HW 3

Why did the Communists, and not the Nationalists, win the Chinese Civil War?

• Communists gained the support of the peasants through land reform (land was given to peasants), propaganda (Long March, images portraying Nationalists negatively and emphasizing the Communists' will to cooperate with each other), and the formation of the Jiangxi Soviet.
• The use of guerrilla warfare kept the Red Army together as a fighting force- the Long March allowed the Communists to regroup, bringing their numbers to about 80,000
• Mistakes by the Nationalists + Chiang Kaishek- Failure of the Extermination Campaigns, Loss of US support by 1949, Failure to gain support of the peasants, Refusal to resist against the Japanese invasion (makes him look bad, opposition takes advantage of this with propaganda, causes him to lose support), Cooperation with northern warlords
  
• Support of the USSR- spies, leadership/advisors
• Mao called for a "United Front" against Japan