ABSTRACT
In 1945 the Nationalist government took title to regions of China that had been under Japanese occupation, in some cases, since 1931. Their people, who had looked forward to the end of Japanese rule and the restoration of peace, were treated as traitors by the KMT regime. The latter, imperfect even before 1937, had become still more corrupt and demoralized during its years of isolation in Chungking, and its unwillingness to confront the most obvious political and military realities in and after 1945 defies explanation. The Northern Expedition of 1926-7 had been aided by the soundness of KMT currency, Chiang Kai-shek had devised and implemented an effective strategy against CCP rural, insurrection, and he had undertaken a serious project of military reform before 1937. Now China's currency inflation was allowed to rage out of control, the best Nationalist troops were left isolated in northeastern cities where they were destroyed by weaker communist forces, and Chiang's military policy amounted to no more than favouritism to Whampoa clique hacks whom Chiang considered loyal. Nationalist hubris and hypocrisy perversely lent legitimacy to the CCP, and encouraged the belief, consistent with the concept of historical change widespread among the Chinese people, that the Mandate of Heaven was being transferred.
