Chinese Civil War

From Encyc

The Chinese Civil War was a civil war in China fought between the Kuomintang (KMT)-led government of the Republic of China and the Communist Party of China (CPC) lasting intermittently between 1927 and 1949. Although particular attention is paid to the four years of Chinese Communist Revolution from 1945 to 1949, the war actually started in August 1927, with the White Terror at the end of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's Northern Expedition, and essentially ended when major hostilities between the two sides ceased in 1950.[1] The conflict took place in two stages, the first between 1927 and 1937, and the second from 1946 to 1950; the Second Sino-Japanese War from 1937 to 1945 was an interlude in which the two sides were united against the forces of Japan. The Civil War marked a major turning point in modern Chinese history, with the Communists gaining control of mainland China and establishing the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, forcing the Republic of China (ROC) to retreat to Taiwan. It resulted in a lasting political and military standoff between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, with the ROC in Taiwan and the PRC in mainland China both officially claiming to be the legitimate government of all China.

The war represented an ideological split between the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Nationalist Party of China (or Kuomintang). Conflict continued intermittently until late 1937, when the two parties came together to form the Second United Front to counter the Imperial Japanese Army threat and to prevent the country from crumbling. Full-scale civil war in China resumed in 1946, a year after the end of hostilities with the Empire of Japan in September 1945. Four years later came the cessation of major military activity, with the newly founded People's Republic of China controlling mainland China (including the island of Hainan), and the Republic of China's jurisdiction restricted to Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and several outlying islands.

As of April 2019 no armistice or peace treaty has ever been signed, and the debate continues as to whether the civil war has legally ended.[2] Relations between both sides, officially called the Cross-Strait relations, have been hindered by military threats and political and economic pressure, particularly over Taiwan's political status, with both governments officially adhering to the One-China policy. The PRC still actively claims Taiwan as part of its territory and continues to threaten the ROC with a military invasion if the ROC officially declares independence by changing its name to and gaining international recognition as the "Republic of Taiwan". The ROC, for its part, claims mainland China, and both parties continue the fight over diplomatic recognition. As of 2018 the war as such occurs on the political and economic fronts, without actual military action. However, the two separate governments in China have close economic ties.[3]

Background[edit]

Template:History of the Republic of China

Following the collapse of the Qing dynasty in the aftermath of the Xinhai Revolution, China fell into a brief period of civil war before Yuan Shikai assumed the presidency of the newly formed Republic of China.[3] The administration became known as the Beiyang Government, with its capital in Peking. After the death of Yuan Shikai in 1916, the following years were characterized by the power struggle between different cliques in the former Beiyang Army. In the meantime, the Kuomintang, led by Sun Yat-sen, created a new government in Guangzhou to resist the rule of Beiyang Government through a series of movements.

Sun's efforts to obtain aid from the Western countries were ignored, thus he turned to the Soviet Union in 1921. For political expediency, the Soviet leadership initiated a dual policy of support for both Sun and the newly established Communist Party of China, which would eventually found the People's Republic of China. Thus the struggle for power in China began between the KMT and the CPC.

In 1923, a joint statement by Sun and Soviet representative Adolph Joffe in Shanghai pledged Soviet assistance to China's unification.[4] The Sun-Joffe Manifesto was a declaration of cooperation among the Comintern, KMT and CPC.[4] Comintern agent Mikhail Borodin arrived in China in 1923 to aid in the reorganization and consolidation of the KMT along the lines of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The CPC joined the KMT to form the First United Front.[5]

In 1923, Sun sent Chiang Kai-shek, one of his lieutenants from his Tongmenghui days, for several months of military and political study in the Soviet capital Moscow.[6] By 1924, Chiang became the head of the Whampoa Military Academy, and rose to prominence as Sun's successor as head of the KMT.[6]

The Soviets provided the academy with much educational material, organization and equipment, including munitions.[6] They also provided education in many of the techniques for mass mobilization. With this aid, Sun was able to raise a dedicated "army of the party," with which he hoped to defeat the warlords militarily. CPC members were also present in the academy, and many of them became instructors, including Zhou Enlai, who was made a political instructor.[7]

Communist members were allowed to join the KMT on an individual basis.[4] The CPC itself was still small at the time, having a membership of 300 in 1922 and only 1,500 by 1925.[8] As of 1923, the KMT had 50,000 members.[8]

However, after Sun died in 1925, the KMT split into left- and right-wing movements. KMT members worried that the Soviets were trying to destroy the KMT from inside using the CPC. The CPC then began movements in opposition of the Northern Expedition, passing a resolution against it at a party meeting.

