Cold War and revolution: Soviet-American rivalry and the origins of the Chinese Civil War, 1944-1946

Between the fall of 1944 and the summer of 1946 the relations between the United States and the Soviet Union in East Asia developed from war-time rivalry to Cold War confrontation. By focusing both on the China policies of the two Great Powers and on the actions of the two main Chinese parties, the Guomindang (GMD) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the dissertation shows how the coming of the Cold War in this area was intimately connected to Chinese diplomacy and politics.; Both Roosevelt and Stalin attempted before and at the Yalta conference to create a stable post-war international system in East Asia. The two leaders wanted Jiang Jieshi's GMD regime to serve as a buffer between Soviet and American interests, providing concessions to both. The Yalta agreement and the 1945 Sino-Soviet treaty enabled the GMD to form alliances with both Moscow and Washington, and to use these alliances against the CCP. Troubled by Jiang Jieshi's diplomatic successes, Mao Zedong tried to avoid civil war and to repair his own strained relations with the Soviets and the Americans.; Moscow's and Washington's military interventions in China in the fall of 1945 increased the tension between the Great Powers, and ultimately destroyed Jiang's diplomatic strategy. Pressed by both powers to contribute to their Cold War strategies, Jiang in early 1946 broke with Stalin, and decided to use military force against the CCP. The Truman administration continued its support for the GMD, while Soviet-CCP relations also gradually improved.; Fueled by conflicts in Europe and in the Middle East, the dualistic Cold War perception of the situation in China developed at roughly the same time in Moscow and Washington. Both the GMD and the CCP were latecomers to the Cold War, attempting to gain favors from both powers to use in their struggle with each other. The dissertation attempts to use newly available Chinese and American sources to create a multifocused and international analysis, which both emphasizes the interrelationship between four actors and gives the Chinese parties major parts alongside the Great Powers.