Sophia Fan Mr. Carter & Mrs. Farley Humanities - Matteo Ricci November 15, 2012 The Domino Effect of the White Terror Have you ever tapped lightly against one domino and watched it knock down a whole line of these small squares? It is amazing how one single action can reciprocate so many other events. This is not only the case for dominoes, of course- everyday events have occurred like this too. A perfect example of the domino effect is the Communist split from the Nationalists, commonly known as the White Terror. This sudden purge only lasted around three nights, but the effects of the split would last for many decades in the future. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) split from the Chinese Nationalists in 1927 affected both China itself and other foreign nations through the triggering of major wars, changes in international relations, and the formation of modern China- one of the world’s leading economies. The effects of the split, both positive and negative, would last for many years to come. After splitting from the Nationalists, Mao Zedong led the legendary Long March- a campaign that would garner support for him and split the country into two parties. Although the route was extremely long and dangerous, the popularity gained along the way sustained the marchers. As Mao Zedong wrote in his 1935 poem The Long March, “the Red Army fears not the trials of the Long March, holding light ten thousand crags and torrents ... Min Mountain's thousand li of snow joyously crossed, the three Armies march on, each face glowing” (Johnson). The Long March mainly crossed the Chinese countryside, a greatly beneficial move, as this is where the Communists were greeted with newfound supporters ready to be enlisted into the Red Army. After Mao took the lead from Otto Braun, a Russian agent sent to help the Chinese army, he devised a route to Yan’An full of twists and turns (to prevent Nationalist attacks), and led the Communists through the remote Yunnan countryside. Here, he gained a large amount of support and new army men as his army marched through villages. The concept of communism appealed to the poor farmers, who were tired of being exploited by the rich and wanted to have everyone on the same social class. It was crucial for Mao to gain supporters, as previous battles led by Otto Braun had reduced the Red Army’s size from 87,000 men down to 42,000, and those who remained were weakening from the exhaustion of the march (Johnson). The supporters he picked up along the way would make it to Yan’An with him, and they would strengthen the Red Army. These new army men would build up the Red Army and set the Communists’ power on par with the Nationalists. Although there were extremely harsh conditions and much suffering along the Long March, reaching Yan’An granted the Communists a crucial opportunity to restore and rebuild their army, strengthening it back to 80,000 men (Brooman 12). At Yan’An, a safe Communist territory, the Red Army thrived. The Second and Fourth Front Armies of the Communist Party also arrived at Yan’An, taking a different route than the original Red Army. Here, the soldiers recovered together from their exhaustion. They practiced their fighting skills, in addition to organizing, strategizing, and strengthening their army. The openness and opportunity of Yan’An (also known as the “Yan’An Spirit”) boosted the morale, skill, and overall strength of the Red Army. This was a critical stage in the development of the Communist Party, as these aspects would make the Communist Party a threatening force to the Nationalist party. However, it is also necessary to consider background history when analyzing the Long March. At first, Mao was the undisputed leader of Red Army, but after allying with the Russians, Russian agent Otto Braun took Mao’s place. Only after some unfavorable occurrences did Mao return to power. The more abstract aspects of the Communist party during this time period also gained it popularity. The mass suffering caused by Otto Braun during the first part of the Long March led to general anti-foreigner opinions in Red Army soldiers, Communist party members, and Communist supporters, and these political stances proved to be ultimately beneficial for the Communists. After replacing Mao Zedong, Braun completely changed the tactics/strategies of the Communist army. Instead of using guerrilla warfare, Braun insisted that they fight the Nationalists head-on in official battles. This concept eventually failed, as the Red Army lost 45,000 men under Braun’s leadership, when the army was completely trapped in Jiangxi Province with Nationalist lines blocking their way out (Brooman 12). Following the deaths at Jiangxi Province, Mao made his comeback. The anti-foreigner Communist view would eventually gain more popularity amongst Chinese (as the hatred was interpreted as patriotism, while Nationalist Commander In Chief Chiang Kaishek’s foreign connections was suspected to be treason). This strengthened Communist forces both in numbers and in resources. Word began to spread about the Communist party’s concepts, resulting in an increase of popularity for the Communists (mostly amongst the poor). The White Terror affected the outcome of the Sino-Japanese war (a predecessor of World War II), which damaged international relations and caused discontent/doubt amongst the Chinese people. Chiang Kaishek used foreign resources (given for China to fight the Japanese) to secretly fight Communists (whom the Nationalists were supposed to be temporarily united with). "The Japanese are a disease of the skin, the Communists are a disease of the