Hello, and thank you for joining me.

I'm Mr. Marchant and I'll be your history teacher for today's lesson.

I'll be guiding you through all of our resources, and my top aims are to ensure, not only that you enjoy our learning, but also that you can successfully meet today's lesson objective.

Welcome to today's lesson, which is part of our unit on the development of the Cold War, where we are asking ourselves, how did the Cold War develop in Asia? By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to analyse the events of the Chinese Civil War.

There are three keywords, which will help us navigate our way through today's lesson.

Those are KMT.

CCP.

And civil war.

The KMT was the Chinese Nationalist Party.

The CCP was the Chinese Communist Party.

And a civil war is a conflict between people and groups from the same country.

Today's lesson will be split into three parts and will begin by thinking about China in 1945.

China was one of the largest countries in the world in 1945.

Although China had been invaded and occupied by Japan during World War II, it was still considered a great power by 1945 alongside the USA, USSR, Britain and France.

So let's just check our understanding of what we've just heard.

I want you to change one word to correct the following sentence, which reads, in 1945, most other countries considered China to have little importance in global politics.

So consider which word appears to be incorrect and what should it be changed to.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the incorrect word was little and that it should have been changed to great.

In 1945, most other countries considered China to have great importance in global politics.

China was ruled over by Chiang Kai-shek.

Chiang Kai-shek led the Nationalist Party, formerly known as the Kuomintang, or the KMT.

The KMT had been in power in China since 1928.

So let's check what we've just heard.

Which party ruled over China in 1945? Pause video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the Nationalists ruled over China in 1945.

The Nationalists were also known as the Kuomintang or KMT, so they would also be an acceptable answers to the question.

Before World War II, the KMT's power in China had been threatened by the Chinese Communist Party, the CCP, led by Mao Zedong.

The CCP's People's Liberation Army, over was known as the PLA and Nationalist forces only stopped fighting one another in 1936 to focus on resisting Japan's invasion of China.

So who is the leader of the Chinese Communist Party or the CCP? Was it Chiang Kai-shek? Joseph Stalin? Or Mao Zedong? Pause video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was c.

Mao Zedong was the leader of the Chinese Communist Party.

In August, 1945, Japan was finally defeated and World War II came to an end.

Chiang Kai-shek and Mao signed an agreement in October, 1945 to remain at peace.

However, the agreement failed and fighting began once again at the end of the year between the KMT and the CCP in China.

So let's check our understanding of what we've just heard.

We have a statement on the screen that reads the KMT and CCP work together after the end of World War II.

But is that statement true or false? Pause video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that statement was false, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that armed conflict between the Nationalist Party and Communist Party began once again in 1945.

And the second says that both sides began to fight one another, but this ended after an agreement was made in October, 1945.

So which one of those two justifications is correct? Pause video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct justification was a.

Armed conflict between the Nationalist Party and Communist Party began once again in 1945, despite Chiang Kai-shek, and Mao signing an agreement that had said they would work together.

So we are now ready to put our knowledge of China in 1945 into practise.

I want you to consider the following adjectives.

Divided, unimportant, and united.

Which one of those adjectives best describes China in 1945? Justify your choice of adjective.

Suppose video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done for all of your effort on that task.

So I asked you, which of our adjectives best describe China in 1945? And for you to justify your choice.

Your answer may have included, "In 1945, China was a divided country.

China can be described in this way because both the Nationalist Party, the KMT and the Communist Party, the CCP, wanted to rule the country.

Despite Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong, the leaders of the KMT and CCP, signing an agreement in October, 1945, fighting had broken out between the two sides once again by the end of the year." So really well done if your own response looks something like that model, which we've just seen.

And now, we're ready to move on to the second part of our lesson for today, where we are going to focus on the Chinese Civil War.

The fighting which began between the Nationalists and Communists in China in 1945, had become a full-scale civil war by the following year.

The Chinese Civil War continued until 1949.

Fighting between the Nationalist Party in China and the Communist Party began in 1945, and by the summer of 1946 had escalated to become a civil war.

When the Chinese Civil War began, Chiang Kai-shek Nationalists were in control of most of the country.

The CCP's power was mainly limited to Manchuria, a region in the far north of China, which bordered the Soviet Union.

The Nationalists commanded more soldiers and resources than the CCP and were able to send an army of 1.

6 million men to attack Communist held areas in the north in 1946.

As the advantage seemed to lie with the KMT, Chiang Kai-shek rejected calls that he should negotiate with Mao, believing that he could achieve a total victory through war rather than accepting a compromise solution through diplomacy.

