China 1945-49 Civil War - military

THE KMT 'S FAILURE IN THE CHINESE CIVIL WAR

Even before the Chinese Civil War began in 1945 , the Kuomintang (KMT 's military forces were beset by eight years of fighting the Japanese , who occupied Manchuria and most of eastern China , especially the major port cities . The war effort depleted the KMT , which appeared stronger than it actually was , and it was forced during wartime to make peace with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP . China expert Edwin Reischauer wrote that the KMT was forced to rely on groups not in sympathy with its

original objectives ' weakening the KMT both politically and militarily , because the public would not support Chiang Kai-shek 's army

The KMT 's military initially enjoyed superior troop strength and had superior equipment when the Chinese civil war erupted in late 1945 Initially , the KMT controlled China 's major cities , but the CCP controlled the vast countryside , which was the source of its strength According to historian Immanuel Hsu , The big metropolises of Peiping Tientsin , Shanghai , Nanking , Hankow , and Canton . became urban islands in a Communist-dominated rural ocean ' In addition , it controlled China 's major port cities and was strengthened by 50 ,000 United States Marines , as well as Japanese troops ed by the terms of the surrender to help maintain in areas they formerly occupied By the end of 1946 , Chiang Kai-shek 's forces had driven CCP troops out of Hopeh and Hunan

By June 1947 , the CCP held only 191 ,000 square miles of territory populated by only 18 million people . However , the KMT made the mistake of placing too many troops on garrison duty in occupied cities , instead of sustaining the attack on CCP forces and preventing them from regrouping . As Chiang Kai-shek later claimed , In waging limited war against the Communists ' failure ' Despite these successes , the KMT suffered from low morale resulting from exhaustion , poor leadership , and lack of popular support particularly among China 's peasants . Historian Immanuel Hsu claims that even before Japan 's surrender , the KMT 's army was held together by nationalism , patriotism , and the prospect of an imminent Allied victory . [but] their spirit was unwilling and their flesh weak ' Chiang himself later wrote : The morale of the both the armed forces and the civilian population were at a low ebb . Only the armed forces fought and even they felt the effects of defeatism

In addition to the KMT 's poor morale and strategy , it received far less foreign aid than they wanted , particularly because the United States says Hsu , followed a course of partial withdrawal and limited assistance ' American secretary of state George Marshall wanted peace between both sides and had no desire to underwrite a Chinese civil war and he made aid to the KMT dependent on a peace agreement that never happened . Hsu claims that the feeling was gaining ground that Marshall obstructed their ultimate victory ' and ignored him . The United States withheld significant amounts of aid during the war 's key early phase , when the KMT...