17,394
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 51:
Line 51: − The U.S. was eager to use China to defeat Japan. The idea was that millions of Chinese soldiers, equipped and trained by the U.S. Army and heavily funded by the U.S. Treasury, would eventually overrun the Japanese invaders. The strategy never came close to working. + + + + + + + + +
add ww2 details
Chiang was in full charge of the KMT after 1927, with the title of "generalissimo"; he thus ruled that part of China controlled by the KMT. With the Japanese gaining more Chinese territory, the policy of "trading space for time" (Chinese: 以空間換取時間) was adopted. Chiang moved, not only his government, but much of China's industrial production, several hundred miles west to the interior city of Chunking, in the remote mountains of [[Sichuan]] province.
Chiang was in full charge of the KMT after 1927, with the title of "generalissimo"; he thus ruled that part of China controlled by the KMT. With the Japanese gaining more Chinese territory, the policy of "trading space for time" (Chinese: 以空間換取時間) was adopted. Chiang moved, not only his government, but much of China's industrial production, several hundred miles west to the interior city of Chunking, in the remote mountains of [[Sichuan]] province.
In September 1943, Chiang Kai-shek formally became president of the central executive committee of the KMT, and was recognized as the head of state and head of government of free China. In November 1943 Chiang attended the [[Cairo Conference]], where he, President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], and Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] drafted the Cairo declaration proclaiming Allied war objectives for the Far East. China was assured a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council when it formed in 1945.<Ref> Chiang and his son controlled the seat until 1970, when the UN voted to give it to the Communist regime.</ref>
In September 1943, Chiang Kai-shek formally became president of the central executive committee of the KMT, and was recognized as the head of state and head of government of free China. In November 1943 Chiang attended the [[Cairo Conference]], where he, President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], and Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] drafted the Cairo declaration proclaiming Allied war objectives for the Far East. China was assured a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council when it formed in 1945.<Ref> Chiang and his son controlled the seat until 1970, when the UN voted to give it to the Communist regime.</ref>
Chiang was elected tsung-tsai (director-general) of the Kuomintang on May 17, 1945. After 1927 he never had a serious contender who might threaten his control of the party.
Chiang was elected tsung-tsai (director-general) of the Kuomintang on May 17, 1945. After 1927 he never had a serious contender who might threaten his control of the party.
===Support from U.S.===
The U.S. was eager to use China to defeat Japan. The idea was that millions of Chinese soldiers, equipped and trained by the U.S. Army and heavily funded by the U.S. Treasury, would eventually overrun the Japanese invaders. The strategy never came close to working. Chiang was far too weak to fight the much stronger Japanese army, and he lacked even basic supplies. Chiang expected the Americans would defeat the Japanese without his help (as in fact they did), while Chiang saved up his resources for the coming showdown with the Communists.
President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] and his top advisers, such as Treasury Secretary [[Henry Morgenthau]] and [[Lend-Lease]] administrator [[Harry Hopkins]], were strongly committed to support China against Japan. Public opinion was strongly hostile to Japan; isolationism (opposition to war in Europe) played little role. [[Lend Lease]] aid in began in 1940 with the goal of building a large powerful Chinese army that would hold down most of the Japanese army, and after the war play a role as a major world power in the United Nations. That goal was highly unrealistic, as Japan controlled the financial, economic and transportation centers in China, and most of the people, leaving the Nationalists in control in poor, remote mountainous regions, with their capital in Chungking. In addition, the Communists controlled their own remote sphere in the northwest. China was unable to feed or clothe its soldiers, who lacked equipment, discipline, and skilled sergeants, junior officers, and senior officers. Nevertheless, cost was no object and dollars poured in. After Pearl Harbor, the U.S. and Britain agreed to set up a [[CBI|China-Burma-India theater]], with Chiang as supreme commander, and an American as chief of staff, and in command of American forces in China and Lend Lease supplies. The U.S. sent in General [[Joseph Stilwell]], an energitic fighter who spoke Chinese but lacked diplomatic skills. Stilwell feuded incessantly with Chiang, and with his air commander Air Force Major General [[Claire Chennault]], head of the Flying Tigers operation. Chiang supported Chennault.
The American strategy was to build up air power in China, but not send significant numbers of American combat troops because they could not be easily supplied. Japan had long since cut off the coastline, and in March 1942 it cut the only overland road into China, the [[Burma Road]]. Supplies had to be flown in "over the Hump" (over the Himalayan mountains) from India at fantastic cost until the [[Ledo Road]] cutoff could be built and the Burma Road reopened. The British, meanwhile, had a low opinion of China's capabilities and gave minimal cooperation to Chiang and Stilwell. They considered Burma important not because it was a link to China, but because Japanese conquest threatened India. The British therefore conducted numerous large-scale campaigns in Burma, as did Stilwell. Coordination was weak. All were failures before the summer of 1944.
Chiang in 1942 gave Stilwell command of two Chinese divisions, while often overuling Stilwell. The recovery of Burma became an obsession for Stilwell, and he began to think of himself as the one man who could save China. With few American ground troops available Stilwell decided to rebuild the Chinese army and use it to attack the Japanese in Burma. He demanded, with scant success, that airlifted supplies go to these operations, and not to Chennault's Air Force. The Chinese government desperately needed American aid just to survive, and realized that only the Americans could defeat Japan. Indeed, Chiang and his KMT saw that after the Japanese were defeated then the Communists would be their main foe, and they sought to hoard their military resources. Stilwell was given control of several Chinese divisions that had escaped to India, and which could be supplied with American equipment. He set out to systematically retrain them along American lines, with the long-term goal of eventually recruiting, training, and equipping sixty divisions in China.
Time and again Stilwell was frustrated and vehemently angry with the Chiang (whom he called "peanut") and the Chinese government. They refused to provide the soldiers and instead supported Chennault's plans. Chennault indeed obtained long-range [[B-29]] bombers, and they started making raids on Japanese cities. The Japanese response, as Stilwell had long predicted, was an overland campaign (code-named "ICHI-GO") inside China to overrun Chennault's air bases in late summer 1944. Chiang finally forced the U.S. to recall Stilwell, who left in disgust in October, 1944, and was replaced by General Albert Wedemeyer (1897-1989), who got along much better with Chennault and Chiang.
=== Conclusion of the Chinese Civil War ===
=== Conclusion of the Chinese Civil War ===