Seeds of Destruction: Nationalist China in War and Revolution, 1937-1949

Description

The question "Who lost China?" has provoked political vituperation and academic controversy ever since the Chinese Communists drove the Nationalist regime of Chiang Kai-shek off the mainland in 1949. In this study based on a wide array of hitherto unused documentary sources, the author delves deeply into the inner workings of the Nationalist regime and concludes that the Nationalists collapsed largely as a result of their own failings. Most strikingly, he uses the records and memoirs of the Nationalists themselves to document the weaknesses of the Nationalist rule. For even Chiang Kai-shek said of the Kuomintang on the eve of its final defeat in 1949, "This kind of party should long ago have been destroyed and swept away!" To illuminate the factors that contributed to its ultimate defeat, the author examines the Nationalist government during the period 1937-1949 from several different perspectives. He carefully scrutinizes the relationship between the central and provincial governments, the plight of the tax-burdened peasantry in the Nationalist-held areas, the intraparty politics of the regime as expressed in the Youth Corps and the reformist Ko-hsin Movement, the deficiencies of the army during the wars against Japan and the Communists, the failure of the Gold Yüan currency reform of late 1948, and finally, Chiang Kai-shek's own assessment of his army and the civilian branches of his regime during the final phases of the war. Seeds of Destruction Seeds of Destruction: NATIONALIST CHINA IN WAR AND REVOLUTION 1937-1949 ISBN 0-8047-1191-7 Acknowledgments Contents Introduction CHAPTER 1 Regional Politics and the Central Government: Yunnan and Chungking CHAPTER 2 Peasants, Taxes, and Nationalist Rule: The War Years Economic Trends Affecting the Peasants TABLE 1 Indexes of Real Income in Nationalist China, 1937-45 TABLE 2 Food Crop Production in 15 Provinces of Nationalist China, 1938-45 The Land Taxes T'an-p'ai, Military Grain, and Other Exactions The Peasants' Tax Burden TABLE 3 Collection of the Land Tax-in-Kind, 1941-48 Economic Effects and Political Reactions CHAPTER 3 Peasants, Taxes, and Revolution: The Postwar Years The Immediate Postwar Situation The Civil War Period TABLE 4 Food Crop Production in 22 Provinces of Nationalist China, 1946-49 Land-Reform Proposals The Peasants' Role in the Revolution CHAPTER 4 Politics Within the Regime: The Youth Corps Formation and Shifting Goals of the Corps Activities and Membership Continuing Conflict with the Kuomintang Merger with the Kuomintang The Kuomintang After the Merger CHAPTER 5 Politics Within the Regime: The Ko-hsin Movement Origins of the Movement Motivations and Targets of Attack The Political Consultative Conference The Organization of Ko-hsin Seminars The Ko-hsin Critique of the Party and the Government The Movement's Demise and an Autopsy CHAPTER 6 The Nationalist Anny During the War of Resistance Shifting Strategies Against the Japanese TABLE 5 Japanese and Chinese Casualties, 1937-45 Deterioration of the Army's Fighting Capabilities The Quality of the Officer Corps The Enlisted Men: Conscription and Training The Enlisted Men: Food and Medical Treatment CHAPTER 7 The Nationalist Army Against the Communists The Availability of Arms and Equipment Erroneous Tactics and Strategy Lack of Cooperation Defections and the Difficulties of Troop Replacement Spies and Agents The Superiority of the Communists CHAPTER 8 Chiang Ching-kuo and the Gold Yuan Reform The Adoption of the Reform TABLE 6 The Course of Fa-pi Depreciation, September 1945 -August 19, 1948 TABLE 7 Selected Prices, Shanghai, May-August 1948 Chiang Ching-kuo in Shanghai The Implementation of the Reform In the Wake of the Gold Yuan Reform TABLE 8 Aggregate Issues of Gold Yuan, August 23 - October 31, 1948 CHAPTER 9 Who Lnst China? Chiang Kai-shek Testifies Conclusion: Of Storms and Revolutions Reference Matter Notes Introduction Chapter One Chapter 2 Chllpter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Bibliography Character List Index