Chinese+Civil+War+-+Context+for+Conflict+(A)

=Reasons for the Chinese Civil War (1946-1949)=

The lack of structure
Hermione, Kai Hao, Trevor, Peter

A very good website http://www.readchina8.com/HistoryItems.php?PassId=ADBC07BA-547F-46AD-AE41-251C3159E345

Flag of the [|Nationalist Party of China] Flag of the [|Communist Party of China] (n.a,n.d) (n.a,n.d)

The KMT and the CCP formed the first united front only because they are both weak and faced the same enemies, which is the warlords from the north. Both sides have their own purposes. KMT's army was weak compared to the north warlords' army at the beginning. The Soviet offered to helped KMT. "In the 1920s the Kuomintang eventually received helped from a surprising source: the Russian Bolsheviks."( Suokas,2011) However, Sun Yet San, the head of KMT "had neither sympathy towards Marxism, nor did he see communism as a solution to China's problems." On the other hand, in exchange to the help, the Soviet government "demanded the Kuomintang to form an alliance with the Chinese communists. "(Suokas,2011) "China's newly founded communist party had only a few hundred members at the beginning of the 1920s, whereas the Kuomintang had over fifty thousand. The idea was, that the communists would gain broader support by joining the common front with the nationalists, after which they would eventually take over from the Kuomintang. "(Suokas,2011) However, KMT had bigger influence at that time. CCP at that time was only a small party with a few hundred members. The communists can join the KMT in the name of individuals. In this case, the two parties are relying on each other. The power is nearly equivalent since both sides consider the front as cooperation.
 * 1. The share of authority in the First United Front **
 * // The CCP and the KMT relied on each other. //**

//** CCP grew bigger and bigger and KMT had noticed the threat. During the anti Japanese War, the two parties agreed to fight together, but they fought respectively. **// The communists and Zhang Xueliang, Yang Hucheng united and launched "Xian Incident" to force KMT to fight the Japanese together with CCP. After the Xian Incident, KMT and CCP cooperated for the second time and the Second United Front was formed. Since than, CCP had begun to show its power. CCP began to speak out in big issues and tried to control the situation. During the Second United Front, CCP learnt from its experience from the First United Front. Although " CPC agreed to accept the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek, and began to receive some financial support from the central government ran by KMT ",(n.a,n.d) and CCP's army was reorganized into the New Fourth Army and the 8th Route Army, which were placed under the command of the National Revolutionary Army(n.a, n.d),The CCP actually worked separately. "The alliance that was created with the Communists was in name only and the Communists hardly ever engaged the Japanese in major battles but proved efficient in guerilla warfare. The level of actual cooperation and coordination between the CPC and KMT during the Second World War was minimal." (n.a.,n.d.) During the war, the size of the CCP's army grew rapidly. "When the war broke out, the CCP had 30,000 men in the Eighth Route Army. In early 1938, the New Fourth Army was organized in central China with an initial force of 12,000. Starting from a combined force of about 40,000 men, the Communist forces grew to 160,000 by early 1939. It was the fact of this rapid buildup of Communist forces and its implications for the future which increasingly alarmed the Kuomintang government after 1939." (Kataoka,1974) The power of KMT and CCP are actually equivalent since the KMT had begun to start see CCP as a threat. At this stage, the two parties were equal in authority and army, "the war became triangular." (Kataoka,1974)
 * 2. The share of authority in the Second United Front **

. (n.a,n.d) China Culture.(n.d).Chongqing Negtiation. Retrieved from: http://www.chinaculture.org/focus/focus/2011xh100nian/2011-09/24/content_423598.htm） The two parties seemed equivalent during the anti Japanese war, since the KMT and the CCP fought together against the Japanese in the war. After the Japanese surrendered, they shared the victory. So here came the argument: who should get the trophy, KMT or CCP? Both sides wanted to take charge of China. However, a war seems too fast for a country which just survived from another war. Undoubtfully, the war would happen sooner or later. The civil war can be regarded as the tie breaker of the blurry circumstance. The negotiation was only an excuse to prolong the preparing time for the civil war. Under this situation, Chongqing Negotiation was held. After heated discussions, the two sides signed the “Double Tenth Agreement”, which dealt with 12 issues including basic policies for founding the state, democratic politics, national congress, cooperation among parties, nationalization of armies, local governments in liberated areas. (Wang, n.d.)"The outcome was that the CCP acknowledged the KMT as the legal government, while the KMT in return recognised the CPC as a legitimate opposition party."(n.a, 2010) CCP agreed to cut down the population of the army but still remaining the CCP army. The two sides did not agree on whether to remain the liberated area or not. They decided to discuss this issue in the Political Consultative Conference later in the future. (n.a,2012) This was a blurry agreement since the authority of the two parties were still unclear. In other words, how can KMT be the only legal government when CCP owns its own territory and army? This blurry agreement did not make a clear guideline of the share of authority so the civil war is already in the air.
 * 3. Chongqing Negotiation **
 * //After the anti-Japanese war, the KMT and the CCP seemed equivalent. The civil war can be regarded as the tie breaker of the blurry circumstance.//**

Reference

baidubaike.(2012). 双十协定. Retrieved from:[|http://baike.baidu.com/view/69735.htm#3]

China Culture.(n.d).Chongqing Negtiation. Retrieved from: http://www.chinaculture.org/focus/focus/2011xh100nian/2011-09/24/content_423598.htm）

Kataoka, T. (1974) Retrieved from: http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft6v19p16j;brand=eschol.

n.a. (n.d.). Second United Front(China). Retrieved from: http://maoist.wikia.com/wiki/Second_United_Front_(China).

Suokas, J. (2011). The First United Front of the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communists. Retrieved from:http://gbtimes.com/history-chinese-communist-party/first-united-front-kuomintang-and-chinese-communists.

Wang, R.H. (n.d.) What Has Led China to Where She Is Now. Retrieved from: [].

Wikipedia.(n.d).Naval Jack of the Republic of China. Retrieved from:

Wikipedia.(n.d) Flag of the Chinese Communist Party. Retrieved from: