Results for China
After the civil war, the CCP consolidated its control in China, and pursued the key ideas that they had initiated in Yan’an. The experiences of the long war were a guidebook for the new Chinese communist regime. Society had been militarized and Mao had a god-like status. Society would be changed by short and ‘total’ campaigns, and all obstacles would be overcome by the power of the people.
Social
- Mao wanted to rid the country of the ‘three big mountains of oppression’ – feudalism, imperialism and bureaucratic capitalism.
- The CCP wanted to weaken the feudal constraints on what women were able to do in the villages. Greater freedom for women had always been an important element of communist ideology in China. The CCP government passed a series of laws that gave women more rights to own land and to seek divorce from abusive husbands.
- During the Great Leap Forward, women were able to become managers and labourers were regarded as equal – they were all valuable to the national economy.
Military
- The PRA was expected to invade Taiwan and reclaim the island for China. Despite the US preferring to ignore Jiang’s precarious position, this changed with the onset of the Korean War and the navy was used to prevent any communist invasion.
- Although the war ended in 1949, there were still skirmishes from nationalist troops. Some escaped to Burma (Myanmar) and launched guerrilla attacks, and others continued to harass communists from Taiwan itself with naval attacks taking place during the 1950s.
- The 1950 Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance brought 3000 advisors to help train the Chinese armed forces. This help was important for them to improve their communications, logistics and fighting ability. However, Soviet military assistance dried up by 1960 because of the strains on their relationship. The USSR aid was only in ‘selling’ weapons, not helping China to manufacture their own – this meant that Mao had to rely on Stalin and, to a lesser extent, Khrushchev and the power was clearly with them. The latter did allow the Soviets to help build a Chinese armaments industry, leading to their first jet in 1956.
- A key issue in the development of Sino-Soviet relations was the acquisition of nuclear weapons. The Soviets did help advance Chinese technology and science but did not effectively give them the bomb. This was one of the reasons for the deteriorating relationship between the two powers.
Political
- One of the key legacies of the Chinese Civil War is the continued authoritarian rule by the CCP. China remains a single-party state in which individual rights and freedoms are suppressed.
- The Chinese population had been militarised because of the war and this remained afterwards.
- Mao had huge power in the country because of the victories in the war.
- Mao claimed the country was now united, he proclaimed this at Tiananmen Square, symbolic as it had been the centre of the Chinese universe under the Qing dynasty.
- Mao was distrustful of Stalin and the USSR as, despite helping their causes in the war, also aided the nationalists.
Economic
- China’s economic problems worsened during the civil war: it had generated low levels of gross domestic output, high rates of inflation, and high levels of urban unemployment. Solving the problem of food shortage and high food prices was a top priority. Agriculture was therefore key.
- One of the CCP’s difficulties is that they had few members who had experience of governing. Another was to unify the disunited country – this made it difficult to implement economic problems.
- The CCP also had to implement socialism across the country so politics was very much part of their economic policy. However, as in the USSR after their civil war (1918-21) a form of capitalism was maintained before communism could be fully implemented. The leaders saw the backlash from the Soviet War Communism so decided to use elements of market forces rather than the forced requisition of resources.
- The government borrowed ideas from the Soviet implementation of their planned economy, centralising power in Beijing. The technological and industrial advancement was also a priority, much like Stalin’s Five_year Plans. In centralising control, they could manage inflation and control corruption, both key factors in the GMD’s defeat in the war. However, just as in the Soviet Union, heavy industry moved forward but the availability of consumer products declined.
- The state confiscated the landholdings of feudal lords and some rich (ancient-capitalist) farmers. The peasant farmers were able to use the land and sell their produce, creating vibrant markets in these rural areas and increasing living standards. The profits to the state would eventually lead to China developing the communist country that Mao wanted. Although peasants generally supported the CCP during the war, this was perhaps only because of the poor behaviour of the GMD. Mao wanted to maintain their support after the war so this strategy was important, especially as it was successful.
- Collectivisation (farms joining together to improve efficiency) was introduced in 1959 because the nation’s resources were being directed at heavy industry rather than agriculture and this reduced output. This formed part of the Great Leap Forward, a range of policies to improve China socially and economically. Unfortunately, for reasons explained in the ‘Authoritarian States’ section, this proved disastrous and millions were killed from famine.
- The 1950 Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance gave a loan of $300 million to China.
- The military budget in the Korean War made it very difficult for China to improve their economy. Even the military aid from the USSR had to be paid for. By 1951, the military budget of China was 48% of GDP.
The Chinese Economy from 1949 to the Great Leap Forward
Results for Japan and Asia
- The communist victory inspired insurgencies in Indonesia, Malaya,
Indochina (later Vietnam) and Thailand. It also led to the first ‘hot war’ of the Cold War – the Korean War.
Results for the USSR
- Despite Stalin looking down on Mao and China, they were peasants rather than Marx’s proletariat, he signed an alliance with them in 1950 – the Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance. Soviet propaganda also built up Mao as a great leader, much as they had done for Stalin since the 1920s.
- Soviet expertise and aid was used to rebuild China after the war.
- Relations with China also had problems – Stalin supported the PRC with military aid during the Korean War but wanted payment too! This worsened relations especially China had had less time to recover from war.
- Khrushchev’s denunciation of Stalin (destalinisation) also worsened relations as Mao took it as an attack on him too.
- Mao responded years later with an attack on Khrushchev because of his ‘withdrawal’ over the Cuban Missile Crisis – calling him a ‘Paper Tiger’.
Results for the West
- It made the Cold War worse for the West. With China becoming communist and improving relations with the Soviet Union, this could be a threat to the US if many Asian nations followed suit.
- The United Nations recognised Taiwan as the true government of China. This led to Mao seeking out an ally in Stalin.
- The US/ China relationship was far from positive in the 1950s, the Korean War and arguments over Taiwan were divisive issues. However, by the 1960s both countries thawed their attitudes to each other, leading to ‘ping pong diplomacy’ and even a meeting with President Nixon in 1972 – The Kitchen Debate.
Resources
The Impact of Communist Reforms, 1949 to 1963