Aftermath of Civil War (10/01/24)

• In 1940, China had been divided into 10 zones which were mostly under GMD control. In October 1945, Xinjiang and Tibet were some of the only provinces not under CCP control.
• Xinjiang was controlled by the Soviets. In October 1949, the CCP established a communist provincial government. However, pockets of resistance remained until 1954.
• Old liberated areas = those with a communist presence before 1949
• New Liberated areas = recently fallen under communist control
• Peoples democratic governments were given to the Old Liberated areas e.g Manchuria
• In Old Liberated areas, the CCP had strong peasant support and had established control over the local government.
• New Liberated areas were placed under Military Control Commissions.
• The New Liberated Areas were mostly South of the Yangtze river and victory had to be achieved by conquest. There were pockets of resistance from GMD support; labelled as bandits by Mao.
• Operations against bandits continued past October 1949.
• Bandits = Old GMD supporters
• The Red Army had stripped factory machinery and taken it to the USSR.
• Industrial production in 1949 was at 44% of 1937 levels.
• Young men who had left agricultural areas to fight took local food supplies for themselves.
• Food production in 1949 was 30% below it's 1937 level.
• The country was facing food shortages and there were already pockets of emerging hardship in China
• Foreign trade had declined and so the port cities of Shanghai, Guangzhou and Tianjin had decayed.
• The rampant inflation of the final years had led to economic devastation. The wealthy had moved money offshore to Hong Kong and Taiwan. This led to a shortage of capital causing further economic devastation.