Civil War in China: The Political Struggle, 1945-1949 (2nd ed. 1999)

Many books have tried to analyze the reasons for the Chinese communist success in China's 1945\_1949 civil war, but Suzanne Pepper's seminal work was the first and remains the only comprehensive analysis of how the ruling Nationalists lost that war\_not just militarily, but by alienating the civilian population through corruption and incompetence. Now available in a new edition, this authoritative investigation of Kuomintang failure and communist success explores the new research and archival resources available for assessing this pivotal period in contemporary Chinese history. Even more relevant today given the contemporary debates in Hong Kong and Taiwan over the terms of reunification with a communist-led national government in Beijing, this book is essential reading for anyone seeking a nuanced understanding of twentieth-century Chinese politics. Contents Acknowledgments Equivalents and Abbreviations Newspapers: Political Affiliations A Note on Romanization Chronology Part One. The Last Years of Kuomintang Rule I. Introduction II. The Beginning of the End: Take-over from the Japanese III. The Student Anti-war Movement IV. The Political Costs of Economic Mismanagement V. A Summary of the Indictment: The Intelligentsia’s Critique of the Kuomintang Part Two. The Communist Alternative VI. The Intelligentsia’s Critique of the Chinese Communists VII. The Return to Land Reform VIII. The Return to the Cities IX. A New Beginning: The Communist Take-over from the Kuomintang X. The Politics of Civil War Bibliographic Notes A Note on the Revised Bibliography Selected Bibliography Index An analysis of how the ruling Nationalists lost the 1945-1949 civil war in China - not just militarily, but by alienating the civilian population through corruption and incompetence. It explores the research and archival sources available for assessing this pivotal period in Chinese history.