China 1945

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China 1945 Page 52

by Richard Bernstein


  “the least bit of attention”: Ibid., p. 61.

  “squeeze”: Ibid., p. 207.

  “a lot of robberies”: Da Gong Bao, Dec. 24, 1945.

  “Such a spirit of daring”: Ibid.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Everything Stalin Wanted

  Soviet invasion of Manchuria: David M. Glantz, Soviet Operational and Tactical Combat in Manchuria, 1945, “August Storm” (Portland, OR: Frank Cass Publishers, 2003), pp. 1–2 and passim.

  “three days of open looting”: Survey of the Mukden Area Situation as It Has Developed from 16 August 1945 to 10 September 1945,” NARA, RG 226 (Records of the OSS), Entry 148, Box 6.

  “ ‘not being normal in their minds’ ”: Ibid.

  “domination of the provinces”: Lisle Abbott Rose, Dubious Victory: The United States and the End of World War II (Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1973), p. 132.

  “The Kremlin will be careful”: Davies, Dragon, pp. 406–407.

  “discrediting the Chungking government”: FRUS, 1945, vol. 7, p. 348.

  “Without the support of the Soviet”: FRUS, 1945, vol. 7, p. 433.

  “One should keep Japan”: Sergei N. Goncharov, John W. Lewis, and Xue Litai, Uncertain Partners: Stalin, Mao, and the Korean War (Stanford, CA: Sanford University Press, 1993), p. 3.

  the result might be massive: Ibid., p. 5.

  “Russia has pledged”: Lohbeck, p. 405.

  “This kicked the props”: Time, Sept. 3, 1945.

  “without hope of future help”: Time, Sept. 3, 1945.

  “minimized”: New York Times, Oct. 14, 1945.

  “because Stalin insisted”: Pantsov and Levine, p. 346.

  foment a pro-Communist uprising: Goncharov et al., pp. 8–9.

  as a tactical move: Sheng, p. 102.

  “very distressed and even angry”: Shi Zhe, p. 215.

  Mao argued in an interview: Mao, Collected Works, vol. 4.

  “the talks would buy time”: Goncharov et al., p. 7.

  “beyond any measurement”: Sheng, p. 100.

  “ ‘bourgeois influence’ ”: Mao, “The Situation and our Policy After the Victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan,” Aug. 13, 1945, in Collected Works, online at http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-4/mswv4_01.html.

  “it should not be surprising”: FRUS, 1945, vol. 7, p. 325.

  “unanimous demand”: Sheng, pp. 98–99.

  “going to his own execution”: Time, Sept. 10, 1945.

  “weird, loud scream”: Shi Zhe, p. 21.

  “Olive oil! olive oil!”: Time, Sept. 10, 1945.

  “the cordial atmosphere”: Time, Sept. 10, 1945.

  “well-informed observers”: Ibid.

  “ten thousand years”: Taylor, p. 319.

  “I am confident”: Time, Oct. 8, 1945.

  “back of its hand”: Time, Sept. 24, 1945.

  “We must stop”: Taylor, p. 321.

  “touched the Chairman’s heart”: Ibid.

  The two sides promised: Ibid., p. 319.

  he has been justly criticized: Feis, p. 361.

  “only words on paper”: Mao, “On the Chungking Negotiations,” Collected Works, vol. 4, online.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Facts on the Ground

  “vast lost areas”: FRUS, 1945, vol. 7, pp. 519–20.

  “have the right to enter”: Feis, pp. 340–41.

  “It is debatable”: Davies, Dragon, p. 406.

  “to render to China”: Feis, p. 346.

  “The Eighth Route Army”: Vladimirov, p. 26.

  “Like everywhere in the Special Area”: Ibid., p. 40.

  “outmaneuver Stalin”: Schaller, p. 256.

  “think of the kids”: David McCullough, Truman (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992), p. 424.

  “not a drop of gentleness”: Melby, p. 26.

  “There is no such thing”: Schaller, p. 214.

  Zhu De was already ordering: Taylor, p. 315.

  Mao dispatched nine regiments: Goncharov et al., p. 9.

  the Soviets took 925 airplanes: Taylor, p. 318.

  “They are Red Army”: Sheng, p. 106, citing Zhu Yuanshi, “Liu Shaoqi yu Kangzhan Jiesu Hou zhengduo Donbei di Zheng Dou” [Liu Shaoqi and the Struggle for Power in the Northeast After the End of the War of Resistance], Jindaishi yanjiu [Modern History], no. 5 (1988): pp. 124–45.

  “The Soviet Union doesn’t”: Yang Kuisong, Mao Zedong, p. 223.

  “The Soviets not only”: Ibid.

