After Japan’s surrender in the Sino-Japanese war in 1945, the Guomindang (GMD), led by Chiang Kaishek and Communist Party of China (CCP), led by Mao Zedong engaged in a full-scale civil war, lasting until 1949. The CCP defeated the GMD, and the People’s Republic of China was established on October 1st, 1949. This essay will examine and analyse the significant economic factors that affected the Chinese civil war, including inflation, the corruption of the GMD, as well as the policy failures of the GMD and the policy successes of the CCP. Although it is certain that factors such as military tactics played a role in determining the outcome of the war, they were not as important as the economic components. This essay will argue that while there …show more content…
The CCP’s guerrilla tactics against the GMD were wildly successful, attacking their enemies when they were resting and not in good position mentally nor physically to fight. However, the main reason why confidence and hope in the GMD were lost was due to the different economic reasons. Supported by Lynch, “what finally undermined the Nationalist government (GMD) was not war or politics but economics.” This is because such economic reasons most directly impacted the lives of peasants, which constituted of 90% of the population at the time. Due to the repeated failures of the GMD economically, people lost faith and hope in the GMD, and the CCP used this to fortify their position and garner more support. To conclude, there were a variety of factors that determined the outcome of the Chinese civil war from 1945-1949, such as the guerrilla military tactics of the CCP. However, the deciding factor war definitely the economic failures of the GMD, and successful policies lead by the CCP, affecting the livelihood of 90% of