Chinese Communist Revolution

We explain what the Chinese Communist Revolution was, its causes, stages and consequences. Also, its main protagonists.

What was the Chinese Communist Revolution?

It is known as the Chinese Revolution of 1949, or the Chinese Communist Revolution, when final moment of the Chinese civil war, when the supporters of the Communist Party of China, led by Mao Zedong, defeated the nationalists of the Kuomintang or KMT (Chinese Nationalist Party), led by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. The victors established a communist regime in China in 1949.

The civil war between nationalists and communists had two stages:

• The first stage It began in 1927 and concluded in 1936, when both sides were forced to agree to a truce and form a common front against the invasion of the Empire of Japan.
• The second stage It began after the end of World War II in 1945, when tensions between both sides were revived, and ended in 1949 with the communist triumph.

On October 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China was proclaimed, which remains in force today, while the Nationalist government took refuge on the island of Taiwan. The communist victory in China expanded the influence of communism in Asia and other parts of the world.

The People's Republic of China initially maintained close relations with the Soviet Union (USSR), which led the communist bloc in the Cold War. However, in the sixties and seventies there was a rupture between both nations, which marked a division within the international communist movement and allowed a diplomatic and economic rapprochement between China and the United States.

Stages of the Chinese Communist Revolution

The Chinese Communist Revolution was the result of a process that had several stages:

The end of peace negotiations (1946)

During the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) which was linked to World War II, the Chinese Nationalist Party and the Communist Party of China fought together against the Japanese invasion. In 1945, after the defeat of Japan, the Chinese nationalists and communists reached an agreement in principle that was quickly broken by the resumption of fighting.

Despite the efforts of the United States and the Soviet Union to mediate between the parties and achieve the formation of a mixed government, in 1946 peace negotiations failed and the Chinese civil war continued. In the context of the Cold War, the United States supported the Chinese nationalist government and the Soviet Union provided aid to communist forces.

The nationalist offensive (1946-1947)

When negotiations broke down, Nationalists invaded Manchuria and northern China where they took over many cities, while the communists maintained their presence in rural areas.

At the end of 1946, the Chinese National Assembly proclaimed a democratic Constitution, without representatives of the communists participating. The military superiority of the nationalists lasted until 1947, when attempts to defeat the adversary failed and their offensive finally stopped.

The communist counterattack (1947-1948)

In mid-1947 there was a turning point in the development of the war and the first effective counterattacks by Mao Zedong's Red Army took place, which reconquered cities and began to cause massive desertions in the nationalist army.

The decisive communist victories (1948-1949)

In 1948, the Red Army began to achieve crucial victories, which caused a large number of casualties to the nationalists and progressively allowed the conquest of Manchuria and most of the country.

The nationalist army suffered particularly significant defeats like the battle of Huai Hai. At the end of 1948 the situation clearly favored the communists.

The Final Offensive (1949)

After taking Beijing (former imperial capital of China) at the beginning of 1949, the communists were one step away from obtaining definitive victory. After an unsuccessful period of negotiations with the nationalists, they entered Nanjing, the former capital of the Republic of China, in April and gained full control of the country.

On October 1, 1949, Mao proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China in Beijing and in December Chiang Kai-shek along with his nationalist army took refuge on the island of Taiwan, where he feared a communist attack for years.

Causes of the Chinese Communist Revolution

The main causes of the Chinese Communist Revolution were social discontent with the nationalist government due to the poor conditions of the peasantry and the corruption of the State, the political and ideological confrontation between nationalists and communists (who had different models of the country), economic support and military of the Soviet Union to the Communist Party of China, and the efficient military and political strategy of the communists, which consisted of applying guerrilla warfare and promising agrarian reforms to gain the support of the peasants.

• Social unrest. Many problems that existed since the Qing dynasty years persisted under the ROC government, such as poverty among the peasantry and state corruption. This motivated discontent with the nationalist government and the support of some social sectors, especially peasants, for the Communist Party of China.
• The rivalry between nationalists and communists. The country was divided between supporters of a democratic and capitalist China, represented by the Kuomintang (which governed the Republic of China), and followers of communism, led by Mao Zedong, who aspired to defend the Chinese peasantry and abolish the society of classes. This rivalry caused the Chinese civil war, in which the Kuomintang postponed its democratic objectives and the Communist Party of China gained more and more support.
• External support for the communists. During the Chinese Civil War, the United States supported the Nationalist government and the Soviet Union supported the Communists. This support was diplomatic, economic and military. Soviet support and the delivery to the communists of the weapons seized in Manchuria from the Japanese army at the end of World War II were of central importance in tipping the balance in favor of the Chinese Communist Party. On the other hand, the Nationalist government received less aid than it expected from the United States, while losing popular support due to its corruption and poor military decisions.
• The successful communist strategy. The Chinese Communist Party won the support of many peasants and workers by promising land reforms and other improvements in living conditions. In addition, he applied guerrilla warfare, which was effective against the conventional Kuomintang army and allowed military success and the triumph of the revolution.

