War, Division and Exile: China's Civil War, Korea Under Japan, and Taiwan (1937–1950)
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Question
What was the Second United Front?
Answer
The 1937 alliance between the Guomindang and the communists to resist Japan's invasion, formed despite their rivalry.
Question
Why did the Sino-Japanese War weaken the Guomindang more than the communists?
Answer
The Guomindang fought costly conventional battles against Japan and lost many trained troops, while the communists used guerrilla tactics from Yan'an and expanded their rural support base.
Question
What happened in Manchuria in 1945 that helped the communists?
Answer
Soviet forces defeated the Japanese Kwantung Army and handed over captured Japanese weapons to the communists, giving the PLA a major military boost.
Question
What economic problem badly damaged Guomindang support in cities during the civil war?
Answer
Hyperinflation, which destroyed the savings and wages of the urban population and undermined trust in Guomindang rule.
Question
When was the People's Republic of China proclaimed, and by whom?
Answer
1 October 1949, proclaimed by Mao Zedong in Beijing after the communist victory in the civil war.
Question
What was the March 1st Movement (1919)?
Answer
Mass peaceful protests across Korea against Japanese colonial rule, crushed violently by Japan but followed by some policy easing.
Question
Name three ways Korea was exploited after 1937 to support Japan's war effort.
Answer
Forced labour in mines/factories, military conscription of Korean men, and the forced sexual slavery of Korean women and girls known as "comfort women".
Question
Why was the 38th parallel chosen to divide Korea in 1945?
Answer
It was picked by US planners largely arbitrarily as a practical line for the US and USSR to divide responsibility for accepting Japan's surrender, not meant to be permanent.
Question
What was the White Terror in Taiwan?
Answer
A sustained crackdown under Jiang Jieshi's martial law in which thousands of real or suspected opponents of Guomindang rule, including many native Taiwanese, were arrested, imprisoned or executed.
Question
What was the 228 Incident (February 1947)?
Answer
A violent crackdown on Taiwanese protests against mainland Guomindang officials that killed thousands and deepened distrust, feeding into later martial law and the White Terror.
Question
What is meant by the 'Two Chinas' problem emerging by 1950?
Answer
Two rival governments both claimed to be the legitimate China: the communist People's Republic of China on the mainland, and Jiang Jieshi's Nationalist Republic of China on Taiwan.
Question
In a civil-war 'evaluate the reasons' essay, what should the final judgement do?
Answer
Weigh the political, economic and military factors against each other and argue which was most decisive (e.g. military collapse was the immediate trigger, but rooted in earlier political/economic weakness) rather than just listing causes.
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China and Korea (1910–1950)
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