IB History Involvement of the USA and USSR Notes

Foreign Powers in the Civil War: US Support and Soviet Opportunity

1. Both superpowers intervened in the Chinese Civil War, but neither could determine its outcome. The USA backed the GMD with massive material support that proved insufficient.
2. The USSR backed the CCP more cautiously, providing key advantages in Manchuria that helped tilt the early balance. The war was ultimately decided by Chinese social and military forces, not by foreign power.
3. The United States provided the GMD with over $2 billion in aid between 1945 and 1949. This included military equipment, ammunition, transport aircraft, warships, and credits.
4. US officers trained GMD divisions. The US airlifted GMD troops to occupy strategic cities as Japan surrendered in 1945.

1. Without US support, the GMD could not have held its initial positions.

The Marshall Mission and the Failure of US Mediation

1. In December 1945, US President Truman sent General George Marshall to China to broker a ceasefire between the GMD and CCP.
2. The Marshall Mission lasted over a year and produced several ceasefire agreements, none of which held.
3. Both sides violated ceasefires when it suited them. Both were preparing for the final showdown.
4. Marshall finally withdrew in January 1947, declaring publicly that both sides bore responsibility for the failure of negotiations.
5. The US continued to support the GMD financially and militarily, though with growing frustration at the corruption and military failures it observed.
6. The GMD spent US aid on maintaining troop numbers rather than on institutional reform.
7. When the CCP won in October 1949, American political debate erupted over "Who lost China?" A State Department White Paper argued that the GMD's failure was the result of its own inadequacies, not insufficient US support.

1. Congressional critics blamed the Truman administration for not doing enough. The debate generated the political pressure that fed into McCarthyism and the US's hardened Cold War stance in Asia.
2. The Soviet Union formally recognised the People's Republic of China within two days of its proclamation in October 1949. The Sino-Soviet Treaty of February 1950 provided China with Soviet technical assistance and a $300 million loan.
3. China entered the Korean War in October 1950 in part to demonstrate its value to the Soviet alliance and to consolidate Mao's military prestige.

Involvement of the USA and USSR: Causation, Limits, and Historical Debate

1. Foreign involvement shaped the setting of the civil war without determining its result. The United States supported the recognised Nationalist government, while Soviet occupation of Manchuria altered conditions in the northeast.
2. American transport and equipment helped GMD forces accept Japanese surrenders and move into strategic areas. Aid could strengthen armies, but it could not repair weak morale, inflation, corruption, or limited rural legitimacy.
3. The Marshall Mission sought a negotiated settlement and coalition government. Its failure reflected deep mistrust and incompatible political aims within China as well as the limits of American leverage.
4. Soviet forces removed Japanese assets from Manchuria and allowed a fluid transfer of territory and weapons. The CCP benefited, although its later victories depended on Chinese recruitment, organisation, and campaigning.
5. Neither superpower exercised complete control over its Chinese partner. Jiang resisted American pressure when he believed military victory possible, while the CCP pursued its own strategy despite Soviet caution.
6. The strongest conclusion treats foreign aid as an enabling factor. External intervention redistributed opportunities, but domestic leadership, military effectiveness, economic collapse, and popular support decided how those opportunities were used.

1. Both superpowers gave their Chinese partner tools, not victory: American ships and dollars could not fix Guomindang legitimacy, and Soviet caution in Manchuria could not substitute for CCP organisation on the ground.