Then, in March 1927, the KMT held its second party meeting where the Soviets helped pass resolutions against the Expedition and curbing Chiang's power. Soon, the KMT would be clearly divided.

Throughout this time the Soviet Union had a large impact on the Communist Party of China. They sent money and spies to support the Chinese Communist Party. Without their support the communist party would have failed. There are documents showing of other communist parties in China at the time, one with as many as 10,000 members, but they all failed without support from the Soviet Union.[9]

Northern Expedition and KMT-CPC split[edit]

In early 1927, the KMT-CPC rivalry led to a split in the revolutionary ranks. The CPC and the left wing of the KMT had decided to move the seat of the KMT government from Guangzhou to Wuhan, where communist influence was strong.[8] However, Chiang and Li Zongren, whose armies defeated warlord Sun Chuanfang, moved eastward toward Jiangxi. The leftists rejected Chiang's demand to eliminate Communist influence within KMT and Chiang denounced them for betraying Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People by taking orders from the Soviet Union. According to Mao Zedong, Chiang's tolerance of the CPC in the KMT camp decreased as his power increased.[10]

On April 7, Chiang and several other KMT leaders held a meeting, during which they proposed that Communist activities were socially and economically disruptive and had to be undone for the Nationalist revolution to proceed. On April 12, in Shanghai, many Communist members in the KMT were purged through hundreds of arrests and executions[11] on the orders of General Bai Chongxi. The CPC referred to this as the April 12 Incident or Shanghai Massacre.[12] This incident widened the rift between Chiang and Wang Jingwei, another warlord who controlled the city of Wuhan.

Eventually, the left wing of the KMT also expelled CPC members from the Wuhan government, which in turn was toppled by Chiang Kai-shek. The KMT resumed its campaign against warlords and captured Beijing in June 1928.[13] Soon, most of eastern China was under the control of the Nanjing central government, which received prompt international recognition as the sole legitimate government of China. The KMT government announced, in conformity with Sun Yat-sen, the formula for the three stages of revolution: military unification, political tutelage, and constitutional democracy.[14]

  1. ↑ Lew, Christopher R.; Leung, Pak-Wah, eds. (2013). Historical Dictionary of the Chinese Civil War. Lanham: Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, Inc. ISBN 9780810878730.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link), p. 3
  2. ↑ Leslie C. Green. The Contemporary Law of Armed Conflict. p. 79.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 So, Alvin Y. Lin, Nan. Poston, Dudley L. Contributor Professor, So, Alvin Y. [2001] (2001). The Chinese Triangle of Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Greenwood Publishing.ISBN 0-313-30869-1.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 March, G. Patrick. Eastern Destiny: Russia in Asia and the North Pacific. [1996] (1996). Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-275-95566-4. pg 205.
  5. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Hsiung
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Chang, H.H. Chang. [2007] (2007). Chiang Kai Shek – Asia's Man of Destiny. ISBN 1-4067-5818-3. pg 126
  7. ↑ Ho, Alfred K. Ho, Alfred Kuo-liang. [2004] (2004). China's Reforms and Reformers. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-275-96080-3. pg 7.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Fairbank, John King. [1994] (1994). China: A New History. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-11673-9.
  9. ↑ Kuhn, Robert (2005). The man who changed China: the life and legacy of Jiang Zemin. Crown Publishers.
  10. ↑ Zedong, Mao. Thompson, Roger R. [1990] (1990). Report from Xunwu. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-2182-3.
  11. ↑ Brune, Lester H. Dean Burns, Richard Dean Burns. [2003] (2003). Chronological History of U.S. Foreign Relations. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-93914-3.
  12. ↑ Zhao, Suisheng. [2004] (2004). A Nation-state by Construction: Dynamics of Modern Chinese Nationalism. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-5001-7.
  13. ↑ Guo, Xuezhi. [2002] (2002). The Ideal Chinese Political Leader: A Historical and Cultural Perspective. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-275-97259-3.
  14. ↑ Theodore De Bary, William. Bloom, Irene. Chan, Wing-tsit. Adler, Joseph. Lufrano Richard. Lufrano, John. [1999] (1999). Sources of Chinese Tradition. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-10938-5. pg 328.
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