Chronology -- The warring sides: Nationalists and Communists -- The fighting -- Portrait of a soldier: Press gangs and coercion in the civil war-- The great protagonists: Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong -- The world around war: The roles of the Soviet Union and the USA -- Why the war was won and lost -- Conclusion.
Summary:
Between the end of World War II and the dawn of the Cold War, one of the most important conflicts in modern history reached its climax. With China's Japanese occupiers now defeated, the long struggle between Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists and Mao Zedong's Communists exploded into an intense, bloody and ruthlessly fought civil war. By 1949 the Nationalist government was defeated and in exile in Taiwan, and the new People's Republic of China was ready to emerge as a major Cold War power. Engaging and surprising, this new history delves into the political background and complex ramifications of the Chinese Civil War, as well as assessing Mao and Chiang's millions-strong armies, their strategies and commanders, and the critical campaigns that won and lost China. --Book Jacket.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.