Establishing Communist Government 1949-57

Question 1

The aftermath of the civil war of 1946-49

Answer 1

Years of unrest had made China difficult to govern, but the post-war situation in 1949 had factors favourable to the Communists.

• Simply bringing an end to the war brought goodwill to the Communists
• By extending the areas they controlled during the war, the Communists proved capable of more effective organisation than the nationalists.
• Mao made it clear that creating a Communist society would be a long term project, and said that in the mean time he was willing to work with all social groups with China’s interests at heart, so non-Communists imagined that life under Mao would be tolerable.

Question 2

Mao’s personal successes of the civil war of 1946-49

Answer 2

• The civil war greatly strengthened his position at the top of the party and elevated his reputation as a political leader due to the way he supervised the successful transition from guerrilla to open warfare.
• The lesson of broadening his support base was reinforced, e.g. he ensured the Red Army treated the peasants more fairly than the GMD forces by redistributing land, which attracted large amounts of peasant support.
• As the Reds began to extend the areas they controlled during the civil war, more cities fell under their authority, e.g. Harbin in northern Manchuria was the first city they controlled, where they learned to control a large urban area, and they applied this experience elsewhere, broadening their support base across more social groups, showing their capability at handling urban, as well as rural, issues.