heart” (Fairbank and Feuerwerker 148). This infamous quote by Chiang Kaishek sums up his priorities perfectly. He made it clear that he considered the Communists to be a bigger threat than the Japanese, and that he would rather fight the Communists than the Japanese- and so he did. He placed the best, most well-trained army companies aside to fight the Communists, while ordering weaker ones to fight the Japanese. Chiang Kaishek’s unjust use of foreign-given resources gave the Japanese the upper hand during the war, and although in the end, China emerged victorious, she won at a much higher cost (with more blood shed than there should have been, given the circumstances). If he had not used up these resources fighting the Communists, China could’ve won an easy victory. Foreign governments became increasingly frustrated as they saw Chiang Kaishek misuse their offered resources, interpreting this as offensive and rude. Relationships between the Nationalists and foreign nations became strained. Tensions rose between Chiang Kaishek’s Nationalists and the United States government. Chiang began to suspect the motives of the Americans (why were they giving him so many resources with him giving virtually nothing in return?), while the Americans, based on reports made by General Stilwell (an American official could not stand Chiang) decided to stop sending resources to Chiang as he wasn’t using most of them to fight the Japanese. Later on, it would be discovered that Chiang had been sending conflicting messages between the Soviet Union and the United States during World War II, damaging their relationship, too. Chiang Kaishek damaged the Nationalists’ international relations greatly with his actions, putting his party in danger of losing and giving the Communists the upper hand. Chiang’s greatest asset/advantage against the Communists was that he had foreign connections and had great relations with powerful countries; now that this was gone, Chiang had actually given the Communists a boost in strength. While the Communists fought hard against the Japanese, the Nationalists gave mixed signals to the Chinese population by making little progress with larger forces. After the Japanese bombed Chongqing (Chiang Kaishek’s wartime government location) countless times, his city was left completely ruined. It all went downhill for the Nationalists from there, as the Japanese later on went on to occupy south-east China, trapping Chiang’s army and cutting off their connections to the coast of China (Johnson). However, during the same time, the Communists launched an offensive called the Hundred Regiments Battle, in which they destroyed Japanese railway communications throughout North/Mid-China, successfully crippling Japanese connections from the North to the South of China (Brooman 21). The Communist success and Nationalist failure (in fighting the Japanese) came as a surprise to the Chinese population. They began to doubt the Nationalists, who they had previously thought were much stronger than the unofficial Communists. The general population began to have mixed feelings and confusion as to why the Nationalists were so weak; some people converted to Communism because of this. The White Terror sparked the Chinese Civil War, arguably the single most important event in building modern China. The Chinese Civil War had a very high cost, affecting the population, economy and treasury of China for many years to come. The economy during the time of the Civil War was in extreme recession, and inflation reached an all time high in Nationalist-controlled cities; At its worst, one kilogram of rice had cost half a million RMB (Brooman 24). This caused rioting, worker strikes, and caused total chaos to erupt in many cities. China’s treasury was not doing well either, as the American government cut off all aid to the Nationalists (after giving 200 million dollars’ worth of aid in the past 2 years). Furthermore, China lost 2 million of its population to the war. During the Civil War, this was good news for the Communists, as the more people suffered in Nationalist cities, the more people converted to the Communist Party. However, afterward the Communists won the war, this was their mess to clean up, and this would stunt China’s growth for decades. The Communist party eventually won the war, making China a communist country. After 3 years of bloody civil war (1946-1949), the Communists emerged victorious. It was an unlikely victory, as their forces were far outnumbered by the Nationalists’, and they usually resorted to guerrilla warfare. The turning point was the vicious Battle of Huai-Hai, in which the Nationalists lost more than 500,000 men and a large portion of their equipment, allowing the Communists to easily capture the large cities of Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou (Brooman 25). China becoming a communist country was the first move in the building of modern China, as we have no idea how China might’ve turned out if the Nationalists won. Based on the corruption and crime already flourishing in Nationalist-held cities during the Civil War, we can predict that China wouldn’t be the success it is today if the Nationalists did win. After Mao Zedong’s reign as the first chairman of the People’s Republic of China, Deng Xiaoping reformed China politically and economically into the modern China we see today. Deng Xiaoping got to work as soon as he came into power. As Ezra Vogel, professor of Social Sciences at Harvard, said: “Deng ... was a wartime commander. And for 12 years he had to fight battles and get his troops ready for the next battle. He didn’t have