The Chinese Communist Movement and the Chinese Civil War

They were in need of employment and that mean that they needed to fight someone. They were also aware of the large Communist stockpiles of Japanese weapons. After being offered substantial sums of money by the Communists the soldiers discharged by the Nationalists were now fighting for the Communists. The majority of elite warlord troops switched sides, including those that could operate and fix machinery.

To add to that the Russians contributed a few large guns to the Communist side. The Communists had expected a lot of help from Communist Russia. They barely got any. It did not pose a problem though when Stalin refused, because when the asked for support they did not know of the Japanese stockpiles. They would ask for help again later in the war.

Tension rose with skirmishes throughout 1946 and by 1947 they were into full out war with each other. At this point the Soviets started giving more help, although it was still not as substantial as US aid to Nationalist China. The main Soviet contribution was sending tens of thousands of Japanese prisoners of war and offering them release if the fought for the Communists. However, this was a lie, they did not get released, and remained in China.

Attempted Nationalist Reforms

When the Communist movement was too large to defeat, the Nationalist’s last hope was to get citizens to change sides. They tried reforms to stop the widespread corruption, but it was too little too late. Instead people saw it as an empty promise to try and get support, and massive hyperinflation ensued. Although their numbers were similar the Nationalists were so low in morale many battalions simply refused to fight.

Many deserted and went to the Communists in fear that something very bad would happen if they did not defect by the time the war was over. This made it particularly bad, as thousands of troops left each day. The Communists were fighting a propaganda war and they had won it. The last major resistance put up by the Nationalists was at the Liaoshen Campaign. During this campaign the Communists managed to penetrate Nationalist lines. After this campaign very little fighting took place.

Defeat of the Nationalists

As the Communist army came most towns were already supporting the Communists. Only shreds of the once huge Nationalist army were remaining. The Communists took the capital of China, Nanjing and relocated the capital to Beiping which they renamed Beijing. After this the Nationalists gave up hope and decided to leave Mainland China. With no hope left Chiang Kai-shek, 600,000, Nationalist troops and 2,000,000 refugees left for Taiwan off the coast of Mainland China.

For a while after being conquered, China’s people were happier than before. No reforms were made, but there was a sense of security. The people were grateful for taking them out of the long war. People were less corrupt and initially almost no rules changed. In 1949 Mao Zedong started his reforms by changing the land ownership system. This made the poorer people happy. As most people were poor, they ensured general Communist loyalty. It was not until the mid 1950s when a major overhaul happened and problems arose.

The fall of Nationalist China came around for many reasons. To start off the Nationalists got their people against them by being very corrupt. The Communists used their cunning to convince the people to help them. After much hardship many Nationalists decided to change sides, which snowballed into a huge army of pro-Communists. After much fighting the Communists were victorious.