  “They gave high praise”: Zeng Kelin, “Dadi Chongguang: Youguan Dongbei Jingun Huiyi,” [Recover the Land: Recollections of Marching into the Northeast] Renwu [Figures] 184, no. 5 (1984): 77–78.

  the Soviet emissary’s plane: Ivan D. Yeaton, Memoirs of Ivan D. Yeaton (Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace, 1976), p. 116.

  the emissary made a public statement: Sheng, pp. 106–107.

  “We want to bore our way in”: Taylor, p. 317.

  number of Chinese Communist troops: Goncharov et al., pp. 10–11.

  “There is a possibility”: New York Times, Oct. 30, 1945.

  told him that Chinese Communist troops: Yang Kuisong, Mao Zedong, p. 228.

  “caught with our pants down”: Yu, p. 231.

  nearly two thousand agents: Ibid., p. 226.

  dropped into territories: Yu, p. 232.

  a nearby POW camp: Ibid., pp. 232–33.

  deaths of thousands of American troops: OSS Records, NARA, RG226, Entry 148, Box 7.

  “suddenly and unannounced”: OSS “Survey of the Mukden Area,” NARA, Entry 148, Box 6, Folder 87.

  Cardinal observed the Eighth Routers: Ibid.

  “a stabbing of a B-24 tire”: Ibid.

  “without a fight?”: Ibid.

  “support for Chinese reactionaries”: Schaller, p. 266.

  “quite capable”: Benis M. Frank and Henry I. Shaw, The History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II, vol. 5, Victory and Occupation (Washington, DC: Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, 1968), pp. 547–48.

  a convoy of nearly twenty-five thousand: Henri I. Shaw, The United States Marines in North China, 1945–1949 (Washington, DC: Historical Branch, G-3, U.S. Marine Corps, 1968), p. 1.

  “the largest troop movement”: Schaller, p. 265.

  the marines took over Qingdao: Shaw, pp. 3–4.

  “he might have been impeached”: McCullough, p. 474.

  “the plan should be abandoned”: FRUS, 1945, vol. 7, pp. 570–71.

  “military necessity”: Shaw, p. 10.

  “the ports in question”: FRUS, 1945, vol. 7, p. 571.

  “to support undemocratic institutions”: Ibid., pp. 559–62. Feis, pp. 371–73.

  “outstanding intelligence officers”: Yu, p. 235.

  “lean, hearty, enthusiastic”: Paul Fillmann and Graham Peck, China: The Remembered Life (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1968), p. 186.

  Birch was ordered to go: W. J. Miller, “Account of the Death of Captain John Birch,” OSS Headquarters, Central Command, Sept. 14, 1945, NARA retained file. Yu, pp. 235–41.

  another American OSS team: Yu, p. 241.

  the CCP needed industry: Steven I. Levine, Anvil of Victory: The Communist Revolution in Manchuria (New York: Columbia University Press, 1987), p. 26.

  “a solid foundation”: Goncharov et al., p. 9.

  “No matter what”: Sheng, p. 116.

  “formally inform them”: Ibid.

  Communist troops opened fire: Shaw, p. 2.

  of all the Japanese forces: New York Times, Oct. 8, 1945.

  sent a message to Wedemeyer: Feis, p. 365. Sheng, pp. 116–17.

  “with many sacrifices”: Ronald H. Spector, The Ruins of Empire: The Japanese Surrender and the Battle for Postwar Asia (New York: Random House, 2007), p. 54.

  “an interference”: Frank and Shaw, p. 559.

  “The decision regarding Chefoo”: New York Times, Oct. 9, 1945.

  “comic opera”: FRUS, 1945, vol. 7, p. 646.


  “every mile of track”: Shaw, p. 8.

  “the rest of the traitor army”: Ibid., p. 6.

  “an island in a Communist sea”: Ibid., p. 7.

  on a train near Guye: Ibid., p. 9.

  “a true son”: Time, May 30, 1960.

  searched the KMT offices: Donald G. Gillin and Ramon H. Myers, eds., Last Chance in Manchuria: The Diary of Chang Kia-Ngau (Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace, 1989), pp. 88–89.

  “filled with Soviet officers”: Ibid., p. 72.

  “On the same day”: Ibid., p. 73.

  “this issue can be negotiated”: Ibid., p. 75.

  “a sitting duck”: Ibid., p. 76.

  Chinese Communist troops were in control: Feis, pp. 384–85.

  “It is very clear”: Gillen and Myers, p. 104.

  American actions to exclude the Soviets: Feis, pp. 390–95.

  “these professors are distressed”: FRUS, 1945, vol. 7, pp. 476–79.

  Among its resolutions: Taylor, pp. 305–306.

  plans for an airlift were dropped: Ibid., p. 324.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN: What to Do?

