US+involvement+Hurley,+Marshall

**Hurley:**  

//'When Hurley visited Yenan as Roosevelt's personal representative in November 1944, he expressed agreement with the Chinese Communist Party's plan for the abolition of the Guomindang one-party dictatorship and the establishment of a democratic coalition government. But later he changed his tune and went back on what he had said in Yenan. In the interim, according to the selfsame Hurley, the Guomindang government represented by Chiang Kai-shek seems to have turned into the Beauty and the Chinese Communist Party into the Beast, and he flatly declared that the United States would co-operate with Chiang Kai-shek only and not with the Chinese Communist Party. This, of course, is not just Hurley's personal view but that of a whole group of people in the U.S. government// '//July 12, 1945// Hsinhua News Agency  General Patrick Hurley was sent to Yan’an in September 1944 as US ambassador in China and the representative of President Roosevelt. He was dubbed a negotiator which was unsurprising considering his mission; to unite the Communists and nationalists into a united government. In 1945 he sponsored a 40 day conference between Chiang and Mao in Chongqing.An agreement to call a political conference was achieved but nothing eventuated from it. In November he flew to Yan'an and confered with Mao Zedong. His attempts were proved insufficient to reconcile the two sides, the GMD sought continued dominance and the CCP for independance of its army and control of regional areas. The battlefor control of Manchuria also prevailed over Hurleys attempted peace talks. Ultimately Hurley failed in this mission which some later called ‘ ill-fated from the start’. Reasons suggested for his failure included his lack of knowledge of the complexities of Chinese politics and little understanding of the root of conflict between the two parties. Hurley resigned in late November 1945.



//‘// **Marshall: **  //‘ The course of the Cold War was channelled by a small number of close decisions. One was the U.S. decision not to become actively involved in the Chinese Civil War, which was largely a decision by Secretary of State George C. Marshall.’// **( **1947-48: //When Marshall Kept the U.S. Out of War in China// By Ernest R. May)  General George C. Marshall was sent to China in December 1945 by then US President Truman. His mission was the same as Hurley’s in that he sought the unity of the CCP and GMD in a Chinese government. Marshall was unable to achieve his aim of a unified China and the Civil war continued. Marshall attempted to negotiate a ceasefire between the communists and the nationalists whilst warning Chiang that the US would not underwrite the civil war. He also warned that the inflation in China might result in economic collapse. Chiang did not heed either of these warnings and Marshall did not achieve peace. He did, arguably, have more success than Hurley in his attempts at peace. He managed to mediate the following agreements between the two parties following a truce on Jan 10 1946: 1. Cease fighting in China's North 2. Convene the Political consultative conference -draw up a new constitution and form a coalition government 3. Formation of a national army The PCC (political consultative conference) in Nanjing did not achieve its aims and despite these measures; in April 1946 fighting in Manchuria signified the ultimate failure of Marshall's mission. He left in January 1947 and blamed 'hardliners' in the GMD and CCP for his failure .