During the 1920s there was an emergence of two new political parties: The nationalist Guomindang and the Chinese Communist Party or the CCP. Both demanded a free and independent China that is ruled by the Chinese with no foreign political involvement but their similarities ended there. The Guomindang was a pro capitalist party which was supported by conservatives, the middle class, business interests and the West, mainly the United States. The CCP, however represented China’s industrial working class and peasant farmers, which made up more than 90% of their population. The CCP was inspired and to some extent directed by the Soviet regime in Moscow.
In 1927 the Guomindang reined in the nation’s warlords, unifying China and restored national government. The Guomindang leader, Chiang Kai-shek who was an anticommunist had turned his attentions on the CCP, creating a massacre on communists in their urban base in Shanghai. Thousands of communists were forced to take shelter in remote areas, where they regrouped by forming soviets.
In the last few years of World War II, American military and diplomatic representatives in China realized that a civil war was likely to happen between the Nationalist controlled government and the Chinese Communists. The two armed parties had put aside their differences, as they confronted Japanese invaders, but after the defeat of Japan it was obvious that they were planning to resume the struggle for control of the country. Washington had attempted to avert civil war, debating between the two sides and hoping to create a peaceful government. When that effort failed, President Harry Truman sent General George C. Marshall to China to try to create a peace treaty and to understand the intentions between the Soviet Union in Manchuria and North China.
In 1949 the Cold War moved into the Asian hemisphere where China was seized by communist revolutionaries. China with its large land mass, strategic position and massive population which had long been known as the sleeping dragon of the East. Europeans had known of China since the days of Marco Polo, aware of its 5,000 year old culture and technological advancement. The great powers of Europe all shared a slice of China for their empires. During the 18th and 19th centuries, many of the European nations landed in colonized parts of China. They traded with the Chinese and built up the ‘spheres of influence’ within China. By the beginning of the 20th century, the British, French, Germans, Russians and Japanese had split up China like a gigantic pie.
The outbreak of the Korean War in June of 1950 disrupted any idea of stabilization of the Sino-American relations. The PRC and the United States would be then locked into a deadly three year war in the Korean peninsula from June 1950 to July 1953. After China entered the Korean War in October 1950, the U.S. would now consider the PRC as a major threat to its main interest in Asia, and to the security of Japan. During the Korean War, the Sino Soviet alliance worked reasonably well as the Soviet Union provided China with a great deal of military supplies and economic aid. Given China’s hostility, Washington took action by strengthening the U.S. economic embargo against the PRC, which first started in the fall of 1950, strengthening the support for the Nationalist government in Taiwan, blocking the PRC’s membership in the UN, further isolating the PRC politically. The PRC’s hostility toward the U.S. and Washington’s actions intensified the Cold War in the region.
In the 1960s, although Washington believed that the Soviet threat was still the main threat, the Third World became a major battleground for the great power disagreement. The rise of nationalism as a result of the Communist infiltration seemed to have posed an increasing threat to the United States and “Free World”. It was within this area that China stood out as the world’s leading revolutionary state, threatening not only Western democracy but also Moscow’s claim to a leadership role within the Socialist block.
After a brief power struggle following Mao’s death in 1976, Deng Xiaoping became China’s leader in the late 1970s. Deng charted a course for China’s rapid economic development that combined a successful reform and openness to capitalistic international economy with the continued one party rule of the CCP. In foreign policy, Deng shared Mao’s goal to strive for China’s equality and to restore China’s lost glory. He was the architect of China’s foreign policy from 1978 until the early 1990s. Deng virtually brought an end to China’s remaining practical support for revolutionary movements between the two superpowers, which was called “an independent foreign policy” at the 12th National Congress of the CCP in 1982. Under Deng’s leadership, Communist rule in China survived the demise of Communism in Eastern Europe and the loss of power in the Soviet Union, the motherland of Communism. The PRC weathered the end of the Cold War. As the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and the Soviet bloc quickly fell apart, China gradually emerged as a nascent superpower.
