WI: Nationalist Victory in the Chinese Civil War?

Very true. The Nationalists were an oppressive, corrupt regime. They would probably not be able to pull off the extensive modernization that the Communists acheived.

To be fair, the Nanjing Decade saw Chiang having to deal with: a series of recalcitrant warlords, the Communists, the effects of the Great Depression, and the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and their expansion in northern China. It's a sign of China's weakness that America plunged the Chinese economy into recession unintentionally by propping up the price of silver.

As it stands, they did a middling-good job given those circumstances.
 

Orry

Donor
Monthly Donor
Not to mention that a destroyed Communist Party would mean the USSR can focus all their support to the Nationalists.

Unlikely to be able to destroy it that easily - but you do not have to. Stalin always seem more willing to support the KMT than the CP he wanted a 'strong' china to counter balance Japan and he thought the KMT was more likely to provide that - destroy the myth of the Long March and give the KMT some victories against CP forces and you reduce the CP to an inconvenience and bolster the morale / confidence of the KMT troops. Central KMT strategy being seen to work also strengthens Chiang's position vis other KMT leaders and warlords reducing insubordination - the 'arrest' of Chiang at Lintung by Capt Sun Ming-chiu at the orders of the 'Young Marshal' Chang Hsueh-liang does not happen for example.
 
An interesting PoD might be the USSR basically ceasing to support the CCP, perhaps as a result of drastically different policies and
in the end seeing they actually have more in comon with the RoC than with the CCP.
 
An interesting PoD might be the USSR basically ceasing to support the CCP, perhaps as a result of drastically different policies and
in the end seeing they actually have more in comon with the RoC than with the CCP.

That's what they did OTL. The Nationalists got all of the wartime foreign aid to China, and the Communists got scraps. Stalin only started to support the Communists once the war was over.

Once the war was over, it was pretty obvious that the Nationalists were an American puppuet. With the Cold War starting, no way is Stalin supporting them.
 

yourworstnightmare

Banned
Donor
That's what they did OTL. The Nationalists got all of the wartime foreign aid to China, and the Communists got scraps. Stalin only started to support the Communists once the war was over.

Once the war was over, it was pretty obvious that the Nationalists were an American puppuet. With the Cold War starting, no way is Stalin supporting them.


So the Communists need to be weaker, and USSR must be confident that Chiang will remain in power in RoC. Chiang would never be anyone's puppet, but if the Americans replace him with a more loyal general, USSR would not support RoC but work against them (seizing Manchuria??). However Chiang would probably try to normailize relations with USSR and rather make China a neutral power, and that's something Stalin would be quite happy with.
 
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