Chinese Civil War

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The Civil War

China's Background

  • 1927 - White Terror, Chiang Kai-Shek ended cooperation with the Communists after wiping out the warlords and he massacred the communists. 5-10,000 killed in Shanghai, with other similar massacres throughout China
  • Nationalist Rule - single central government, loose federation of independent states, secret police, oppressed their opposition
  • 1934 - The Long March, encirclement campaigns made Mao leave Jiangzi, 368 days, 5,000 survived out of 80,000 that left, ended in yan'an 
  • WW2 - against Japan, good CCP propaganda, GMD were attacking CCP instead of defending China, allowed Mao to develop guerrilla warfare
  • 1941 - Nationalist Retreat, the GMD was in control of most of the Chinese coast so the GMD only had control of central, southern and western china.

Causes of the Civil War

  • Long term: WW2 began in 1937, low GMD morale, corruption within the military in the GMD, Chiang refused to delegate but could not manage alone
  • Short term: China was divided into 4 zones - CCP, GMD, Soviet and Japanese, legacy of conflict between the GMD and CCP, failed attempts at finding a solution

Start of the Civil War

  • 1945 George Marshall (USA) sent to China to try and make peace between the two sides
  • GMD made autocratic terms to the agreement to leave the CCP powerless
  • 1946 war broke out

Phase 1 - early setbacks

  • July 46 to May 47
  • GMD 'corridor' set up alongside Manchuria
  • CCP lost Yan'an but Lin had already moved his troops up to Manchuria
  • CCP using guerrilla warfare to isolate GMD cities
  • By spring of 49 CCP had control of Manchuria

Phase 2 - seizing the initiative

  • May 47 to November 48
  • 47 CCP put pressure on GMD with guerrilla warfare
  • Ambushes were restricted because the CCP had no air force
  • 1948 there was a change to conventional warfare
  • April 48 took Luoyang, the start of many successes
  • 15th October 48 PLA took Jinzhou…

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SophieID

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Great, concise notes on the Chinese civil war and its lead up!