Causes Of The Ccp In The Chinese Civil War

“To what extent did the CCP’s ideology lead to their eventual victory in the Chinese Civil War?”

Following the end of the Second World War in 1945, the United Front between the two major Chinese political parties, the CCP (China Communist Party) and GMD (Guomindang), drew to a close. The ensuing four years of fighting between the two parties in a period known as the Chinese Civil War ultimately resulted in a victory for the CCP and the formation of the People’s Republic of China on October 1st 1949. This essay will analyze the reasons why the CCP won the war – such as its political, military and economic ideology. That being said, other factors such as the aftermath of the Sino-Japanese War and the GMD’s social, political and military weaknesses,

As mentioned above, the GMD focused their efforts on gaining the support of wealthy businessmen in big cities. An example of this is that over 90% of revenue raised by the GMD came from areas near Shanghai, the largest international port and financial capital of China . As such, the GMD already did not have support of the peasants, and the party lost even more support with their inability to manage their own economy, spending most their revenue on military expenditures. Faced with economic problems, the GMD printed more money, resulting in the loss of value and leading to hyperinflation (1000% inflation in Shanghai in 1947.) As the GMD economy collapsed, the population of China turned their allegiance towards the only other viable solution to their problems: the CCP. The CCP had already gained the support of most of the peasants previously by discussing land reforms and the redistribution of land. This policy was something that was highly attractive to the peasants as it gave them an opportunity to free themselves from the high taxation and rent rates of working under landlords. As the Nationalist economy collapsed, the Communists gained even more support, improving their economy, support, and military. An example of how the CCP’s economic ideology of land reform benefited them can be displayed in an interview with a PLA commander in which he says, “Many [peasants] joined us, and

The failures of the GMD are mentioned in each of the body paragraphs. Another factor that played a role in the CCP victory was the Second Sino-Japanese War. The GMD bore much of the fighting and repercussions of the Sino-Japanese War, not because of the CCP’s lack of fighting sprit, but more so by coincidence. The cities that the GMD were most prominent in, such as Nanjing and Shanghai, were all victims of massive attacks by the Japanese. By contrast, the areas in which the CCP were primarily located were left mostly untouched by the Japanese. Not only did this result in more casualties for the GMD in the Sino-Japanese War, but it also demoralized the GMD soldiers. Another repercussion of the Sino-Japanese War was the economy. As the GMD largely had control over the economy at the time of the war, they were the ones left to deal with the economic aftermath of the war. This proved to be a difficult task for the GMD to deal with, and led to their downfall as well. As Immanuel C.Y. Hsu notes, the GMD enduring the “disastrous repercussions” of the Sino-Japanese War was the “first installment toward its eventual downfall.” Though the Sino-Japanese War and the GMD’s failures left a weakened and easily swayed China, it was the CCP’s ideology: militarily, economically, and politically, that allowed it to win the Civil