China 1945 to 1949: Civil War and Communist victory

Question 1

What was Communist membership in 1945?

Answer 1

1.2 million members including approximately 900,000 soldiers

Question 2

How was China divided in 1945?

Answer 2

As a simplification: Communists controlled most areas north of the Yangtze; the Nationalists controlled most of the areas south.

Question 3

What were Nationalists strengths in 1945?

Answer 3

They had 2.7 million soldiers, some newly trained by the US. They had ten times the artillery of the Communists and an air force. They were also recognised internationally as he legitimate ruler of China with one of the permanent seats on the UN Security Council

Question 4

How did the US help the Nationalists consolidate their power when Japan surrendered?

Answer 4

They airlifted troops to strategic positions so they could seize the military supplies left behind by the Japanese.

Question 5

How and when had foreign concessions in China been ended?

Answer 5

The defeat of Japan and Germany in 1945 put an end to their involvement in China; US, UK and France had agreed to relinquish their rights in a series of ‘equal treaties’ in 1943.

Question 6

How did the USSR support both the Communists and Nationalists?

Answer 6

They signed a treaty with the Nationalists in 1945. They helped the Communists take control of Manchuria when the Japanese surrendered and gave them some of the Japanese military equipment. They encouraged both the Communists and Nationalists to negotiate an alliance.

Question 7

When the Japanese army in Manchuria surrendered to the Russians, how did the USSR use this to their advantage?

Answer 7

They stripped Manchuria of its industrial infrastructure (worth about 2 billion dollars) and transported it back to Russia.

Question 8

Why did Mao hold talks with Chiang in 1945?

Answer 8

Because both USA and USSR were pressurising the Communists to unite with the Nationalists. Neither the Communists nor Nationalists wanted to be seen as the obstacle to peace.

Question 9

Why did the CCP-GMD talks in 1945 fail to achieve much?

Answer 9

Chiang demanded that control of the CCP’s armies and local governments in the north. Mao was not prepared to accept this. The ideological divisions between the two sides were too great and both leaders were unable to accept a secondary position.

Question 10

What was the new name of the CCP’s army?

Answer 10

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA)

Question 11

How did the conflict between the Nationalists and Communists escalate in 1945?

Answer 11

Nationalist forced moved into Manchuria and US soldiers occupied Beiping, Tianjin and other key points in the north. The PLA successfully took control of the Shantung Peninsula.

Question 12

Why did new GMD-CCP talks resume in January 1946?

Answer 12

US President Truman sent General Marshall to try and settle the situation in China. The CCP saw this as a chance to halt the Nationalist advance into northern China; the Nationalists felt they had to take part. Independents and moderate GMD were also part of these talks.

Question 13

Why did the Marshall Mission fail to provide a solution to the CCP-GMD conflict in 1946?

Answer 13

Chiang could not accept the proposals for a parliamentary government. Both the GMD and CCP used the time to prepare for a war they both saw as necessary. Mao also hoped to sue the talks to split the USA and moderate GMD away from Chiang Kaishek. The growing friction between the USSR and USA in Europe in 1946 also meant the talks were unlikely to succeed.

Question 14

What do Chinese today call the Civil War of 1946-49?

Answer 14

War of Liberation

Question 15

When the Civil War began in 1946, which side was initially winning?

Answer 15

The Nationalists. They occupied most of the cities in Manchuria except Harbin and the far north; they forced the CCP out of Yanan.

Question 16

With the Nationalist victories in 1946, how did the CCP prevent its total collapse?

Answer 16

It retreated out of the cities and used the countryside to harass the GMD and, by blowing up railways and communication lines, cut them off from supplies in the cities. They also destroyed the airstrips on which the NRA depended.

Question 17

When the NRA seized Yanan in March 1947, Chiang launched the ‘strong point offensive’. What was this?

Answer 17

It was an attempt to destroy the Communist pockets in Shandong and Shaanxi provinces. Chiang believed the capture of the CCP’s former heartland had given the NRA control of Hebei and Shanxi.

Question 18

What were Mao’s guiding principles for guerrilla warfare?

Answer 18

“When the enemy advances, we retreat. When the enemy escapes, we harass. When they retreat, we pursue.”

Question 19

Why did the NRA’s ‘strong point offensive’ of 1947 fail?

Answer 19

The NRA’s supply lines were overstretched, which left them vulnerable to guerrilla attacks by the PLA. The PLA then launched attacks on the NRA and drove them out of north-eastern China.

Question 20

How did the failure of the NRA’s ‘strong point offensive’ of 1947 change the PLA’s tactics?

Answer 20

They saw that they could win direct frontal attacks on the NRA. Mao convinced the rest of the PLA leadership to direct attacks on the NRA with the aim of completely defeating the Nationalists.

