China under Mao

I give a account of the rule of Chairman Mao Zedong over China from the end of the Chinese Civil War to the his death in 1976. Millions would die as a result of his reign either being murdered during his several purges, being allowed to die in prison overworked, underfed and without medical help or the millions who were allowed to die of hunger in the famines caused by the policies of Mao.

To be published on Saturday 5th November

China and the Korean War

In this episode I give an overview of the Chinese military intervention in the Korean War, their early success in pushing back the American Eighth Army but then being later brough to a halt. The Korean War taught the Chinese military a number of lessons, the need for reliable logistics and the need to build tunnels to protect them from superior American fire power. The Korean War proved that China was now a superpower.

To be published on Sa

Tibetan Uprising

The Chinese Communists increase their control over Tibet, much to the growing anger of many people in Tibet. This would lead to the Tibetan uprising in 1959, in which over eighty thousand people died as the People’s Liberation Army crush Tibetan resistance. The Dalai Lama would flee Tibet and go into exile in India, along with many other Tibetan refugees. A biography of the Dalai Lama.is given. Also a biography of the Chinese ally Ngapoi is given up to his death at the age of 99,

The Chinese occupation of Tibet

In the final stage of the Chinese Civil War, the Communists wanted to occupy Tibet, which they saw as part of China. Tibet had largely been self-governing and talks between the Tibetan and Chinese Government failed to reach a settlement. The Communist People’s Liberation Army crossed the border into Tibet and defeated the Tibetan Army which was under the command of Ngapoi, his biography is given, as he would become an ally of the Chinese Communists who occupied Tibet, his photograph is shown below.

To be published on Saturday 15th October

Winning the war

In 1949, the Chinese Communist People Liberation Army defeats the Nationalist in Southern China, and capture the island of Hainan. The Communist also capture the North West of China were many of the people are not ethnic Han Chinese. The Nationalist are forced into exile in Taiwan.

To be published on Saturday 8th October

The battle for Shanghai

The Chinese Communist Army crossed the mighty Yangtze River overcoming Nationalist troops defending the South Bank., the Communists then capture the city of Shanghai. A British warship HMS Amethyst is fired upon by Communist artillery batteries along the River Yangtze. Chiang Kai – Shek is removed as Nationalist China leader and goes to Taiwan.

To be published on Saturday 1st October

The Battles for Eastern China

The Communist Armies won a series of important battle in Eastern China defeating the Nationalist forces, this is the turning point of the War. Beijing is captured by the Communists. An account of the role of Deng Xiaoping during the Chinese Civil War, he would become a future leader of China. How Communist terror helped win them control of rural China.

To be published on September 24th

The Manchurian Campaign

Chiang Kai-Shek orders his Nationalist Armies in June 1946, to attack the Communist forces in North China and Manchuria. The Nationalist troops seize the Cities but the Communist remain in control of the countryside and fight an effective guerrilla war against the Nationalist. A biography of Lin Biao the Communist Red Army commander in Manchuria, he wages a series of successful campaigns in Manchuria, which results in the defeat of the Nationalist.

To be published on Saturday 17th September

When Chiang meet Mao

After the Japanese surrender, the Nationalist forces occupy the cities of China. Under American and Soviet pressure Chiang Kai-Shek and Mao meet and agree to sign a peace deal but neither side has any plans to stick to it, indeed fighting in some area between the Nationalists and Communists begins. A biography of Nationalist Secret Police chief Dai Li.

To be published on Saturday September 10th

Dai Li

The Long March to Civil War

The Background to the Chinese Civil War 1946 to 1949. The fighting between the Nationalist and the Communists in the twenties and thirties. The Long March of the Communist Army from South East China to North China. The Japanese invasion of China and their fight against both the Chinese Nationalist and Communists. The Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945. A biography of Nationalist leader Chiang Kai Shek.

To be published on September 3rd.