  “extreme antipathy”: FRUS, 1945, vol. 7, pp. 578–79.

  “not an extremist”: Nancy Bernkopf Tucker, China Confidential: American Diplomats and Sino-American Relations, 1945–1996 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1996), p. 91.

  “augment strength”: FRUS, 1945, vol. 7, p. 601.

  “It appears at present”: Ibid., p. 602.

  “Dissident elements”: Ibid., pp. 603–604.

  “heavy pressure”: Ibid., pp. 611–12.

  “Impasse seems to have reached”: Ibid., p. 613.

  “looting trains”: Ibid., p. 618.

  “well-entrenched”: Ibid., p. 687.

  “the darkest aspect”: Ibid., p. 691.

  “a complete victory”: Ibid., p. 664.

  “completely unprepared”: Ibid., p. 652.

  this corrosive problem: Ibid., p. 653.

  “a momentous bearing”: FRUS, 1945, vol. 7, p. 629.

  “move resolutely”: Ibid., p. 632.

  “Drumright’s stance”: Davies, Dragon, p. 418.

  “small likelihood”: FRUS, 1945, vol. 7, p. 642.

  “We have to recognize”: Life, Nov. 19, 1945.

  “It is somewhat confusing”: Cited in Utley, p. 143.

  “The political structure”: New York Times, Feb. 25, 1945.

  “one of the pinnacles”: Time, Sept. 3, 1945.

  “customary panegyrics”: White, In Search, p. 241.

  “Most Americans”: Life, Nov. 19, 1945.

  “deserted an ally”: FRUS, 1945, vol. 7, p. 673.

  “considered opinion”: Ibid., p. 680.

  “it’s impossible for me”: Ibid., p. 684.

  “perhaps the wise course”: Ibid., p. 686.

  “the symptoms”: James Forrestal, The Forrestal Diaries, ed. Walter Millis (New York: Viking, 1951), p. 111.

  “the professional foreign service men”: New York Times, Nov. 29, 1945.

  “give some assurance”: New York Times, Nov. 28, 1945.

  “an uproar”: Melby, p. 39.

  “a victory for American people”: Radio Yenan, Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS), Nov. 28, 1945.

  “Pat Hurley came out”: Time, Dec. 17, 1945.

  he called George Marshall: John Robinson Beal, Marshall in China (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1970), pp. 1–2.

  “the cry of the cranes”: Gillin and Myers, p. 126.

  “speak out”: Sheng, p. 113.

  Stalin’s communication with Mao: Goncharov et al., p. 15.

  Stalin told the Communists: Sheng, p. 114.

  posters criticizing the KMT disappeared: Gillin and Myers, p. 127.

  he expressed the hope: Ibid., p. 135.

  “middle and small cities”: Sheng, p. 114.

  “neutralize the United States”: Ibid.

  “a thunderous greeting”: Taylor, p. 329.

  “glorious victory”: Ibid.

  “agreed to almost all”: Ibid.

  “indicate more positive attitude”: FRUS, 1945, vol. 7, pp. 694–95.

  “more serious threats”: Ibid., p. 700.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Marshall Comes Close

  “Everybody is waiting”: Melby, p. 51.

  “He is a modest man”: Beal, p. 68.

  “the finest soldier”: Forrest C. Pogue, George C. Marshall: Statesman, 1945–1949, vol. 4 (New York: Viking Press, 1987), p. 27.

  “the growing impression”: Melby, p. 69.

  “hitting him on the back”: Caughey, p. 62.

  “The murder and brutality”: Melby, p. 44.

  Vincent argued forcefully: May, pp. 139–41.

  “failed to make reasonable concessions”: FRUS, 1945, vol. 7, p. 768.

  “he was not to be abandoned”: Feis, p. 419.

  two percent chance of success: Henry Byroade, “Oral History Interview with Henry Byroade,” Harry S. Truman Library; online at trumanlibrary.org/oralhist/byroade.htm.

  “You have … been given”: Pogue, p. 29.

  “I told General Marshall”: Wedemeyer, p. 363.

  “I am going to accomplish”: Ibid.

  “eliminating autonomous armies”: Lyman P. Van Slyke, ed., Marshall’s Mission to China: The Report and Appended Document, vol. 1 (Arlington, VA: University Publications of America, 1976), p. 6.

  “to establish a puppet regime”: Ibid., p. 11.

  “barrier of fear”: Van Slyke, Marshall’s Mission, p. 7.

  “All shades and grades”: Melby, p. 53.

  Stalin advised the Chinese Communists: Sheng, p. 123.

  “My estimate”: FRUS, 1946, vol. 9, p. 18.

  “an expansionist force”: Ibid., pp. 116–18.

