The Rise to Power of the CCP was made possible because of the failure of the existing regime to deal with economic and political problems. To what extent do you agree with this statement?
The rise to power of the CCP refers to CCP achieving victory over the GMD in the Chinese civil war in 1949. The time period that will be considered is 1945 to 1949 and asides from the economic and political problems of the GMD, the strengths of the CCP and the weakness of the GMD will be considered for a holistic evaluation of the extent the rise to power of the CCP was due to the economic and political problems of the GMD.
Economic problems aided the rise to power of the CCP to a large extent as it undermined the GMD’s ability to rule China, decreasing is popularity with the people, allowing the CCP to gain the support of the people in the civil war. The inflation of prices signalling economic failure can be seen from the price index increasing from 249,100 in 1945 to 287,700,000 in 1948 which led to people being demoralised and the GMD government being discredited with their economic policies which in turn led to decreased popularity, shown by the main supporters of the GMD being rich landlords and the majority of peasants not supporting the GMD but instead supporting the CCP.
However, political problems such as corruption in the officials were as significant as economic problems as it resulted in the GMD losing peasantry support. GMD officials that took control of Taiwan were corrupt and the people did not get benefits from the government and the loss of GMD from the peasantry can be substantiated by the 1947 rebellion in Taiwan in direct response to the corruption. In addition, the GMD army decreased from 4.8 million in 1946 to 1.5 million in 1949 while the PLA army increased from 1.2 million 1946 to 4 million in 1949 which shows the support of the peasantry wavered because the corruption in the government simply turned the people off. Without a doubt, this figures can be attributed to the outcome of the battles. However, this disproportionate figures are also due to a number of peasants joining the CCP and a number of GMD soldiers deflecting to the CCP which shows a lack of support, stem from the corruption in the officials in the GMD.
Moreover, due to the corruption of the officials, foreign powers such as USA gave increasingly less support to GMD’s civil war battle, enabling the CCP to rise to power. The USA cut back all most aid until 1948 when they provided $463 million to the GMD but it was too late to make a significant impact and led to the GMD losing the civil war, as shown by the GMD losing the civil war in 1949. However, the decreased USA support cannot be totally blamed on the political problems of the GMD as USA was also disappointed with the continuing of the civil war, which was partially why they cut back on the support they gave to the GMD, evaporating the advantage the GMD had over the CCP in the civil war, allowing the CCP to rise to power.
At the same time however, the rise to power of CCP was made possible from their own strengths in their military tactics which allowed them to secure Manchuria successfully which gave them a base to launch their attacks and , gaining an advantage in the civil war. The CCP tactic of retreating and counter attacked in 1947 allowed them to gain Manchuria which allowed them to attack from Harbin, allowing them to gradually win the war. Moreover, the capturing of Manchuria also helped the CCP rise to power as many officials defected to the CCP as a result of the GMD’s failure in the countryside, giving the CCP vital information that allowed them to win the civil war. On example is high ranking official Guo Rugui who acted as a mole and revealed GMD’s war planning to the CCP, allowing them to know in advance the steps of the GMD, so they were prepared and be on step ahead of the GMD in planning and attacks, allowing them to win the civil war easier, leading to their rise in power. This is substantiated by the CCP being warned beforehand and abandoning Yanan before a large GMD army was to arrive to take Yanan, saving vital equipment and men were protected, preserving it for later fights, allowing the CCP to use it in order battles and win the civil war.
Moreover, the defecting of the officials gave the CCP information paved the way for the quick evacuation of troops in Yanan also allowed the CCP to launch a counter attack into the nearby regions of Yanan which secured the CCP’s victory as it gave the CCP northern China, contributing to their total conquest of China and leading to their rise in power.
Lastly, a factor that enabled the rise to power of the CCP is the Japanese War as it weakened the GMD army and relatively strengthened the CCP army, enabling the CCP to have an advantage in the civil war, leading the CCP to rise to power. The Japanese War killed many of the GMD best troops especially in the Operation of Ochigo which resulted in less skilled men fighting the CCP for the GMD in the civil war, causing them to lose the war as seen in 1948 in the battle for Jinzhou, Shenyang and Changchun where the last 3 Manchurian cities were taken from the GMD by the CCP in only a month. Additionally, the presence of the Japanese had led Chiang to believe that the USA will invade China to help drive the CCCP out, resulting in loss of discipline and morale in the GMD, allowing the CCP to claim victory easier. This can be substantiated by the 70% desertion rates of the GMD army, which shows a lack of morale and loss of discipline in the army which will translate to poorer performance on the battlefield with the CCP. Moreover, the Japanese war also strengthened the CCP army as the GMD had been driven southwards which gave the CCP control over 90 million Chinese after the Japanese lost the war, increasing their army from 22000 in 1936 to 900,000 in 1945 which allowed them to have a numerical advantage when fighting the civil war, leading to victory.
All in all, the failure of the GMD to deal with economic and political problems made the rise to power of the CCP possible to a large extent as it had huge ramifications on the battle between the GMD and the CCP relative to other factors like the strengths of the CCP where their tactics which had substantial impact on the outcome of the civil war or the Japanese Invasion which weakened the GMD and boosted the military strength of the CCP but it was less significant than the inherent weaknesses in the GMD’s policies which played a larger role in determining the number of troops and technology available in the civil war for the GMD, allowing the CCP to claim victory in the civil war and rise to power.