Q1. China faced a major crisis when the struggles with the warlords surfaced everywhere in the most populous nation in the world. The revolution took place in China around the year 1911 to 1945, as war broke out between the communist party that was controlled by Chiang Kai-Shek and the nationalist party that was led by Mao Zedong. Another issue that troubled China was the invasion attempt by Japan.
Another civil war took place around the year 1946 which shook the whole nation by its impact. The communist party was backed by a popular political philosophy which secured its success. Despite being backed by the United States and a large number of army, the Nationalist party suffered a full-blown defeat while the Communist party that was supported by the Soviet Union won the war, forcing the Nationalist out of Chinese mainland. There are numerous reasons behind why the Communist party was able to win the Chinese civil war (Chen). The paper will assess the strategies used by the Communist party along with the ideology that the party believed in and the methods of getting support from foreign groups. The Communist party also gained popularity in China by helping the peasants. The peasants were well paid for the things they needed, along with the implementation of the social and political policies in the village. One of the major achievements earned by the Communist party was an end to the abuses seen in tax collection. The peasants were upset with the Nationalist party’s treatment of the peasants and therefore, they made the Communist party their representatives (Johnson). In addition to this, the Communist party educated the peasants to read and write the basic forms of Chinese policies. The victory of the Chinese Communist Party led to the formation of the People’s Republic of China which took place on October 1st, 1949.
Q2. It should be noted that before the Communist party came to the front and the appearance of the Nationalist party, China was being controlled by the warlords. Around 1919, China was still in its primitive phase and no signs of a government could be seen anywhere in China (Bianco). Therefore, the civil war between the Communist Party and the Nationalist Party turned out to be an important event in the history of China as it ended the rule of warlords and set the foundations for a recognized government. The events of the civil war and the Japanese attack led to the foundation of the Communist party being labeled as the representative of China. The year 1949 came to be a crucial moment for the Chinese citizens as it decided the fate of the country that had been suffering from the corruptive ways of the warlords. While the Nationalist party was busy in trying to crush the Communist party, the latter one gained status by helping the poor especially the peasants and solved their issues (Callahan). Since their focus was on improving the conditions of the peasants, therefore, the Communist party gained the most votes while the Nationalist party got less and fewer followers with the passage of time. Corruption was one of the issues that led the Nationalist party to suffer defeat. Aside from this, the party’s leaders were conflicted in carrying out their orders that led the army to a state of confusion as most of the orders that had been executed were changed at the last moment and a new order was to be carried out. In addition to this, the Nationalist party did not show interest in fighting off the Japanese army which made the people believe that the Nationalist party was ready to fight its own people rather than save the land from being invaded by the foreign enemy. Chiang, who was the leader of the Nationalist party was blamed for not participating in the war to fight off the Japanese invaders. In 1931, when the Japanese attacked and crushed everything in China, Chiang had presumably told the army not to fight the enemy and instead retreat as he was focused on eliminating the opposition party. The army that followed Chiang was not happy with his decisions as they wanted to take part in the war against the foreign invaders while Chiang wasn’t worried about the state in which China had been left. Most of his followers left the party and joined the Red army which represented the Communist party to fight at the front and push back the Japanese forces. On the other hand, the Chinese Communist party had an army that was not strongly equipped yet they still fought off the enemy proving to the people that they were the true defenders of the land. After the war with Japan ended, Chiang was looked up as the national hero despite not having done much to save the country. However, the condition of the people worsened and poverty was one of the major concerns during that time. When Chiang did not make any effort to solve this issue, people gradually started to look up at the Nationalist party as their representatives. In addition to the issue of poverty, natural disasters that occurred during 1947, also put Chiang in a situation where he had to respond quickly, yet he did not, which resulted in Chiang losing his popularity and status. Chinese Communist party gained not only socially but politically and economically as well while the Nationalist party had a downfall.
Works Cited
Bianco, Lucien. Origins of the Chinese Revolution, 1915-1949. Stanford University Press, 1971.
Callahan, William A. “National Insecurities: Humiliation, Salvation, and Chinese Nationalism.” Alternatives, vol. 29, no. 2, 2004, pp. 199–218.
Chen, Yung-fa. Making Revolution: The Communist Movement in Eastern and Central China, 1937-1945. Vol. 1, Univ of California Press, 1986.
Johnson, Chalmers A. Peasant Nationalism and Communist Power: The Emergence of Revolutionary China, 1937-1945. Stanford University Press, 1962.