  “The position of the Communists”: Ibid., pp. 41–42.

  they would temporize on that demand: Sheng, pp. 121–22.

  The government would be allowed: FRUS, 1946, vol. 9, pp. 73–104.

  “hastening to take over”: Ibid., p. 104.

  “we can’t agree to this one”: Ibid.

  “It would be a tragedy”: Ibid.

  “generously agreed to the issuance”: Ibid., p. 105.

  “I’ve tried to tell”: Ibid., p. 40.

  “It marks the beginning”: Liberation Daily, monitored by FBIS, Jan. 12, 1946.

  “the democracy to be initiated”: FRUS, 1946, vol. 9, pp. 151–52.

  convey an anecdote: Ibid., p. 152.

  “The distances are great”: Ibid., p. 351.

  “We literally had a team”: Byroade, oral history.

  “impossible situation”: FRUS, 1946, vol. 9, p. 347.

  “It is obvious”: Ibid., pp. 362–63.

  “greatly exaggerating”: Ibid., p. 373.

  “weathered mud huts”: New York Times, Jan. 21, 1946.

  “The fighting did stop”: Byroade, oral history.

  “no longer any doubt”: New York Times, Feb. 2, 1946.

  “Affairs are progressing”: A full set of carbon copies of Marshall’s letters to Truman are in NARA, Joint Chiefs of Staff, records of Admiral Leahy, RG38, Entry 117, Box 2.

  “Thousands stormed the field”: Radio Yenan, monitored by FBIS, Mar. 6, 1945.

  “I was frank to an extreme”: NARA, Leahy records, RG38, Entry 117, Box 2.

  “an amazing task”: Ibid.

  “We want unification”: Sheng, p. 126.

  “I shudder”: Gillin and Myers, p. 231.

  “undeniably outstanding”: Sheng, p. 126.

  “terminating the hostilities”: New York Times, Mar. 17, 1946.

  “It was very remarkable”: Ibid.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: From Hope to Antagonism

  “The outlook is not promising”: NARA, Leahy records, RG38, entry 117, box 2.

  “dangerous military position”: Ibid.

  “open antagonism”: NARA, Leahy records, RG 218, entry 117, box 2.

  “utter chaos”: Ibid.

  t
he CC clique: Taylor, p. 25.

  “the most striking change”: Fairbank, p. 131.

  “Every night”: Melby, p. 83.

  “Now that China has paid”: New York Times, Feb. 15, 1946.

  “sharp criticism of Russian policy”: New York Times, Feb. 20, 1946.

  carried slogans: New York Times, Feb. 21, 1946.

  New China Daily denied: Ibid.

  “littered with crates”: Gillin and Myers, p. 195.

  When the train reached the station: Ibid., p. 223.

  “the question of economic cooperation”: Ibid., p. 222.

  use the word “fascist”: FRUS, 1946, vol. 9, pp. 513–16.

  “Our party’s policy”: Sheng, pp. 133–34.

  “the U.S. Forces Headquarters”: Ibid., p. 136.

  “All that has happened”: Sheng, p. 127.

  “spirit of cooperation”: FRUS, 1946, vol. 9, p. 157.

  vituperative attack on him: Ibid., p. 167.

  persuasive, even impassioned rejoinder: Ibid., pp. 173–75.

  irreconcilables were motivated: Ibid., pp. 160–61.

  reported to Washington: Ibid., pp. 1380, 1400.

  “a complete contrast”: FRUS, 1946, vol. 10, p. 77.

  “a decisive victory”: New York Times, Mar. 21, 1946.

  twenty thousand Communist troops attacked: New York Times, Apr. 30, 1946.

  “shameful”: New York Times, Apr. 20, 1946.

  proposal for a new ceasefire: FRUS, 1946, vol. 9, pp. 791–93.

  “excessive demands”: Ibid.

  “tantamount to supporting”: Ibid.

  report from Weixian: Radio Yenan, monitored by FBIS, February 10, 1946.

  “American planes and officers”: Ibid., Apr. 2, 1946.

  “bring disaster”: Ibid., Apr. 21, 1946.

  “an undeniable fact”: Ibid., May 20, 1946.

  “Never in the past”: Ibid, June 7, 1946.

  “the aggravation”: Pogue, p. 125.

  “vicious Communist propaganda”: Ibid., p. 127.

  Communist forces ambushed: Van Slyke, Marshall’s Mission, vol. 1, pp. 444–50.

  EPILOGUE: The Tragedy of the Chinese Revolution

  When the police came: Mei Zhi, F: Hu Feng’s Prison Years, ed. and trans. Gregor Benton (London: Verso, 2013), p. 18.

  “counterrevolutionaries are trash”: Ibid., back cover.

  the “leniency” of the party: Ibid., pp. 56–60.

 

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