China Flashcards
What are the 4 reasons why Chia became communist in October 1949 (from least to most important)?
- The Soviet Union supported Mao (untrue)
- The USA didn’t give enough support to Jiang (least important as there’s not enough evidence).
- Weaknesses of Jiang (contributed to China’s fall to communism).
- Strengths of Mao (most important, as Mao exploited Jiang’s weaknesses to make the Chinese Communist Party stronger).
What is the Republican political construct?
The Republicans explained that china fell to communism becuase Truman didn’t provide enough support for Jiang - this was to undermine the democrats to gain votes, hence making the statement more biased.
US alliance with Jiang
What are 2 reasons to disprove the Republican political construct?
- AID - Truman provided Jiang with military and funding e.g. October 1945 the USA gave 50,000 marines and $450 million and in 1948 China Aid Act (USA gave $125 million to Jiang).
- JIANG LOST - Jiang had proven to be an unreliable ally (e.g. kept 500,000 troops away from defeating Japan in 1945(?) and didn’t implement land reforms as US requested) therefore the USA left Jiang BEFORE China fell to communism.
Soviet support
What are the 3 areas of study to assess why China became communist in October 1949?
Nationalism
Support
Military policy
Nationalism - weaknesses of Jiang
What are the 2 reasons why Jiang was not viewed as a nationalist leader?
- Jiang had foreign support from the USA
- He preserved 500,000 troops for the Chinese civil war when China was trying to defeat Japan (to remove them as an imperial power) - this shows a lack of nationalist pride.
Nationalism - strengths of Mao
What are 2 reasons to show that Mao was a nationalist leader?
- Between 1937-45, Mao and the Chinese Communist Party helped defeat Japan with guerilla warfare, which shows their patriotic interests in China, unlike Jiang.
- He turned the disadvantage of not having foreign support (unlike Jiang) into an advantage, by claiming that he was more nationalist and independent from other nations.
Support base - weaknesses of Jiang
What are 2 reasons why Jiang’s support base was weak?
- Jiang alienated the 20% Elite (who were his natural supporters, by making economical mistakes resulting in hyperinflation between 1937-45 (where prices rose 6000 times).
- He ignored the USA’s requests of implementing land reforms to appease the 80% peasantry and deter them from falling to communism - this led them to supporting Mao.
Support base - strengths of Mao
What are 2 reasons to show that Mao’s support base was strong?
- LAND REFORM - Mao promised land reform to appease the peasantry, as 70% of the land belonged to the 10% landlords (Jiang’s policy).
- BATTLE OF XUZHOU - in 1949, Mao’s support base from the peasants numbered around 2 million.
Military policy - weaknesses of Jiang
What are the 4 reasons why Jiang’s military policy was weak?
- CONSCRIPTION - this was unpopular among the public
- DESERTION - he didn’t provide enough care for the soldiers, whch meant that the army generals could easily sell the soldier’s food sourceon the black market - this led to a desertion rate of 70%.
- GENERAL LUI FEI - a general Jiang trusted turned out to be a spy for the CCP, so Jiang’s army = unreliable, as he was inadvertently giving Mao the dates when they planned to attack.
- TACTICS - Jiang concentrated his attacks too much in Manchuria, which gave Mao an opportunity to land in the North.
Military policy - strengths of Mao
What were the 3 strengths of Mao’s military policy?
- NO CONSCRIPTION - able to appease those who disliked Jiang’s conscription, and gave those peasants who couldn’t fight jobs in propaganda = inclusivity.
- VILLAGES - his soldiers were instructed not to attack villages, steal food and instead pay for damage, to expand their peasantry support.
- GUERRILLA WARFARE - CCP used guerrilla warfare to limit loss and exploit Jiang’s army who wast adpated to guerrilla warfare e.g. pretended to be in retreat and then attacked to trick the enemy.
