Thread: China's Revolutionary War - An Essay

I haven't an idea of why I'm posting this; it's a bit long and I'm not sure if anyone has the ass to read it. Read it if you'd like, and have some time to spare. It's an essay I did for Social Studies on China's Revolutionary War. Read it only if you're up to it. =)

China’s Revolutionary War

As you may have already guessed by reading the title, my mini research project is about China’s Revolutionary War. This took place from 1926-1949, and was one of Asia’s longest and most savage civil wars ever. My primary (or main) question was; what was the war about? This question is pretty self-explanatory, and states clearly what I wanted to know. I wanted to know what the Nationalists and the Communists were fighting about; and why they decided to battle each other. In addition, I had two other questions. The first one was; who won? I was asking; who won the war, and why? The next one was; how many people were killed. In the question, I was asking; how many lives were claimed?

What was the war about? The war represented an attempt by two parties to take control of China. China had been ruled by a succession of emperors but by 1926 a party known as the Guomindang and the Communist Party were in power. At the heart of the struggle was the “swift transformation of China from empire to republic.” The prime mover of the Guomindang was a doctor called Sun Yat’sen who supported the establishment of a republic and believed in parliamentary democracy. By 1923, the Guomindang patterned itself after the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Although the Guomindang and the Communist Party were allies until 1926, a big conflict was about to break – that between the Nationalists and Communists. The quarrel “which launched China’s Revolutionary War would engulf the whole country.”

Who won? By 1927 the two major antagonists in the Chinese civil war had been identified. One of them was Jiang Jiashi, who was one of Sun Yat’sen’s leading disciples and his successor in the Guomindang. The other was Mao Zedong, who started out as a member of the Guomindang, but was well on his way to becoming chairman of the Communist Party. Sun Yet’sen’s principles of Nationalism, democracy and the peoples livelihood had become watered down and Jiang was “unable to promote any thing remotely like land reform.” The Communists gradually began to meet this need as leaders of peasant discontent. They now believed that the way forward for the Communist Party was to extend the area under its control, in a series of waves, with redistribution of landlords’ properties. One of the major events of this civil war was, what is known as the Long March. The main body of the Communist Army left a location in the middle of China in October 1934 and undertook a journey that would span 6 000 miles. It would take 13 months, involve one battle per day, 15 days of major battles; and by the end only one in twenty of those who had started had survived. What was good about this is that the Long March of the Red Army stands in history as a momentous achievement. It gave the communists “an aura of indestructibility and their actions became the example on which National pride continued to glow decades after. By 1940 China was divided into three groups: “free China (ruled by the Nationalist government-in-exile), Soviet China (ruled by the Communists), and Japanese-backed China.” The next seven years were filled with various military operations, and even involved a war with Japan, which Japan lost. The year 1948 was decisive in the civil war. By the end the Nationalists had lost seven entire armies, representing almost 400 thousand men. In 1949, Mao stood up in Tiananmen Square to announce the Communist Party’s total victory.

How many people were killed? The number of people that were torn from life and placed into death was approximately twenty million people, which represented one third of the population – and fifty million were left homeless.

It took twenty-two years for the revolution to unwind, the 500 million people who lived in China were devastated by it, whether the outcome made it worthwhile is the unresolved controversy in China today.

... Uhh ... Umm ... Anyone? Anything?

Hey, I'm new to this forum. I just came across your essay. We're studying that at the moment for Modern History, it was really helpful because it outlined a few things I was having trouble researching, so thanks!!

Originally Posted by Malkamazing

As you may have already guessed by reading the title, my mini research project is about China’s Revolutionary War.

delete. it's already apparent.

This took place from 1926-1949, and was one of Asia’s longest and most savage civil wars ever.

the use of 'savage' isn't necessary. it's already a given that war is a savage thing, in my opinion. using the word will only be derogatory towards the Chinese.

My primary (or main) question was;

delete.

what was the war about? This question is pretty self-explanatory, and states clearly what I wanted to know. I wanted to know what [were] the Nationalists and the Communists were fighting about[?]; and [W]hy [did] they decided to battle each other[?] In addition, I had two other questions. The first one was; who won? I was asking; who won the war, and why? The next one was; how many people were killed. In the question, I was asking; how many lives were claimed?

This first paragraph is representative about the rest of the essay. We the readers do not need to know what questions you are thinking to yourself. You should be posing questions and telling the answers without all the dithering.

1. When you quote, cite your resources.
2. Check the spelling of the names. (ie: Guomindang)
3. You never tell us what the conflict between the Nationalists and Communists was. You just state that there was a conflict.
4. I would really appreciate not reading an entry off Wikipedia or some other fast-and-easy research site. I would suggest doing some serious reading so you know all the angles of the 'revolution.'