So thinking about what we've just heard, why did Chiang Kai-shek refuse to negotiate with the CCP in 1946? Was it because he believed the KMT could secure a military victory? He believed the KMT was too weak to negotiate? Or because he had always refused to negotiate with communists? Pause video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was a.

Chiang Kai-shek refused to negotiate with the CCP in 1946 because he believed the KMT could secure a total military victory in the civil war.

So he considered diplomacy and compromise unnecessary.

Whilst the KMT had attacked Communists held areas in 1946, the CCP had avoided fighting where they knew they were overpowered.

Instead, the People's Liberation Army or the PLA focused on the strategy of passive defence designed gradually wear down the Nationalist armies.

Mao argued that 1947 represented a turning point in the civil war.

The benefits of the PLA strategy became apparent as Communist forces launched multiple offences against the KMT in 1947.

Increasingly forcing Chiang Kai-shek forces to focus on defence.

Communist defensives continued in 1948, by which point the PLA had more soldiers and supplies than the KMT could command.

In April, 1949, the PLA captured Nanking, the Nationalist capital city.

By October, the CCP was in a strong enough position for Mao to proclaim the foundation of a new Chinese state under Communist rule.

The People's Republic of China, otherwise known as the PRC.

In December, Chiang Kai-shek and other KMT leaders made the decision to fled to Taiwan, a small island off the Chinese coastline.

This left virtually all of mainland China under the rule of the CCP and marked an end to the Chinese Civil War.

So let's make sure we have a secure understanding of what we've just heard.

What year did Mao consider to be a turning point for the Chinese Civil War? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the year which Mao considered a turning point in the Chinese Civil War was 1947.

At this point, the Communist People's Liberation Army began launching offences against the Nationalists.

And let's try another question.

This time we have a statement, which says, the People's Liberation Army, PLA, enjoyed great success in 1949.

Is that statement true or false? Pause a video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was true, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that Nanking, the Nationalist capital, was captured and KMT leaders fled to Taiwan.

And the second says that Nanking, the Communist capital, was captured and CCP leaders fled to Taiwan.

So which one of those two justifications is correct? Pause video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct justification was a.

We can tell that the PLA enjoyed great success in 1949 because Nanking, the Nationalist capital, was captured and KMT leaders were forced to fled to Taiwan.

And let's try one final question.

What was the name of the communist state established in China in 1949? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was the PRC or the People's Republic of China.

This was the name of the communist state established in China by Mao Zedong in 1949.

So we're now in a good position for all of our knowledge of the Chinese Civil War into practise, starting with the earliest, I want you to sort the events in the table into chronological order.

You should use the numbers 1 to 6 to indicate your answers.

So pause video here and press play when you're ready to check your responses.

Okay, well done for all of your hard work on that task.

So I asked you to sort the events in our table into chronological order.

You should have said that the first event was that fighting began between the KMT, the Nationalists and the CCP, the Communists.

The second event was that Nationalists successfully launched offensives in the North.

At the start, the Chinese Civil War, the Nationalists win a much stronger position than Mao Zedong communists.

The third event was at Chiang Kai-shek refused calls to negotiate the CCP.

He did this because he thought he was in a strong enough position to win the war, anyway.

The fourth event on our table was that Mao claims that a turning point had been reached.

This was in 1947 when the CCP began launching their own offensives.

The fifth event was at the PLA captured Nanking, which was the Nationalist capital in China.

And the final event in our table was at KMT leaders, including Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan, leaving most of mainland China under the control of the CCP.

So really well done if you were able to identify the chronological order of all of those events correctly.

And now, we're ready to move on to the third and final part of our lesson for today where we are going to think about foreign involvement in the Chinese Civil War.

Although the Chinese Civil War was primarily a conflict between different groups within China, it was of great interest to other powers.

Both the KMT and CCP received foreign support during the conflict.

At the same time that the Chinese Civil War was ongoing, the US began pursuing a policy of containment intended to prevent the spread of communism around the world.

In China, as in other locations, the US government did not want to see Communists take power, and it therefore provided support to the KMT.

Whilst the US did not directly participate in the Chinese Civil War, it did provide considerable financial and military assistance to Chiang Kai-shek and his supporters.

For example, $27.

7 million in aid was supplied to the KMT in 1947, and $400 million was paid to the Nationalists in 1948.

However, the relationship between the KMT and the US government was difficult.