time to talk about ideology. He had to reorganize, work with the people; then find the talent, get ready for the next battle. And I think that very much shaped the way he behaved when he had a chance to come into power in `78.” (Vogel Charlie Rose Show). Deng Xiaoping developed the theory of socialist market economy and opened China up to foreign trade/settlement. His program of four reforms, called the Gaige Kaifang (“Reform and Openness”), focused on innovating the agriculture, industry, military, and science/technology of China (Brooman 42). Without the Communists winning the Civil War, Deng Xiaoping would have never become chairman of the PRC, and China may still be under oppressive/corrupted nationalist rule. Because the Communists won the Civil War, Deng Xiaoping had the opportunity of presidency, and changed China into one of the world’s fastest growing economies (for 30 years straight). He modernized China into the successful economical powerhouse it is today. The Communist Party split from the Nationalist Party in 1927 precipitated many significant events in history, including World War II, the Chinese Civil War, Mao Zedong’s reign, and the emergence of modern China. This one single decision affected China’s international relations for years to come, building everything we see today. Life without the White Terror would be unimaginable. China would be in an unrecognizable state, and although we will never know what modern China would be like if the Communists had not won the war, we can imagine that it would not have been as successful. There would be no foreign immigrants/expatriates, as well as limited trade. China might still be under the corrupted government of the Nationalists (with underground crime partnerships and bribery). Foreign economies would also suffer, as they would not be able to mass-produce goods nearly as efficiently if China was out of the picture. The reciprocating effects of the White Terror of 1927 also lend some universal life lessons that can be applied to daily life. Throughout the Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War, Chiang Kaishek took halfhearted actions, never fully committing to a cause. The result, of course, was the large-scale failure of the Nationalist Party. This shows us that doing things halfheartedly will never get you anywhere, and will ultimately fail you in life. As Mao would say, “A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery. It cannot be so leisurely, refined, and gentle...” (Baum 10). The White Terror of 1927 was certainly none of those things, and proved to be the trigger of many revolutions. Through both political/economical impacts and more abstract influences, most lives on the planet have been changed (some albeit infinitesimally) by the White Terror; the lives of future generations may also be changed by this one night, too.

Primary sources: 1. Baum, Richard, perf. "Chiang, Mao, and Civil War, 1926-1934." Fall and Rise of China. The Teaching Company, 1 2010. web. 2 Oct 2012. This podcast, along with many others in the Fall and Rise of China series, was given to the students on the Mao’s Long March interim. Richard Baum produced this audiobook as a summarization of the history of China, and in this podcast, he addresses the Nationalist/Communist conflict through many pieces of evidence and primary quotes. I found the quotes he recited (from Mao and Chiang) to be the most helpful, and I used one of Mao’s quotes on revolution in my paper. I think that this audiobook does a good job of addressing the controversies without any bias and looking at events from all perspectives. 2. Gardner, Dinah. "What if Mao had lost...." Al Jazeera (Qatar) (2009): n.pag. Newspaper Source. Web. 28 Oct 2012. <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=5&hid=15&sid=1ea87aad-a165-4636-a42a-76237de28962@sessionmgr11&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ== Dinah Gardner, a journalist who has reported on Mao Zedong for multiple papers, sets out with this interview to write an unconventional take on Mao’s leadership story. Most people know why he was crucial to the formation of modern China, but in this piece, Gardner interviews scholars who question whether Mao’s victory was that significant at all; this creates a fresh, unique viewpoint backed up by analysis and facts. These scholars seem to be somewhat biased/prejudiced against Mao, but it is still nonetheless important to consider their logical perspectives. Although my paper is generally in support of Mao, I decided that alternate viewpoints would be beneficial to writing an unbiased essay, maybe even providing counterexamples. 3. Johnson, Mark. "Mao's Long March Interim 2012." Trans. Array Mao's Long March Interim 2012. Mark Johnson. 1st ed. Shanghai: Concordia International School Shanghai, 2012. 1-44. Print. This mini-textbook/pamphlet, compiled by Mr. Johnson of Concordia International School Shanghai, contains maps of the Long March, an introduction on modern Chinese history (excerpts from another secondary source I used), translations on Mao’s poems, analyses, and other information. Although it was produced specifically for the Mao’s Long March interim, I found the resources, especially the poems, very useful to my paper. I contained an few lines of a Mao Zedong poem in my paper, as it is a primary source from the Communist leader himself. The only limitation is that some meanings and lines of the poem may have been lost in translation (there are many versions of translations, all contained in the compilation). It is up to the reader to choose the most accurate poem translation based on judgement.

