese farmers who for years had worked receiving little money and respect with the newfound Nationalist government doing little to ensure their human rights. With the new prospect of Communism, farmers began to doubt the effectiveness of Nationalism creating an unstable relationship between the workers and the government. It was at this stage that China began in its downhill spiral to a Communist government. The Communist units were reported to have a series of successes on the battlefield launching guerrilla missions behind Japanese lines. These successful raids with well trained soldiers led to a boost in morale of Communist troops. Not only were the Communists fighting a war, but they were improving the lives of Chinese citizens by developing policies which aimed at economic, political and social reforms. Due to the favourable actions of the Communist Party, Communist support increased rapidly. It seemed that the Communists were achieving the majority of the victory's fighting in around 75% of the conflicts China was involved in. (Pg 244 Inquiry 1) (8) Towards the latter stages of the war a series of skirmishes between the Nationalists and the Communists rekindled the Chinese civil war. So instead of fighting just the Japanese, the Chinese were also fighting each other. Once again the Communists; now greater force; triumphed, defeating the Nationalists in a series of conflicts. During the 2nd Sino Japanese war it was obvious to see that the Nationalist Party was far weaker than it was at the beginning of the century, and the Communist Party was not only stronger, but also more up to date with human rights. At the end of the war, Communist China had gained a great deal of land as a result of the depleting Nationalist Party. Heavy fighting between the aimless Nationalist troops and the high morale Communist troops had landed in Communist favour almost every time leading to the Nationalists decline in land ownership. By 1945 it could be clearly seen that it was only a matter of time until the Communist Party gained full control of China. The fighting between the Nationalists and the Communists rekindled after the war. The tables had affectively turned; now the Communists occupied the majority of the land and possessed the larger army and support network. Whereas the Nationalists were now outnumbered with little support. Nationalist's poor strategies during the war had sealed their doom. The United States now focused on ridding the world of Communism gave their support to the Nationalists while the Soviet Union continued their support of the Communist party. This is labelled as one of the contributors to the cold war. Within 4 years of the conclusion of World War 2, the Communists were in complete control of mainland China. The Nationalists were pushed all the way back to Taiwan were they remained. If not for the outbreak of World War 2 it is unlikely that the Communists would have ever come into control of China. Communist tactics and policies led to an enormous rise in support whereas Nationalist brutality led to a decline in numbers. (9) Due to the actions of the Nationalist party during World War 2, Communism became the new government of China. Because of Nationalist China's violation of human rights, lack of military tactics and total disregard for the first priorities of China, the Nationalist Party promptly and deservingly lost control of China. If not for the events which took place during World War 2, it is highly possible that the Chinese public would not have found Communism as necessary and therefore Communism would have been wiped out in China. Japan's invasion of China changed not only Chinese history, but also impacted heavily on world history.