P. Nationalists Flee to Taiwan

The CCP and the Guomindang had a tenuous peace with a nominal alliance against Japan until 1941 when they again resumed armed clashes towards each other. After 1941, the U.S. provided massive military advice and supplies to the Guomindang, much of which ended up in Japanese hands by corrupt Guomindang generals. Mao had to content himself with equipment captured from Guomindang Armies. In 1945, the CCP moved quickly into Manchuria to establish a new power base. The Guomindang's own power base became eroded by catastrophic inflation and by massive defections from his side by the majority of China's intellectuals, students, professional classes, and urban workers. In 1949, the Guomindang simply disintegrated and they fled to Taiwan. On October 1, 1949, Mao declared the new People's Republic of China. A new era had dawned. The USSR offered diplomatic recognition of the PRC on Oct. 2, 1949 followed quickly by the East European states of Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia.

Mao went to the USSR in December 1949 to see Stalin. Mao's experiences in Moscow caused some concern. Stalin did not acknowledge Mao for several days. After eight weeks of bargaining, Mao got an agreement to assist China in the case Japan attacked and $300 million to be repaid within five years. Stalin agreed to evacuate Lushun and Dalian by 1952. Mao also had to relinquish any claims to Mongolia, which by definition would remain firmly under the control of the USSR. Lin Biao quickly captured Hainan Island but Taiwan proved difficult. China brought Tibet under its control in 1950.