4. Rose, Charlie. "Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China." Charlie Rose Show (MSNBC) (2011): n.pag. Newspaper Source. Web. 25 Oct 2012. <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=969fa803-c6f2-4328-b10d-11d7c452b622@sessionmgr12&vid=1&hid=7&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ== Professor Ezra Vogel of Harvard University has a discussion with Charlie Rose (on his namesake talk show) on Deng Xiaoping’s significance to China. Vogel recently wrote a book, Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China. In the interview, they analyze Deng’s leadership and actions thoroughly, telling the audience through conversation how Deng’s decisions were magnified and caused domino-effects throughout China- ultimately leading to the formation of modern China as we know it. This source was helpful in that it provided logical causes and effects of Deng’s leadership, which supported my mini-thesis perfectly. Although this conversation was in transcript form and some parts were confusing to understand, I found that overall, it explained clearly why Deng Xiaoping was crucial to the modernization of China.

Secondary Sources: 1. Brooman, Josh. China Since 1900. Longman 20th Century, Print. This source was a compiled, summarized textbook of China Since 1900 (the full version). The author, Josh Brooman, is an experienced writer/author of many history books. I found this to be the most helpful out of all my sources, as it gave both a summary of China in the past century, as well as detailed statistics and primary documents. This was the backbone of my research for the essay, as it had information on almost all of the topics I strove to cover. 2. Feuerwerker, Albert, and John K. Fairbank. The Cambridge History of China: Republican China 1912-1949. 13. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986. 148-148. Print. Feuerwerker, a Harvard PhD, and Fairbank, a leading academic/historian on Chinese history, combine their studies into a series of books on modern China’s history. This book is a summarization and analysis of China from the end of its last dynasty to the Communist victory (of the Civil War). It has many valuable resources on the internal conflicts of the United Front (when the Nationalists and Communists joined to fight the Japanese), and these pieces of evidence were beneficial in my study of Chiang’s confusing war tactics/motives. This source provided research on the rift between the Communists and Nationalists during the SIno-Japanese war, one of my main topics. 3. Issitt, Micah L. . "Chiang Kai-shek." Chiang Kai-shek (2006): 1-3. MAS Ultra- School Edition. Web. 19 Oct 2012. <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=9780f872-37a2-4715-8e8a-8aedf42a8a0c3@sessionmgr13&vid=1&hid=9&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ== It is clear that Micah L. Issitt, a freelancing writer, wrote this summary of Chiang Kai-shek’s life as an educational resource for researchers and historians. This source gives a lot of background information of Chiang’s life, helping me in interpreting and analyzing his (future) motives/actions during the Sino-Japanese war, World War II, the Long March, and the Chinese Civil War. 4. "Japan Conducts Military Campaigns in China." Great Events, 1931-1939 3. 391-391. History Reference Center. Web. 20 Oct 2012. <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=1afc196b-ada7-468a-a94c-23e2da6e941b@sessionmgr113&vid=1&hid=105&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ== This source, an excerpt from the history textbook Great Events, 1931-1939. listed no author- meaning that it was most likely written by more than one person (e.g. professors, as this is an educational textbook). This text provided information on Japanese control/influence in China, proving to be helpful when analyzing Chinese motives/actions towards the Japanese and the triggers of the Sino-Japanese war. Through some study, this source also helped in finding why the Communists gained popularity and appeal amongst the general Chinese population. Since this text was extracted from an academic textbook, the information was organized, concise, and unbiased without any judgement or tone.

