The Chinese Civil War

Evaluate the reasons for the success of Mao and the communists gaining support during the Chinese Civil war.

By: Chia Ni Wu

13th May, 2010

Teacher’s Name: Mr. Smith

Total Number of Pages: 11

{2,903 words}

Table of Contents

Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Body . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . .
By this time, there was a widespread corruption in the military that led many soldiers to desert. It was said that “what finally undermined the Nationalist government was not war or politics but economics… the single most powerful reason for the failure of the KMT government was inflation.” (Lynch 59) The inflation rate increased from $2060 in 1937 to $374,762,200 in 1948. This led them to be in impossible positions to pay both domestic and foreign debts. Money became increasingly worthless due to a poor decision made by Chiang’s government; printing vast amounts of new money to finance its war against the communists. This not only led to its armies being poorly paid but also drove millions into abject poverty. By 1949, China’s monetary system had collapsed, the government was discredited, and the people of Nationalist China were demoralized and troops began to lean onto the communists.

There was a critic of Chiang and the Nationalists Party by General Joseph Stilwell, the American wartime liaison officer and he stated in 1943 when he was in a position to observe the situation in China at first hand. He stated: “I judge Kuomintang and Communist Party by what I saw: KMT: Corruption, neglect, chaos, economy, taxes, words and deeds. Hoarding, black