In 1927 the Guomindang reined in the nation’s warlords, unifying China and restored national government. The Guomindang leader, Chiang Kai-shek who was an anticommunist had turned his attentions on the CCP, creating a massacre on communists in their urban base in Shanghai. Thousands of communists were forced to take shelter in remote areas, where they regrouped by forming soviets.
In the last few years of World War II, American military and diplomatic representatives in China realized that a civil war was likely to happen between the Nationalist controlled government and the Chinese Communists. The two armed parties had put aside their differences, as they confronted Japanese invaders, but after the defeat of Japan it was obvious that they were planning to resume the struggle for control of the country. Washington had attempted to avert civil war, debating between the two sides and hoping to create a peaceful government. When that effort failed, President Harry Truman sent General George C. Marshall to China to try to create a peace treaty and to understand the intentions between the Soviet Union in Manchuria and North China.
In 1949 the Cold War moved into the Asian hemisphere where China was seized by communist revolutionaries. China with its large land mass, strategic position and massive population which had long been known as the sleeping dragon of the East. Europeans had known of China since the days of Marco Polo, aware of its 5,000 year old culture and technological advancement. The great powers of Europe all shared a slice of China for their empires. During the 18th and 19th centuries, many of the European nations landed in colonized parts of China. They traded with the Chinese and built up the ‘spheres of influence’ within China. By the beginning of the 20th century, the British, French, Germans, Russians and Japanese had split up China like a gigantic pie.
The outbreak of the Korean War in June of 1950 disrupted any idea of stabilization of the Sino-American relations. The PRC and the United States would be then locked into a deadly three year war in the Korean peninsula from June 1950 to July 1953. After China entered the Korean War in October 1950, the U.S. would now consider the PRC as a major threat to its main interest in Asia, and to the security of Japan. During the Korean War, the Sino Soviet alliance worked reasonably well as the Soviet Union provided China with a great deal of military supplies and economic aid. Given China’s hostility, Washington took action by strengthening the U.S. economic embargo against the PRC, which first started in the fall of 1950, strengthening the support for the Nationalist government in Taiwan, blocking the PRC’s membership in the UN, further isolating the PRC politically. The PRC’s hostility toward the U.S. and Washington’s actions intensified the Cold War in the region.
In the 1960s, although Washington believed that the Soviet threat was still the main threat, the Third World became a major battleground for the great power disagreement. The rise of nationalism as a result of the Communist infiltration seemed to have posed an increasing threat to the United States and “Free World”. It was within this area that China stood out as the world’s leading revolutionary state, threatening not only Western democracy but also Moscow’s claim to a leadership role within the Socialist block.
After a brief power struggle following Mao’s death in 1976, Deng Xiaoping became China’s leader in the late 1970s. Deng charted a course for China’s rapid economic development that combined a successful reform and openness to capitalistic international economy with the continued one party rule of the CCP. In foreign policy, Deng shared Mao’s goal to strive for China’s equality and to restore China’s lost glory. He was the architect of China’s foreign policy from 1978 until the early 1990s. Deng virtually brought an end to China’s remaining practical support for revolutionary movements between the two superpowers, which was called “an independent foreign policy” at the 12th National Congress of the CCP in 1982. Under Deng’s leadership, Communist rule in China survived the demise of Communism in Eastern Europe and the loss of power in the Soviet Union, the motherland of Communism. The PRC weathered the end of the Cold War. As the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and the Soviet bloc quickly fell apart, China gradually emerged as a nascent superpower.
References
"The Cold War and Chinese Foreign Policy." EInternational Relations. Web. 13 May 2016. <http://www.e-ir.info/2008/07/16/the-cold-war-and-china/>.
"Communist China." The Cold War. 2013. Web. 13 May 2016. <http://alphahistory.com/coldwar/communist-china/>.
"The United States and China during the Cold War." The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Web. 13 May 2016. <http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/seventies/essays/united-states-and-china-during-cold-war>.
"Communist China." The Cold War. 2013. Web. 13 May 2016. <http://alphahistory.com/coldwar/communist-china/>.
"The United States and China during the Cold War." The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Web. 13 May 2016. <http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/seventies/essays/united-states-and-china-during-cold-war>.