Consequences of the Chinese Communist Revolution

The success of the Chinese Communist Revolution in 1949 had the following consequences: the Nationalist government was forced to move to Taiwan, where it formed a state separate from Communist China that still exists today; The People's Republic of China was created, a communist state led by Mao Zedong that established a single-party regime and was initially aligned with the Soviet Union (although years later both countries broke relations); It changed the balance of power in Asia in the context of the Cold War, as communist China became a dominant power that influenced other revolutionary movements in the region.

• The transfer of the nationalist government to Taiwan. The Kuomintang was defeated militarily and took refuge on the island of Taiwan, where it maintained the Republic of China, recognizing itself as the legitimate government of China and presided over by Chiang Kai-shek until 1975. Today it remains a separate State of China. communist China but claimed by it as its own territory.
• The creation of the People's Republic of China. Mao's troops gained political power and led to the creation of the People's Republic of China, with sovereignty over all of mainland China. This new State was of a communist type, internationally aligned with the Soviet bloc (until the breakup between China and the Soviet Union in the sixties and seventies) and led by Mao. He implemented socialist measures, such as the nationalization of industry and the collectivization of land, and established an authoritarian single-party political regime.
• The shift in the balance of power in Asia. The success of the communist revolution in China altered the balance of power in Asia in the context of the Cold War. While initially supported by the Soviet Union, communist China soon became a dominant power in the region and influenced other revolutionary movements and communist regimes.

See also: Chinese Cultural Revolution

Protagonists of the Chinese Communist Revolution

The main leaders of the factions that clashed during the Chinese civil war, which led to the Chinese Communist Revolution in 1949, were:

• Mao Zedong (1893-1976). Top leader of the Communist Party of China since the 1930s, he was the supreme leader of the People's Republic of China from 1949 until his death in 1976. From a peasant family, he fought from a young age against the Japanese invaders and then against the Chinese nationalist government, a once he became convinced that only communism could save his country. He developed his own version of Marxism-Leninism, adapted to the particularities of Chinese society, in which he stated that the peasantry was fundamental for the revolution (unlike Soviet communism, which placed emphasis on the urban proletariat).
• Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975). Military and political leader of the Chinese nationalists opposed to Mao Zedong, he was successor to Sun Yat-sen, founder of the Kuomintang, and president of the Republic of China during the civil war. After being defeated by the communists in 1949, he took refuge in Taiwan and ruled there until his death, awaiting the fall of communism in mainland China (an event that never happened).
• George Marshall (1880-1959). American military man, he was chief of the Army Staff during World War II and author of the economic plan for the reconstruction of Europe after the end of the war (the so-called Marshall Plan). This earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953. He was the United States emissary in China to mediate between the warring factions, but he retired in 1947 after failing to achieve an end to hostilities.

Importance of the Chinese Communist Revolution

The Chinese Communist Revolution of 1949 It was one of the three great communist revolutions of the 20th century along with the Russian Revolution (1917) and the Cuban Revolution (1959). After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the People's Republic of China became the only major communist power in the world, although since the late 1970s it adopted an economy that some scholars identify as capitalist. Today, China is the second largest economy in the world.

The Chinese Communist Revolution was a unique historical event that marked international politics for several decades. As communist China became more influential internationally, It came to be established as a different model from that which prevailed in the Soviet Union.

The Chinese communist doctrine, which brought together Mao's ideas about “prolonged war” (a type of guerrilla war) and the centrality of the peasantry, was called Maoism. One of the movements that adopted Maoism in Asia was that of the Khmer Rouge, which established a dictatorship in Cambodia between 1975 and 1979 and caused a genocide.

References

• Britannica, Encyclopaedia (2023). Chinese Civil War. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/
• Dueñas, MC (2015). The Chinese Revolution. A permanent revolution. Gargoyle.
• Roberts, J. A. G. (2008). History of China. Publications of the University of Valencia.
• Schram, S. R. (2023). Mao Zedong. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/