THE VICTORY OF THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY, 1949 term paper

On 1 October 1949, Mao Zedong, chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), stood on the reviewing stand of the Gate of Heavenly Peace in Beijing and proclaimed the birth of the People’s Republic of China. The victory of Mao Zedong’s CCP over President Chiang Kai-shek’s Guomindang (Nationalist) army was a stunning and unexpected event. Fourteen years earlier, in 1935, Mao Zedong and his small band of communists had retreated to the caves of Yenan in Shaanxi province in remote north-central China to escape certain annihilation by Chiang Kai-shek’s forces.

Safe in the caves of Yenan, Mao Zedong developed what he called “Yenan-style Communism,” a form of communism focusing on the plight of the Chinese peasants rather than the concerns of the industrial workers in the sprawling coastal cities. Had it not been for the Japanese invasion of China in July 1937, Mao Zedong’s CCP would have remained a marginal political force, with virtually no prospect for extending its influence beyond Shaanxi province. But late in 1937 Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek, bitter enemies, put aside their enmities and agreed to fight the Japanese invader. Although Chiang Kaishek had a much larger army, it was inefficient and corrupt, and had a reputation for abusing and exploiting Chinese peasants. Mao Zedong’s army, though smaller in size, was well disciplined, and because of its reputation for treating the peasants with respect, enjoyed widespread support in rural China. By 1945 Mao Zedong had nearly 1 million men in his army. When Japan surrendered in August 1945, Mao had established control over Manchuria, and with Soviet help he began attacking Guomindang troops in northern China. In January 1946 Secretary of State George C. Marshall went to China and tried to persuade Mao to end hostilities. Mao asked for American help in coming to power but refused to stop fighting. Starting in 1947 Mao’s forces gradually extended their control south from Manchuria so that by the summer of 1949 Chiang Kai-shek’s government had abandoned mainland China to seek refuge on the island of Taiwan. Mao Zedong’s victory in 1949 marked a dramatic expansion of the ever-widening Cold War between communism and democracy in Asia. The United States viewed both the Korean War (1950–1953) and the war in Indochina (1946–1954) in a different light because of the existence of the People’s Republic of China. Policy makers in the West assumed that these wars were part of the world communist movement’s efforts to promote the expansion of communism throughout Asia.
Suggestions for Term Papers
1. Do a research project on Mao Zedong’s stay in Yenan and write a paper on his “Yenan-style Communism.” In particular, discuss the ways in which his approach to communism differed from that of Soviet leaders.
2. Educated as a teacher, Mao proved to be a surprisingly successful military leader. Investigate his ideas on military strategy and write a paper on his military leadership during the Chinese Civil War of 1946–1949 (see Suggested Sources).
3. After 1949 most Americans were convinced that China and the Soviet Union were close allies and Mao and Stalin close comrades. Write a paper that examines whether this was the case and more generally assesses the relationship between Mao and Stalin.
4. General George C. Marshall of the United States used his prestige and experience to attempt to end the Chinese Civil War. Why did his mission fail? Was he or other American officials active in the Far East somehow responsible for “losing” China to the Communists? Begin with Marshall’s Mission to China (see Suggested Sources).
5. After losing to Mao Zedong in 1949, Generalissimo Chiang Kaishek moved his Nationalist government to Taiwan, where he continued to receive U.S. support. Examine the relationship between the United States and Chiang after 1949. Use Nancy Tucker, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the United States (see Suggested Sources).
6. After the Chinese Communist victory in 1949, the United States refused to recognize the People’s Republic of China (PRC) until 1972. Evaluate the policy of nonrecognition of the PRC between 1949 and 1972 in terms of its advantages and disadvantages. Begin with Sentimental Imperialists (see Suggested Sources).

Research Suggestions

In addition to the boldfaced items, look under the entries for “The May 4th Movement in China, 1919” (#12), “Mao Zedong’s ‘Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan, March, 1927’” (#17), “Mao Zedong and the Long March 1934–1935” (#25), “The Rape of Nanking, 1937” (#28), “The Sino-Soviet Split, 1959–1969” (#60), and “The Chinese Economy at the End of the Twentieth Century” (#100). Search under Zhou Enlai and Josif Stalin.

SUGGESTED SOURCES

Primary Sources

Hinton, William. Fashen: A Documentary of Revolution in a Chinese Village. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1966. A classic account of the civil war on the village level.

Mao Tse-tung. Selected Military Writings of Mao Tse-tung. Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1966. The starting point for understanding his strategic thinking.

———. Selected Works of Mao Tse-tung. 5 vols. Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1965. The fifth volume of this series is focused on the civil war.

Selden, Mark. The People’s Republic of China: A Documentary History of Revolutionary Change. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1979. A very useful collection of documents on all aspects of the civil war.

U.S. Department of State. United States Relations with China, with Special Reference to the Period 1944–1949. Washington, D.C., 1949. Reprint, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1967. A convenient collection of key U.S. policy documents on the civil war.

Van Slyke, Lyman, ed. Marshall’s Mission to China: December 1945–January 1947: Report and Appended Documents. Arlington, VA: University Publications of America, 1976. Documents on General Marshall’s mission to China with helpful introductory and editorial comments. Secondary Sources

Chasin, Lionel. The Communist Conquest of China: A History of the Civil War, 1945–1949. Translated by Timothy Osato and Louis Gelas. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1965. Despite its age, this remains a solid account of the period.

Fairbank, John King. The Great Chinese Revolution, 1800–1985. New York: Harper and Row, 1986. A good summary of the civil war that puts the CCP’s victory in the context of China’s revolutionary tradition.

Spence, Jonathan D. The Gate of Heavenly Peace: The Chinese and Their Revolution, 1895–1980. New York: Viking, 1981. A brilliant analysis that is written in an engaging style.

Terrill, Ross. A Biography: Mao. New York: Harper and Row, 1980. His chapters on Mao’s leadership during this period underscore Mao’s capacity for dealing well with adversity.

Thompson, James C., Peter W. Stanley, and John Curtis Perry. Sentimental Imperialists: The American Experience in East Asia. New York: Harper and Row, 1981. Chapters sixteen and twenty are good discussions of American policy vis-à-vis China.

Tucker, Nancy B. Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the United States, 1945–1992: Uncertain Friendships. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1994. A good overview of U.S. policy toward Taiwan.