Communist Victory, 1943-49

About the lecture

In this module, we think about the Communist victory in the second phase of the Chinese Civil War, which began after the surrender of Japan in August 1945. In particular, we focus on: (i) the status of the alliance between the CCP and KMT, the Second United Front, which had been in place since December 1936; (ii) the reasons for the Japanese surrender in August 1945; (iii) the nature of the civil war between the CCP and KMT; and (iv) the reasons the CCP were able to defeat the KMT.

About the lecturer

Michael Dillon was founding director of the Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies at Durham University, where he taught courses on modern China, Chinese history, and Chinese language. He has also been a visiting professor at Tsinghua University, is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Royal Asiatic Society, and a member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs.