HW 3

Communists won the Chinese Civil War because of the securing of the support of the peasants, masterful use of propaganda, and guerilla tactics.
     The support of the peasants was an important step for the Communists to complete. The peasants served not only as potential troops for the Communists, but the peasants also gave supplies to passing Communist troops. Rural peasants also served as guides for the mountain passes that Communist troops would take in order to outflank the Nationalist troops. Propaganda was used in order to ensure the support of most Chinese citizens. Propaganda was made in order to demonize the Japanese and have more support and supplies sent to the Communists because of the promises they made to defeat the Japanese. Guerilla tactics were used because in every militaristic way, the Communists were out-gunned and out-manned. They resorted to hit and run tactics in order to make the best use of supplies.

HW 2

Specific land marks were used as targets during the Chinese Civil War. Railroads, shipping yards, and mining equipment were popular targets for the rebels to destroy on account of it not only destroyed Nationalist infrastructure, but it also prevented Nationalists from transporting goods or building or repairing equipment. The communists used guerilla warfare tactics in order to overcome the better equipped Nationalist army.
Rivers serve as the largest and easiest way of transporting supplies and troops across certain parts of China, so the securing of rivers was a major priority for both Communist forces as well as Nationalists. Air superiority was a factor for the Nationalists because of American air-lift supports. The United States would offer supplies and equipment to the Nationalists because of the containment policy's call to prevent as many countries as possible from becoming Communist. American planes were used to drop supplies and equipment directly into Nationalist secured areas.

3+4

7.) Source A is a direct Chinese source giving historical insight into the Chinese domestic dealings with the Great Leap Forward. While Source A is a direct source, it comes from a Chinese government site, which has come under fire as being heavily censored and only broadcasting the official viewpoint of the Chinese Communist Party. The source is also 48 years old and does not gain from the added future sight and historical short comings that Source B contains. Source B comes from a British historian written only 7 years ago. This allows for a deeper analysis of the long term effects of the Great Leap Forward. The excerpt comes from a text titled "The Complete History of China". It is quite possible that due to the vast nature of the text, certain details that have either been lost to history or excluded for publication reasons have not made their way forth in the excerpt. Because the author is British, he may fall under an anti-Communist persuasion which would alter his judgement concerning the success of the Chinese Communist Party.

8.) The failure of the Great Leap Forward proved to be an unmitigated disaster for the Chinese economy and people on account of the mass famine, industrialization short-comings, and reorganization of the Chinese Communist Party.

     As Source E explains, the total grain output during the Great Leap Forward was going relatively well until a series of floods and subsequent droughts occurred causing the peasants themselves to have no food. The Party had placed such high expectations on the peasants that grain output was not allowed to be scaled down, leading to massive famine that killed upwards of 19 million people. 

     Further efforts, as described in Sources D and E, to move steel production from large factories and into the backyards of peasant workers proved to be a terrible decision. Peasant workers were untrained as to how to take iron ore ad scrap iron and convert them into steel. Finding enough fuel for the fires required in itself a full days work. Previously industrially made steel was melted down and instead, due to incompetent workers, was converted into lower quality steel. Methods of production also suffered on account of the lack of materials to build basic building equipment. Peasants were forced to rely on methods that had been created centuries earlier and as a result, building quality was much lower.

     Many people grew outraged and the Party's inefficient handling of the famine and low quality of produced goods that Mao was forced to oust members of his own Party and blame them. This caused a "mini-Revolution" and a structural reorganization of the Communist Party. Members who had been with Mao since the initial revolution were now labelled as supporters of capitalism. This reorganization caused much chaos and disorder, along with violent outburst toward local party officials. 

Questions 1+2

5.) a.) Source C shows the extent of which the Chinese were limited industrially during the Great Leap Forward by including their equipment, practices, and conditions. Two workers are shown moving a large amount of cement by bucket. The bucket is attached to a wooden pole supported by the two workers. The equipment used by the Chinese during the Great Leap Forward was so outdated that most Chinese had to rely on methods used hundreds of years prior, instead of using modern equipment such as wheelbarrows. The chinese also ran short of scaffolding and were forced to use wooden tripods, which shows how badly the Great Leap Forward relied on a seemingly scarce supply of steel. All the workers depicted are not following any sort of safety regulations, not to mention on of the workers  carrying the cement appears to be an old woman.

b.) Source A explains the shortfall of grain simply to a case of unfavorable weather, making no note however, to the millions that died due to starvation. Source A is a Chinese source and thus comes with a certain amount of favoritism towards the Chinese government, making no mention of the peasant working conditions or failed policy and attributing the grain supply simply to bad weather.

6.) Source D differs from Source E because Source D places the blame of the failure of the Great Leap Forward solely on the back of unrealistic expectations, while Source E explains it as an overworking of the peasants. source C is confident that had peasants been able to keep up with demand, the Great Leap Forward would have been successful in industrializing China. Source E states that peasants were unable to keep up with demands because of a series of misfortunes that lead to the famine and starvation of up to 19 million people. Both sources agree that the Chinese government artificially inflated the yearly yields in order to give the illusion that the Great Leap Forward was successful. 

Essay

The most effective tool at Mao's disposal was the expert use of propaganda and terror tactics. The manipulation of peasants and brutal treatment of opposition supporters allowed Mao to secure a single party state.

     Mao had initially needed the peoples support if he was going to be able to combat the much more skilled and equipped Nationalist army. Propaganda was used in order to make the Communists seem like friends of the peasants. Source A shows a poster that describes how Red Army soldiers helped defeat the invading Japanese forces. The aim of the poster was to make it seem like the Communists wanted to ensure the interests of the peasants were protected.

     Source B describes the conditions the Communists had set in place in order to ensure their power. Taxes had continued to increase despite little to no food was able to get to the peasants due to greedy merchants. A series of droughts had struck which only served to add further strain to an already breaking system. One reform measure that gained the peasants favor was a restriction of rent and ensuring even the poorest had some land.

     Source C includes accounts that go into explicit detail regarding the terror tactics Mao used to keep order once Communist China was established. A blockage was ordered for the city of Changchun, which led to roughly 330,000 deaths. Mao had refused to allow the civilians to flee the city, instead allowing citizens to starve nearly to death, only to have Communist soldiers enter the city and begin executing them. Some Communist soldiers had such moral problems with the executing of civilians that many committed suicide afterwards.

Chinese Civil War Essay

Part I)
     Explain two major ideological causes of the Chinese Civil War
          Two major ideological causes of the Chinese Civil War are European influence and the spread of Communism. Major European powers had large spheres of influence in parts of China. Britain was the primary aggressor and along with India became involved in the Opium Wars. Britain forced China to buy opium from India, which was then a British province. China had wanted to stop the influx of opium on account of the major social damage seen with opium addiction, but due to British naval might, was unable to do so. This caused much division between Nationalists and Communists. Communism was spread from Russia to all surrounding neighbors. Communism offered peasants living in rural China hope from their poor economic situation. Chinese peasants were heavily taxed and this caused hatred towards the nobles and the system currently in place.

Part II)
     Explain two examples of foreign intervention in the Chinese Civil War, and how they affected the outcome
          The outcome of the Chinese Civil War was affected by Soviet involvement on the side of the Communists, and American involvement on the side of the Nationalists. The communists alone would have been no match for the Nationalists, seeing as how Communists were poorly equipped peasants and the Nationalists had a fully funded and equipped army. Communists were offered help from the Soviets in the form of a military organizer named Otto Braun. Braun's largest contribution was the use of skilled radio operators that allowed not only for Communist messages to be encrypted, but allowed Mao to intercept Nationalist messages. This greatly aided the guerilla type warfare the Communists already used, seeing as they now might be able to intercept Nationalist troop movements. The Nationalists army was heavily funded and equipped largely by the United States. The United States had hoped that if the Nationalists could defeat the spreading Communists, then Communism and it's anti-capitalistic ideas would not be a threat to America. This policy came to be known as containment. The United States sent over millions of dollars worth of arms and supplies in hopes that sheer offensive power could defeat the Communist's guerilla warfare.

Part III)
     Explain two major foreign policy effects of the Chinese Civil War
          Following the Chinese Civil War, the United States was forced to change its foreign policy regarding Chinese immigration, as well as involvement in both the Korean and Vietnamese Wars. Prior to the outbreak of the Chinese Civil War, America had what was known as the "Open Door Policy". the United States welcomed the increase in the West of the Chinese as a source of cheap labor. This was used mainly to aid in industrial projects such as the transcontinental railroad, but now that China had become Communist, tensions increased between China and the United States. The idea that if China fell, Communism would spread proved true because not long after, both Korea and vietnam became Communist states. The United States was involved in both and despite having an influence in the outcome between the Soviet funded North Korea versus the American funded South Korea, failed to turn the tide in the Vietnamese conflict.