In 1946, the US made great efforts to convince Chiang Kai-shek that he should negotiate a peace deal with the CCP and allow a small number of Communists into the government.

American officials, this would end military resistance to the Nationalists without giving the CCP enough power in government to threaten the KMT's interests.

However, Chiang Kai-shek refused to follow the USA's advice and focused on securing a military victory against the Communists, instead.

The relationship between the USA and the Nationalists became so bad that when President Harry Truman was reelected in 1949, he refused to provide any further aid to the KMT at all complaining about the corruption and self-interest of Nationalists leaders.

So let's make sure we have a secure understanding of what we've heard so far.

Who did the USA support during the Chinese Civil War? Was it the CCP, the KMT, or neither side? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was b.

The USA supported the KMT, the Nationalists during the Chinese Civil War.

Does this fit with their strategy of containing the spread of communism? And let's try another question.

This time we have a statement, which reads the USA did all it could to ensure the KMT would win.

Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that statement was false, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that the US agreed to support the KMT negotiations, but did not contribute to its fighting strength.

And the second says that American aid to the KMT was cut-off completely in 1949.

So which one of those two justifications is correct? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct justification was b.

American aid to the KMT was completely cut-off in 1949, American officials were frustrated by the corruption and self-interest that they perceive from Nationalist leaders in China.

The USSR provided financial and military assistance to the CCP, even before the civil war officially began, Soviet troops who were temporarily based in northern China after the end of World War II provided training, weapons and other supplies to the PLA in the region.

During the civil war, the USSR continued to provide assistance to Mao CCP in the PLA, helping them to increase their strength over the course of the conflict.

Nevertheless, there were still limits to Soviet support for the CCP.

For one, Joseph Stalin, the leader of the USSR, was wary about the risk of China growing too strong and challenging Soviet interest in Asia regardless of who led it.

At the start of the civil war, this meant that the USSR continue to maintain links with both the Communists and the Nationalists, even by the end of the civil war, when the Communist People's Liberation Army had clearly gained a military advantage over its opponent, Soviet leaders were more hesitant about attacks on the KMT than the CCP were.

In fact, Mao made the decision to attack Nationalist positions in southern China, such as Nanking in 1949, despite being told by Stalin not to do so.

So let's make sure we have a secure understanding of what we've just heard.

I want you to change one word to correct the following sentence.

The USSR encouraged the PLA's attack on Nationalist positions in southern China in 1949.

So consider which word appears to be incorrect and what should it be changed to? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the incorrect word was encouraged and that it should have been changed to discouraged.

The USSR discouraged the PLA's attack on Nationalist positions in southern China in 1949.

Nevertheless, the CCP went ahead and made those attacks anyway.

So we are now in a good position to put all of our knowledge about foreign involvement in the Chinese Civil War into practise.

We have a view from Aisha who says, "During the Chinese Civil War, both the KMT and the CCP were controlled by foreign powers." How far do you agree with Aisha's view? You should write one paragraph to explain your answer.

So pause video here and press play when you are ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done for all of your effort on that task.

So I asked you how far do you agree with Aisha's view? And your answer may have included.

"I do not agree with Aisha's view that both the KMT and the CCP were controlled by foreign powers during the Chinese Civil War, even though the USA and USSR both provided some support to the opposing sides during the conflict.

For example, Soviet troops provided important training and weapons to members of the PLA as fighting began between the KMT and CCP.

Meanwhile, in 1948 alone, $400 million in aid was provided to the Nationalists by the USA.

Nevertheless, neither superpower provided unconditional support during the Civil War and they were not always listened to by those they supported either.

For instance, Chiang Kai-shek ignored American calls to negotiate in 1946 and Mao decided to attack southern China in 1949 despite being advised by Stalin not to do so." So really well done if your own response looks something like that model, which we've just seen.

And that means we've now reached the end of today's lesson, which puts us in a good position to summarise our learning.

We've seen that after World War II, China was divided as Nationalists and Communists both competed for power.

A civil war began in China in 1946 and lasted until 1949, by which time the CCP, led by Mao Zedong, had gained power.

Both the KMT and CCP received military and financial assistance for the USSR and USA during the Chinese Civil War.

But neither superpower was able to control the party they supported during that Civil War.

So really well done for all of your effort during today's lesson.

It's been a pleasure to help guide you for our resources, and I look forward to seeing you again in future as we continue to think about the development of the Cold War and continue to ask ourselves, "How did the Cold War develop in Asia?".