China between Peace and War
Mao, Chiang and the Americans, 1945–1947
Authored by: Victor ChengPlease read Conditions of use before downloading the formats.
Description
In China between Peace and War, Victor S. C. Cheng explores the gripping history of peace talks and international negotiations from 1945 to 1947 that helped determine the shape of the Chinese Civil War. The book focuses on the efforts of the two belligerent parties—the Chinese Nationalists, or Guomindang, and the Communists—to achieve an enduring peace. It presents previously unexplored major elements of the peace talks: ambiguous treaties, package deals and short-term solutions. It identifies the burning challenges that confronted attempts at peacemaking, including the two warring parties’ high-risk decision-making styles and the temptation to veto agreements and resume fighting. Cheng argues against popular notions that differences between the two belligerents in the Chinese Civil War were irreconcilable, that the failure of the peace talks was predetermined and that the US government mediators needed to remain neutral.
Because the actions around the negotiating table occurred in a developing theatre of war, Cheng also explores the military decision-making of the opposing sides as well as the conflicts that ultimately plunged China into the world’s largest military engagement of the seven-plus decades since World War II. China between Peace and War highlights the contradictory role of political leaders who micromanaged the military, including their struggle to connect political objectives and military power, their rhetorical use of the ‘decisive war’ concept, and their pursuit of radical military-political goals at the expense of a negotiated peace.
Details
- ISBN (print):
- 9781760465711
- ISBN (online):
- 9781760465728
- Publication date:
- Nov 2023
- Imprint:
- ANU Press
- DOI:
- http://doi.org/10.22459/CBPW.2023
- Disciplines:
- Arts & Humanities: History; Social Sciences: Military & Defence Studies
- Countries:
- East Asia: China
PDF Chapters
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- Preliminary pages (PDF, 123 KB)
- Acknowledgements (PDF, 58 KB)
- List of abbreviations (PDF, 47 KB)
- Note on sources (PDF, 67 KB)
- Map 1 Important locations (PDF, 222 KB)
- Map 2 Manchurian theatre (PDF, 143 KB)
- Introduction (PDF, 198 KB)
- Negotiating at an uneven table (PDF, 210 KB) doi
- Rethinking the Chongqing negotiations (PDF, 267 KB) doi
- Civil war in the north-east (PDF, 251 KB) doi
- A shattered peace (PDF, 290 KB) doi
- Planting radishes in the desert (PDF, 261 KB) doi
- ‘China’s Madrid’ (PDF, 241 KB) doi
- Towards an all-out civil war in China (PDF, 331 KB) doi
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