Question 21

Which CCP general successfully defeated the Nationalist army in Manchuria?

Answer 21

Lin Baio

Question 22

Why had the Nationalists lost Manchuria by November 1948?

Answer 22

They never secured the supply lines necessary to keep the army properly equipped. They did little to win the support of the people; they appointed corrupt officials from the south govern the cities and armies; due to his suspicions of his own generals, Chiang did not give them the support they needed; Lin Baio used guerrilla tactics to successfully harass the GMD and make their positions very difficult. In 1948 the PLA shifted to a fully-out assault on the GMD, in the Liaoshen campaign.

Question 23

What was the Liaoshen campaign of 1948?

Answer 23

An all-out attack by the PLA on the last remaining Nationalists bases in Manchuria: Changchun and Shenyang. First they seized Jinzhou as a strategically important railway junction, then after a two-month siege, Changchun, followed by Shenyang. Chiang Kaishek tried to pour troops and resources into defending these cities but to no overall success.

Question 24

What were the consequences of the Liaoshen campaign of 1948?

Answer 24

It showed the PLA could defeat the NRA in direct assaults; it pushed the GMD out of Manchuria and on the retreat; the Nationalists lost 400,000 troops through casualties and desertions; the PLA were now numerically superior to the NRA; Mao and the CCP were no longer interested in any compromises with the Nationalists, as they felt they could win the war outright.

Question 25

What was the Huaihai campaign of 1948-49?

Answer 25

The attempt by the PLA to seize Xuzhou in Jiangsu province. Capturing this gave them control of the northern and central provinces and access to the southern areas.

Question 26

Why did Xuzhou fall to the PLA during the Huaihai campaign of 1948-49?

Answer 26

The PLA did not wait following their successfully Liaoshen campaign of 1948 but rushed down to attack Xuzhou; the NRA was weakened by internal disagreements and undermined by communist moles; the NRA lacked effective air cover due to the loss of their planes in the Liaoshen campaign and persistent snowfalls; Xuzhou had no regular food supplies as the PLA made a wasteland around the city and cut off supplies going in.

Question 27

What were the consequences of the Huaihai campaign of 1948-49?

Answer 27

The NRA lost over 200,000 men including many in their elite units; vast quantities of military equipment fell into the PLA’s hands; the Communists now dominated northern and central provinces and the way lay open to the south; the USA was not willing to give the GMD any more supplies; Chiang was attacked by his rivals within the GMD and forced to resign as President of China, although he continued as head of the GMD.

Question 28

Which CCP general successfully defeated the Nationalist army at Xuzhou in 1949?

Answer 28

Liu Bocheng, Chen Yi and Deng Xiaoping. 2 million peasant labourers were mobilised by Deng Xiaoping.

Question 29

What was the Pingjin campaign of 1948-49?

Answer 29

The attempt by the PLA to seize Beiping. Mao delayed moving down into the south until this symbolically important city was captured.

Question 30

Why did Beiping fall to the PLA during the Pingjin campaign of 1948-49?

Answer 30

The PLA first captured Xinboan and Zhangjiakou, towns on the railway north of Beiping. Then following fierce fighting they seized Tianjin, south of Beiping. This effectively cut off Beiping from all hope of Nationalist support. Beiping surrendered in January 1949 when faced with the prospect of being bombed into submission.

Question 31

What were the consequences of the Pingjin campaign of 1948-49?

Answer 31

The backbone of the NRA was now smashed and there was little doubt that the CCP would win the Civil War. All that was left was a mopping up exercise.

Question 32

What major cities did the PLA capture after Beiping in 1949?

Answer 32

The PLA crossed the Yangtze in April 1949 (against the advice of Moscow). They captured Nanjing in April, Shanghai and Wuhan in May, Xian and Changsha in August, Guangzhou in October, Chongqing and Guizhou in November.

Question 33

When was the People’s Republic of China formally declared?

Answer 33

1st October 1949, by Mao Zedong, from the top of Tiananmen in Beijing (as it was now renamed).

Question 34

What happened to Chiang Kaishek?

Answer 34

He fled to Taiwan in December 1949 to join what was left of the GMD and NRA.

Question 35

What happened to Taiwan after 1949?

Answer 35

Chiang Kaishek and the GMD established a government there, claiming to be the legitimate government for the whole of China.

Question 36

How many died in the Civil War?

Answer 36

Approximately 6 million: c. 3 million Nationalist and 1 million Communist soldiers; with around an additional 2 million civilian deaths from the famine and disruption caused by the civil war.

Question 37

What happened to inflation during the civil war?

Answer 37

Prices soared to about 785,400,000 times their 1937 level. The Chinese dollar fell against the US dollar from 7000:1 to 45,000:1. Faced with rising inflation caused by food shortages and transport problems, the GMD had printed more money, thereby exacerbating the problem.