Part 1: Civil War
Summary
From 1937 to 1945, China and Japan were involved in the Second Sino-Japanese war. However, China's conflict with Japan that ended up starting the war technically began in 1931 when Japan started its expansion into China. As a result, millions of soldiers were killed in combat and many more died of starvation. During the war, China was split into three parts:
- Japanese occupied territories (mostly in northern China)
- Nationalist China (the government of China at the time)
- Communist China
After World War II, Japan withdrew from China, assisted by the United States military and government. The Chinese Civil War, which began immediately afterward, can be split into three phases:
- Phase 1: 1945-1946: The nationalists and communists each tried to take back as much of the previously Japanese-controlled land during the war as possible. They mainly focused on trying to make peace between eachother.
- Phase 2: 1947-1948 (first half): Nationalists took more control and land and were more successful than the communists.
- Phase 2: 1948 (second half): Communists gained more victories, took control of mainland China and formed the People's Republic of China.
After Japan's Surrender
Upon learning of Japan's imminent surrender, the communist armies, led by Zhu De, immediately started rushing to take Japanese-controlled
territory upon learning that Japan would soon surrender. Despite Chiang Kai-Shek's order to stay put, Zhu ordered his troops to start taking
the land on August 11, 4 days before Japan officially surrendered.
The United States assisted the Chinese in their fight against Japan, sending 53,000 marines to Tianjin and Qingdao and
moving Chinese troops around. However, as the communist forces were communist, the US ordered the Japanese only to surrender
their equipment to the Nationalist armies upon Japan's surrender.
At first, the communists and nationalists had meetings to discuss possible peaceful solutions, like one on October 10,
1942, where they agreed on a plan for a new government. After that, however, they had difficulties agreeing on the leadership
and administration of the new government. They were closest to reaching a solid agreement in 1946, but soon afterward, it became
apparent that the agreement would not pan out.
Continuation of Conflict
Both sides' desire for control through domination and not through discussion and compromise meant that the only tangible outcome would be fighting over China's control. Due to this, and in spite of the efforts of the United States and Chinese officials, the Communists and Nationalists began fighting again in northern China. Both sides started to attack enemy positions, and on March 15, 1946, Chiang Kai-shek declared the Communists insurrectionists and ordered them to leave any government territory.While the Nationalists' strategy involved holding cities, Mao's strategy focused more on the people. As a result, despite the Nationalists having around 5 million men compared to the Communists' 1.1 million, the Communists were more successful at the end of 1947. In addition, the communists controlled most of the natural resources and critical areas, which lowered morale in the Nationalist forces. China's economy worsened, and what was 9 trillion yuan in 1946 inflated to 700 trillion in 1948. Eventually, Chiang tried to make some peace with the Communists, but the Communists shut down any attempts.