Activity 1 - Was CPC victory inevitable?

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Activity Tasks

1. Review - Examine the information on Slides 3-5 of the Lesson Presentation. Use the information to explain why it seemed that GMD victory against the CPC was inevitable in 1945.
2. Read - Read pages 7-13 of Lynch, M. (2010). Essential Histories: The Chinese Civil War 1945-49 and answer these questions:
   1. How did the sudden defeat of the Japanese undermine Chiang’s strategy for dealing with the CPC?
   2. How did the sudden defeat of Japan benefit the CPC?
   3. To what extent did the USSR support Chiang Kai-shek’s government?
   4. Why were peasants more tied to their locality than the idea of a Chinese nation?
      
3. Research - Conduct some brief research on the failed 1945-47 ‘Marshall Mission’. What accounts for its failure?

Activity 2 - How did the war progress?

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Activity Tasks

1. Annotated Map - For this group, use Slides 6-32 of the Lesson Presentation to create an annotated map of the war from 1945-1949 using Padlet’s map function. Include at least ten turning point events. Each event posted should have:
   1. Title - A clear post title i.e ‘Nov 1948 - Huaihai Campaign begins’
   2. Location - A precise location for the event must be identified
   3. Description - A summary of the event, listing the most significant information as briefly as possible
   4. Visuals - A visual image, photograph, YouTube or representation of the event. ​
2. Events - Make sure you have included the following key events of the war:
   1. 1945 - August 14 - Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, CPC-GMD Peace Talks begin
   2. 1945 - December 21 - Marshall Mission to China begins
   3. 1946 - March - Soviet Forces leave Manchuria
   4. 1946 - June 26 - Civil War begins in Manchuria
   5. 1947 - March 19 - Fall of Yanan
   6. 1947 - May - Start of NRA Strongpoint Offensive
   7. 1948 - September - Liaoshen Campaign starts
   8. 1948 - October - Fall of Jinzhou, Liaoxi, Changchun, and Shenyang
   9. 1948 - November - Huaihai and Pingjin Campaigns start
   10. 1949 - January - Fall of Tianjin, Beijing, Xuzhou - Resignation of Chiang Kai-shek
   11. 1949 - April - PLA cross the Yangtze, HMS Amethyst Incident, Fall of Nanjing
   12. 1949 - May - Fall of Shanghai and Xian
   13. 1949 - August - Fall of Changsha
   14. 1949 - October 1 - Proclamation of PRC in Beijing
   15. 1949 - December - Fall of Chongqing, Chiang flees to Taiwan

Activity 3 - What was the turning point?

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Activity Tasks

1. Discuss - Which of the three major CPC campaigns was the most significant? The Liaoshen, Huaihai, or Pingjin?
2. Reflect - What could or should the GMD have done differently during the war?
   
3. Debate - Review the information on Slide 33. Was the war a CPC victory or GMD defeat?

Further Reading

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OBLIGATORY READING

1. Lynch, M. (2016). Access to History - China 1839-1997, pp. 121-126

RECOMMENDED READING

1. Lynch, M. (2010). Essential Histories: The Chinese Civil War 1945-49, pp. 7-13

SUPPLEMENTARY READING

1. Zarrow, P. (2005). China in War and Revolution, 1895-1949, pp. 337-343

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