5. Communist victory in the Civil War, 1946-1949

Reasons for Communist success

The course of the war

Phase 1, July 1946-May 1947

• GMD took the initiative & forced the CCP on the defensive; GMD capture large cities & established GMD-controlled 'corridor' along coast of Manchuria; CCP forces there retreated northwards
• CCP also in retreat elsewhere; lost control of former base in Yan'an from which Lin Biao had already moved the CCP Eighth Route Army to Manchuria to strengthen CCP forces there
• Further south CCP forced to abandon their isolated positions in the Yangzi River area & lost their only city stronghold outside of Manchuria at Zhangjiakou
• Oct 1946 - renewed offensive by GMD forces against CCP stronghold of northern Manchuria failed to break People's Liberation Army (PLA) defences
• Guerrilla warfare - used from their rural base in Manchuria; by spring 1947, CCP controlled northern Manchuria & Lin Biao decided to adopt an offensive strategy

Phase 2, May 1947-Nov 1948

• PLA launched full-scale assaults on GMD positions; first attacks unsuccessful but heavy fighting inflicted serious losses on GMD, sapping morale of its troops; throughout 1947 CCP maintained their pressure on GMD using guerilla attacks
• 1948:  PLA moved from guerilla warfare to fighting conventional battles with massed forces of infantry and artillery; northern China PLA capture important city of Luoyang on Yellow River in April 1948 & made significant gains in Shangdong, isolating GMD's main city stronghold of Jinan
• June 1948: CCP captured Kaifeng, also on the Yellow River, a crucial gateway from the coast into the western interiror of China; CCP could now threaten GMD control over Xian & Sichuan in the west
• CCP won spectacular victories in Manchuria in Oct & Nov, isolating GMD forces from the rest of China

Phase 3, Dec 1948-Oct 1949

• PLA launched 2 new offensives in northern China, capturing the vital railway junction of Xuzhou in Jan 1949: moving quickly to capitalise on its successes in Manchuria & Shangdong
• 31 Jan 1949: Beijing captured with little resistance - brought whole of northern China under Communist control
• April 1949: PLA…