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Historiography of Chinese Civil War
"What finally undermined the Nationalist government was not war or politics but economics.
The military and political success of the Communists under Mao Zedong certainly played a
vital part in determining their takeover in 1949, but it is arguable that the single most
powerful reason for the failure of the GMD government was inflation … By 1949 China’s
monetary system had collapsed, the government was discredited, and the people of
Nationalist China were demoralised. Even had the Nationalists not been defeated in civil war
and driven from the mainland it is difficult to see how Jiang Jieshi and the GMD could have
continued to hold power in China."
-From Michael Lynch, China: From Empire to People’s Republic 1900–49, 2nd ed. (Hodder,
2010), p.142.
"What finally undermined the Nationalist government was not war or politics but economics.
The military and political success of the Communists under Mao Zedong certainly played a
vital part in determining their takeover in 1949, but it is arguable that the single most
powerful reason for the failure of the GMD government was inflation … By 1949 China’s
monetary system had collapsed, the government was discredited, and the people of
Nationalist China were demoralised. Even had the Nationalists not been defeated in civil war
and driven from the mainland it is difficult to see how Jiang Jieshi and the GMD could have
continued to hold power in China."
-From Michael Lynch, China: From Empire to People’s Republic 1900–49, 2nd ed. (Hodder,
2010), p.142.