China in the Cold War

There had been an ongoing civil war in China between nationalists and communists since 1927.
1. A communist victory would endanger the "open door" trade policy of the USA.
  1. However the nationalist leader Chiang was corrupt and unpopular.
An American backed conference in 1945 failed to find a solution, so Truman sent 50,000 troops to support Chiang
1. George Marshall negotiated a truce but it collapsed within 3 months and Chiang failed to capture Manchuria.
  1. Resentment was growing against Chiang and the Americans were starting to withdraw
Truman's failure to contain communism was met with criticism.
1. The US continued to supply aid with $400m being sent under the China Aid Act of 1948.
  1. The aid was ineffective and by 1949 Mao had won, and attention was drawn away to Europe with the Berlin Blockade.
Why did Truman resuse to intervene?
1. Sending troops would escalate the situation and the US had no desire to be drawn into a land war.
  1. Attention was focused on Berlin at the same time.
    1. Chiang was unpopular and most of the peasants supported Mao.
      1. Chiang also lost the support of the middle class by letting inflation run at around 700%. and he was an incompetent leader
        The "fall" of China helped fuel McCarthyism and accusations were made that the State Department was filled with spies.

Resource summary

	Created by Matthew Thompson about 7 years ago