Cause Towards The Chinese Civil War example essay topic

causes of chinese civil war The Chinese civil war was an armed conflict between the Nationalists Kuomintang and the Communists People Liberation Army. The event lasted from January 1946 to May 1950. Although there are many causes to the outbreak of the war which include short term causes as the Long march, the Sino-Japanese War and the results of WWII. The main cause towards the Chinese Civil War is the fall of the Qing Dynasty and the death of Sun Yat-Sei which resulted in Chiang's Kai-Shek's rise to power and his decision of getting rid of the left wing faction inside the government at all costs. The main cause towards the Chinese Civil war is the fall of the Qing dynasty and the death of Sun Yat-Sen as this created a political vacuum which was to be disputed by Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai Shek.

The Qing dynasty last emperor Puy i abdicated in 1912 after the Xin hoi revolution in April 1912. The causes to his abdication lie on the basis of an unsatisfied country full of "mass civil disorder". Hence this is complemented with his unpopularity as an emperor to bring modernization in order to compete with Europe. For more than 2000 year's people lived under the rule of dynasties and emperors from the Manchu dynasty until the Qing Dynasty. When Sun-Yat Sen receives the rule in 1912; people have high hopes of a democratic government however people were not accustomed to political freedom; the cultural basis however is still manageable as they see Sun- Yat Sen as a the sole ruler of China. When Chiang receives the government in 1925 after the death of Sun- Yat Sen; he receives a country with political fears and with high unequal wealth.

Instead of concentrating in satisfying the people's needs and wants; Chiang focuses to eliminate the opposition from the PLA which increased people's discontent. Chiang believed that "the sky could not have 2 suns" and therefore there should only be 1 sole leader that would rule the country. With all his emphasis based on killing the opposition; the peasants that were 90% of the people were left unattended and therefore this increased the political instability as the situation was similar to 1912. China was still a unindustralized country with famine and backwards farming techniques. The northern expedition from 1926 to 1928 is one event which separated more the political ideas between the two factions of the Kuomintang. Chiang believed that the country should be ruled by the 3 principles of the people; military unification, political tutelage and constitutional democracy.

The means to get power differed from Mao's as Chiang believed that the means to the revolution were to be done by the Nationalists. This political widening led to the division between the left and right wing factions in 1927. In the early 1927; the CPC left wing decided to move the KMT government from Guangzhou to Wuhan where communist forces were stronger as ordered from the Soviet Union. Chiang proclaimed the leftists were betraying the 3 principles of the people by taking orders from a foreign country.

The lack of a sole leader and the political vacuum left by Sun Yat-Sei was the cause towards the political discrepancies between the inner factions of the KMT, which would not happen with his early death in 1925. Following Chiang's proclamation of betrayal; on April 7th, Chiang and the KMT had a meeting arguing that communist activities were both socially and economically disruptive. As a result of this; in April 12th, Chiang turned against the CCP and arrested hundreds of members which resulted in a massacre called "the Shanghai Massacre". On the other hand there are short term causes which caused the Chinese Civil War.

Mao consolidated his rule over the CCP in an event called the Long March. During this event 100,0000 people walked 6,000 km to escape from the Nationalist government persecution. Along the way Communists confiscated property, weapons from the local warlords and landlords and recruited peasants "solidifying the appeal for the masses". Although only 7.000 to 8,000 men made it to Shaanxi, this great retreat made Mao the undisputed leader of the communist party of China and increased his appeal towards the peasants. The long march argued by Mao "has proclaimed to the world that the Red Army is an army of heroes while the imperialists and their running dogs, Chiang Kai-shek and his like, are impotent". This event widened more the left and the right factions and increased Chiang's commitment to eliminate the CCP.

The Second Sino-Japanese war from 1937-1945 was a cause towards the Chinese Civil war but the aftermath was the spark of the Civil War. During the Japanese invasion and occupation of Manchuria; Chiang Kai-shek saw the CCP as a greater threat than the Japanese and focus in both fight the Japanese and fight the CCP. However; due to the event known as the Xi " an Incident; Zhang Xue liang and Yang Hu cheng kidnapped Chiang and forced him to make a truce with the CCP. The developments of the Second Sino-Japanese war were advantageous to the Communists.

The Communists using guerrilla tactics "heightened popular perception" that the communists were at the vanguard of the fight against the Japanese. By the end of the war, most of the peasants were in support of the communists rather than to Nationalists. As Chiang said:" The Japanese are a disease of the skin. The Communists are a disease of the heart". When the Sino-Japanese War ended; Mao Zedong went on the 28th of August of 1945 to Chongqing in order to negotiate with the Kuomintang government to try and safeguard peace and democracy.

When the two sides were still at the negotiation table; Chiang Kai-Shek ordered the Kuomintang government to sent troops to attack the liberated areas in the central plains. By doing this; they ignored completely the truce agreement which had been signed at the start of the Sino-Japanese which sparked the event known as the Chinese Civil War. In conclusion; the Chinese Civil war was a result of a mixture of short term causes and long term causes. These involved the Long March, the Sino-Japanese war and the results of WWII which; combined with the death of Sun Yat-Sei compose the causes to the outbreak of the Chinese Civil War. The death of Sun Yat-Sei is considered the main cause of the Civil War because it left a political vacuum big enough to slowly separate the political interests of the KMT splitting up the party in two until the confrontation between the left and right faction in January 1946.