WI: Soviets help the KMT win the Chinese Civil War

The CCP was overly focused on agriculture, and Stalin had a rocky relationship with Mao. What happens if Chiang argues that the KMT is the real Marxist-Leninist state because it's focused on socialism, and Stalin accepted these arguments as true?
 
The thing is, that's not gonna fly Stalin would not recognize Jiang as Marxist-Leninist at all, unless Stalin hit his head, and Jiang would like to be called Communist. Even then, with Soviet aid the best your gonna get is recognition. The most plausible POD seems to be if the KMT can either more decisively stop the Communists in Shanghai or crush the Jiangxi Soviet, but prevent a situation like the Long March.

There's also the very serious issue of, no amount of help is gonna save the KMT, unless they get things together. In a post 2nd Sino-Japanese War POD, but after that is tough going considering the KMT screw ups.
 
Mao was focused on the peasants. Many of the other CCP leaders followed the Stalinist line. In fact, Mao was constantly fighting this clique for control of the party. Mao only succeeded in becoming the leader during the Long March. Even then, he had to keep fighting them off. During the early United Front period, it seemed like he might even lose out to Wang Ming. Only two things cemented Mao's leadership over the party. First, Wang Ming's faction was discredited when Wuhan fell to the Japanese. Second, after the Soviet Union was invaded by Germany, Mao purged the remaining Stalinists.

Stalin wasn't happy with Mao, but Mao was in control of the party. If Communism was going to spread in China, it meant accepting that. Usually Stalin was intolerant of any kind of deviation, but in 1945 and 1946, he was also using the threat of the CCP to force Chiang into negotiations over Chinese foreign policy in regards to Mongolia and Manchuria. So he was more than willing to give Mao aid in Manchuria while he prolonged negotiations. Then when Mao started actually winning, Stalin knew he had a good thing going and was willing to tolerate Mao's deviationism.

If you are looking at Stalin not helping Mao, you need a different geopolitical order in 1945. Probably because of a POD during the Sino-Japanese War.

If China won the Battle of Wuhan in 1938, it is possible that Wang Ming's faction retook control of the party from Mao, or more likely ended up splitting the party in two (Mao always went somewhere far away and did his own thing whenever he couldn't be in charge). If so, Stalin is likely to support Wang Ming and his supporters against Mao in postwar China. Ironically, this means most likely the KMT retains power.
 
The CCP's turn to the peasants was inevitable once it had lost its urban base, and Stalin had no objection to it.
 
There's no reason for such a policy from the Soviets unless there's some kind of sino-soviet split before the PRC even exists or China takes a radically pro-Soviet stance for some reason.
 
In the 1930s, the KMT got a significant amount of help from the Soviets in their fight against the Japanese so Soviet support for the KMT is not unprecedented.

Perhaps Stalin decides he would rather have a corrupt and incompetent KMT running China (and is thus no threat to him) as opposed to the Communists who are more likely to be rivals instead of partners.
 
In the 1930s, the KMT got a significant amount of help from the Soviets in their fight against the Japanese so Soviet support for the KMT is not unprecedented.

Perhaps Stalin decides he would rather have a corrupt and incompetent KMT running China (and is thus no threat to him) as opposed to the Communists who are more likely to be rivals instead of partners.

Yes, the Soviets had military ties with China before and during WWII. That doesn't make the Soviets necessarily pro-KMT.

Stalin was rather dismissive towards the idea of socialism in China, but it was still a no-brainer to back the communists when it was clear they were China's future. Even if they were national deviationists based in the petit-bourgeoisie, as the Stalinists considered them.
 
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