MAO TRIUMPH, CCP (1934-49)

• How many people did the GMD lose due to tactical errors?


  500,000
• what type of tactics did the PLA use?


  guerrilla warfare, convential warfare
• What does PLA stand for?


  People's Liberation Army (communist)
• how was the PLA army disciplined?


  by communist motivations
• how did PLA gain support to peasants?


  treating them with respect
• how did treating the locals with respect impact the PLA?


  more communist support, encouragement to join Reds, locals supplied army
• what was the NRA?


  a conscript army for GMD
• when did CCP control China?


  1949
• why did the NRA fail?


  poorly supplied, cruelly treated
• how did the NRA lose army strength?


  by many deaths and desertations
• where did the GMD send their troops which led to a death trap?

  Manchuria
• which part of China did the GMD not control?


  north eastern China
• how did the CCP effectively use propaganda?


  by posters, indoctrination of communist ideals, treat locals respectfully, 'democratic dictatorship'
• why was the GMD political position weakening?


  GMD government corrupt and unskilled, Chiang set up a dictatorship, never implemented ' Three Principles of the People'
• why could the GMD never introduce effective reforms and fund goverment?


  Chiang's local officials abused their power and took bribes, GMD could not raise enough taxes
• why was the political unity in the CCP so effective?


  Mao's leader was unchallenged, there was a secure chain of command, Mao was a skilled leader
• when was the Long March?

  1934-35
• what caused the Long March?

  • Growth of the Jiangxi base area - communists like Mao Zedong led the PLA units in these areas
  • GMD Extermination Campaign - the growth of the base area began to concern Chiang
• what happened in the Long March?

  • January 1935, Mao & Zhu De had a meeting in Zunyi to escape the GMD
  • the route north took them across moutains, rivers, and deserts
  • May 1935, the marchers crossed the Yangtze River and the Dadu River - would later turn into a propaganda event
  • October 1935, only 10,000 out of the 80,000 marchers arrived in Yanan, northern China
• what was the importance of the Long March?

  • propaganda victory - Red Army won the support of the peasants, provided martyrs to promote communist cause and idea of comradeship
  • strengthened Mao's position - Mao was hailed as the great hero and leader of the CCP
• what caused the war with Japan (1937-45)?

  • Mukden Incident - September 1931, Japan invaded the northern province of Manchuria and renamed it Manchukuo
  • Xi'an Incident - In 1936, Chiang was kidnapped at X'ian by Zhang's troops, a warlord in Manchuria, and kept prisoner for 2 weeks until Chiang agreed to form a 2nd United Front
  • Marco Polo Incident - when Japanese & Chinese troops clashed, Japan gave an ultimatum for China to withdraw all forces from Beijing. Chiang refused and declared war
• what happened in the war with Japan (1937-45)?

  • a 2nd United Front between the CCP & GMD was created to remove Japan from China
  • the first 4 years went badly for China - the 'rape of Nanjing' (1937) over 30,000 Chinese were killed and 20,000 women & girls were raped by gangs of soliders
  • after Japan bombed the Pearl Habour (1941), China was supplied with resources and funding by the USA, Britian and Soviet Union to defeat Japan
  • the two atomic bombs in Japan ended the war (August 1945)
• what was the role of the CCP and the Red Army during the war with Japan?

  • CCP emerged stronger from the war - peasants quality of life improved (taxes & rent reduced) & army treated peasants with respect
  • army growth - 40,000 to 1.2 million (1937-45)
  • guerrilla tactics used agaiant the Japanese - they ambushed the Japanese forces which Mao later used as propaganda as Communists saving China
• what were the limitations of the GMD during the war with Japan?

  • Chiang kept seeing the communists as the real enemy instead of the Japanese
  • GMD was unpopular with the peasants - peasants were maltreated by the GMD forces, peasants suffered with GMD's high economic policies
  • poor military performances - GMD's guerilla tactics had little impact on the Japanese army, GMD often lacked the will to fight and easily broke down under pressure
• what were the causes of the Chinese Civil War (1945-49)?

  • short term - the country was divided with the GMD occupying southern & central China, and CCP controlling most of north & north-east China
  • long term - Chiang was viewed unpatriotic and there was a lack of trust between him and the NRA, whereas CCP were seen as true patriots that impressed nationalist-minded Chinese
• what happened in the Chinese Civil War (1945-49)?

  • GMD initially successful - (1946-47) captured large cities in the north and made the communists lose control of Yanan
  • PLA (communist army) began to gain power - PLA used convential warfare to push themselves into central & western China, GMD now had a shrinking territory
  • Communists prevailed with a tremendous success
• when was the battle of Huai-Hai?

  November 1948 - January 1949
• what was the battle of Huai-Hai?

  • most decisive campaign fought in the Civil War
  • brought about the start of the final stage of the conflict
• what happened in the battle of Huai-Hai?

  • PLA was strengthened by men who abandoned Chiang's NRA
  • Mao ordered the PLA to destroy the area surrounding Xuzhou - NRA troops could barely feed themselves
  • Chiang lost 200,000 men in his army
  • NRA weakened - opened up central China to Communists
  • Chiang no longer had Allied forces funding the GMD - resulted in little chace defeating the communists
  • January 1949, communists took over large areas of the north and south and Beijing
• when did Mao Zedong come in power?

  • 1 October 1949
  • declared a new government, People's Republic of China (PRC)
• what happened to Chiang Kai-shek after the Battle of Huai-Hai?

  • led to Taiwan
  • set up an alternative GMD government in Taiwan
• what were the military reasons for Mao's & CCP's success in the civil war?

  • military leadership - Mao was a skilled leader, Lin Biao was an excellent military general & highly skilled in directing guerilla tactics
  • military tactics - PLA used a range of tactics and weakened the GMD using convential warfare
  • quality of the troops - PLA was a disciplined army that treated peasants with respect. this increased communist support
• what were the political reasons for Mao's & CCP's success in the civil war?

  • communism success - attracted significant Mao & CCP support in Chinese population
  • secure chain of command - Mao's leaderhsip was unchallenged
  • propaganda - CCP used lots of posters, the PLA was indoctrined with communist ideals to win peasants over
• what were the economic & social reasons for Mao's & CCP's success in the civil war?

  • introduction of land reforms in the countryside - CCP made reforms which took land away from rich peasantry and gave it to poorer villagers
  • support of the middle class - CCP won loyalty over teachers, students and teachers through the war with Japan