Unit 1: To what extent did involvement in the Korean war affect the development of the PRC? Flashcards
Why was Moa reluctant to join the Korean war?
Korean war - June 1950
Because he was worried that American victory would leave China vulnerable to attack by US.
Mao intervened in the Korean War to promote communist ideology, to showcase China’s strengths.
However, Mao was manipulated by Stalin to ensure that the Soviets did not have to use their own resources to support the communists in North Korea therefore Mao wanted to impress the USSR.
Why was life hard for Americans?
They were branded as counter revolutionaries so the government aimed to force foreigners to leave the country once they had been stripped of their assets.
Why was life hard for Christian missionaries?
The communist party created public hatred towards Christian missionaries by spreading wild accusations about nuns murdering babies in orphanages.
What were the terms of the Sino-Soviet Treaty?
China will receive from Russia:
* $300 million of credit
* 10,000 Russian economic advisers
Russia will receive from China:
* a large part of its bullion stock
* economic concessions
* extraterritorial rights in Manchuria and Xinjiang
What was the germ warfare scare?
February 1952
Beijing built on the widespread public fear of aerial bombardment by claiming that American planes were dropping cylinders packed with germ infested insects in North Korea and Manchuria releasing rats and frogs contaminated with plague.
The party organised public confessions of captured American pilots to be broadcast on loudspeakers.
Ended April 1953, when the Russians declared it to be false.
What were the political impacts of the Korean war?
- The war helped the PRC to develop by enhancing the CCP control, suppressing opposition and promoting national unity. - increase of party power.
- Mao took advantage of the war by launching the Great Terror Against Counter Revolutionaries in October 1950. To destroy lingering remnants of nationalist opposition and remove elements who might emerge as future opponents.
- Chinese prestige boosted - The fact that China’s armies held those of the USA at bay, rather than the Soviet Union, meant they could now claim to be the most powerful communist nation.
What were the impacts of the Korean war on relations with the West?
- Mao used the war to promote national unity by organising a propaganda campaign against the USA, calling on people to “resist America, aid Korea, preserve our homes and defend the nation”. Zhou Enlai organised patriotic parades where anti American slogans were endlessly chanted. This portrayed communist China to be brave for standing up against forces of the hostile outside world.
- The USA launched their anti-communist policy to prevent more countries fall into communism in response to China killing American soldiers.
- Foreigners were forced to leave the country - Americans
What were the impacts of the Korean War on China’s relations with the USSR?
- The war left China totally dependent on the USSR for economic aid and advice.
- After the war, Mao became resentful that he had been misled by Stalin.
- Sino-Soviet relations declined further when Khrushchev came into power as Mao saw him as a revisionist.
How did the manpower losses of the Korean war affect China?
- Mao’s 28-year-old son, Anying, died during the conflict. Mao took the blow severely and became more distant to the sufferings of ordinary people.
- 1,000,000 lives lost. Many of these were conscripts but were officially recorded as ‘volunteers’. The scale of losses was significantly high, but this was unimportant to Mao due to the population size of China.
What were the economic impacts of the Korean war?
- People were pressured into volunteering for the PLA and donating money and goods to finance the war, for example farmers saw their crops being requisitioned - famine.
- Diverting industrial resources into the war in Korea delayed the development of China’s industrial growth and restricted the success of the five-year plan launched in 1952.
- The debts caused by military spending meant the government had little to invest in education, health provisions or vital aspects of the economic infrastructure, such as communications.
- The trade embargo on Chinese goods imposed by the USA caused a 30% fall in foreign trade in the first six months of 1951.
What was the domino theory?
An American idea that the falling of one country to communism would produce a knock-on effect on its neighbours.
What did the USA do in order to prevent countries falling to communism in the Far East?
The CIA began plotting to undermine Chinese control of Tibet.
They pledged to keep Taiwan out of Chinese hands.
They made sure that the PRC was refused admission into the United Nations until relations thawed in 1972.
