Ellese's+response

Communist Victory in China led by Mao Zedong of The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) arose from a culmination of tension lasting hundreds of years. Thus their success was not always expected, but was eventually achieved by their strategy, Unity, leadership and morale, combined with the failure of the Nationalists. Communism prevailed because it appealed to the people after hundreds of years of disunification and turmoil. The Communists in China had a different general strategy than the Nationalists, which allowed them to succeed despite being lower in troop numbers. Their lack of numbers led them to adopt guerrilla principles which where designed by Mao during 1928 to 1929 which were used during the Long March of 1934 and again in the civil war from 1945 to 1949. This strategy is revealed in “when the enemy advances we retreat; when the enemy halts we harass.” Thus The Nationalists was forced to remain in a defensive position for a majority of the civil war, which the CCP used to their distinct advantage. The Communists also used intelligence and civilian support. Communist spies, as well sympathetic civilians provided information about the Nationalist troop movement. This allowed the communists to strike at the Nationalist weak points and attack only when victory appeared likely. By June 1948 the population of communist troops had spread to two million, which was aided by captured tanks and artillery from the Nationalists. This allowed communists to spread out further, capturing important Nationalist cities and weakening their stance. One particular important victory was in Manchuria, where Chiang Kaishek, leader of the Nationalist party, had garrisoned 500 000 of his American trained troops. Using guerrilla warfare and the support of 1 million civilian support workers, the communists were able to isolate the Nationalists and capture the city. Manchuria proved to be such a devastating loss for the Nationalists as it cost with it, 470 000 of their best troops, arms, ammunitions and was the richest and most industrially developed province. This, combined with a number of other significant successes such as Peiping and Shanghai, led to Nationalist areas being restricted to” islands” (Immanuel Hsu) in Communist dominated areas. Thus strategy appeared to be a highly important factor in communist victory. Unity, leadership and morale also led the communist towards victory. Communist leadership, appeared to understand and support the peasants, which led to a great deal of support for the communists as Peasants accounted for 70% of China. The communists also began appealing to the urban middle class, largely by taking advantage of nationalist incompetence, causing many to support the Communists. In his May Day message of 1948, Mao proposed a coalition government, where communist and non-communist liberal parties would join forces to fight the Nationalist. With the combined support of much of the urban middle class and peasants, the communist were able to survive their minor defeats of 1946, and triumph in 1949. The Communist made great attempts to “breed good morale “ (T, Buggy), through such good leadership and political instruction, which often took the form of song, and thus continued to provide a purpose for fighting troops. Despite the Communists individual success, Nationalist failure also played a role in eventual Communist Victory. The Sino Japanese War was in fact a leading cause, which was coupled with raging inflation, lack of civilian support and disunity. Inflation “destroyed the livelihood” of the civilian population, as the savings of the salaried middle classes disappeared. The situation was worsened by poorly implemented reform measures and a new currency based on gold. This caused many to neglect their support for the Nationalists and instead turn to the communists. Urban discontent continued with a number of protests and anti-government demonstrations throughout China. The Governments response was increasing political repression by outlawing minor parties (such as the Democratic League), and arresting political protestors. This simply lead many liberals to flee to the communists whose support continued to increase, until their victory in 1949. In conclusion the victory of the communists occurred over a number of years especially in the Chinese Civil War. It became clear that the communists would best benefit the people of China. This was communicated through their triumph in war against the Nationalist, largely due to their strategy of Guerrilla warfare. Furthermore their leadership and internal unity contrasted with the disunity and inflation within the Nationalists, drew many to support the Communists. Thus Communist victory was due to a number of events, which communicated a stronger more efficient China under the leadership of the Communists. Not only was this essay very good, but it was very detailed and your use of quotes was fantastic. Well done :)