5. "Long March." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia 6th (2011): 1-1. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 21 Oct 2012. <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=daa7d9d7-f23e-463e-9975-7508bc18c9f3@sessionmgr111&vid=1&hid=105&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ== 6. This source was extracted from the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, and was written in a clear, organized format that was easy to interpret (with unnamed author[s]). It was most likely filed in the history section of this virtual encyclopedia, and connects Mao’s Long March with its impact on China using various forms of evidence: statistics, facts, primary reports, etc... This was particularly helpful to me as it gave precise details/numbers that would help me solidify the claims made in my paper. 7. Mitter, Rana. "Picturing Victory The Visual Imaginary of the War of Resistance, 1937–1947.." European Journal of East Asian Studies 7.2 (2008): 167-192. Advanced Placement Source. Web. 21 Oct 2012. <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=5cb8af53-f706-41b5-ba76-860255bc92d7@sessionmgr104&vid=1&hid=105&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ== 8. This source was written by Rana Mitter, Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China, for an academic journal- proving to be quite reliable in information. The author doesn’t only address the Sino-Japanese war as a conflict between China and Japan, as this has already been analyzed in countless other sources. Instead, Professor Mitter claims that the Sino-Japanese war was really a “transitional conflict” between the Communists and Nationalists, and backs this up using various pieces of evidence. Coincidentally, this is exactly what I am trying to prove in my paper, too, so this is quite helpful in my research. Since I also have another source on the Sino-Japanese war, this source helps me identify/confirm whether the facts given in the other source are accurate. 9. Salisbury, Harrison E. "The Long March." Magill’s Literary Annual 1986 (1986): 1-3. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 21 Oct 2012. <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=ce5bbb30-1c8d-46ea-8e9a-61dfb2f2de97@sessionmgr112&vid=1&hid=105&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ== 10. This source was written in 1986, almost 30 years ago, by Harrison E. Salisbury- a traveler and author. Salisbury had the unique opportunity of walking along many of the Long March’s original routes when he traveled to China, even meeting some Long March veterans in villages along the way. Although this source is quite outdated, it gives both secondary-source observations/analysis of the Long March while providing primary-source accounts. This helped me greatly as a researcher, as it allowed me to analyze and study the common Chinese reaction to Mao’s Long March- both now and in the past. The only drawback of this source is that Salisbury is looking at the Long March through a traveler/foreigner’s eye in some of his observations, and could be unintentionally biased. 11. Schaff, Marta. "China Becomes Communist." China Becomes Communist (2009): 1-2. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 24 Oct 2012. <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=bf049035-788b-41e7-b531-3b6a06ab9d60@sessionmgr112&vid=1&hid=105&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ== Author Marta Schaff covers a wide variety of aspects caused by the Communist victory in China. This document was written wholly for academic use, describing information in a secondhand, toneless (unbiased) voice that states facts from a purely objective standpoint. It provides information on both the cause (common popularity) and effect (tensions in foreign relations) of China becoming a communist country, analyzing the outcome of the Chinese Civil War from many viewpoints. This was particularly helpful to me, as my paper researched how the Communists won, as well as what happened after they won (the significance of the victory). 12. "Sino-Japanese War, Second." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia 6th (2011): 1-1. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 20 Oct 2012. <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=53ee82d1-9d9a-48fe-ad31-45c5de8bda17@sessionmgr15&vid=1&hid=9&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ==
This source gave many dates of the Sino-Japanese War, including background information and potential triggers of the war. It was written in encyclopedia form (as it was extracted from the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia), and was purely factual without any opinion. This source helped me in that it gave me a detailed summary of the entire war (including background information and significance on future events), allowing me to easily use certain pieces of information in my paper.