To what extent was the Chinese communist party victory simply consequence of the KMT failure?

Answer 1

My opinion: In large measure yes, however there were other reasons. The predominant reasons relate to the situation as the second world war ended. The Soviet Union (Stalin) had decided on a much larger role in the Asia & the Pacific region with the defeat of the Japanese. The Japanese had previously been restraining Russian & later Soviet expanionist influences in that region. With Japan out of the picture, Stalin saw the gates to Asia opened. One of the methods that Stalin would use to increase his influence in China was to more openly support the communists. Prior to Japan's defeat he had not acted with much effort to assist the Communist Party in China, so as not to antagonize the Japanese who had troops in Manchuria on the Soviet border. Stalin acted to support the Chinese in a way that would try to make the Chinese communists dependant on Stalin for support. Meanwhile, the United States (President Truman) saw less reason to continue military support of the Chinese Nationalists, because it appeared that the Nationalist's prime enemy (the Japanese) had been defeated. There was no support in America for involvement in what appeared to be a internal Chinese matter (civil war). When the war ended, the Nationalist government was in a weak military & political position. The areas contolled by the Nationalists were war-ravaged and in turmoil. A power vacuum was created in all the large population centers with the withdrawl of Japanese troops from China. The major resource area of China, Manchuria, was firmly in the hands of Stalin. So with Japan gone, the Nationalist lost US support for the most part, and communists picked up support from Stalin. The Nationalists collapsed so quickly that Stalin did not have time to turn the Chinese Communist Party into a Soviet puppet, as he had done in eastern Europe. Also Stalin was not well, and lacked the personal drive and energy to force the issue.