ABSTRACT
In March 1943, a number of key developments had occurred when, in the midst of the Rectification movement, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), under Mao Zedong's promptings, had restructured itself. The rise in Mao's status in CCP during the Yanan years had been matched by his growing reputation as a leader of the Chinese resistance to Japanese occupiers. From 1938 onwards a civil war raged in China concurrently with the struggle against Japan. The ending of war against Japan came too soon for Chiang Kai-shek. In summer of 1946, Mao informed the CCP that the failure of peace negotiations meant they must organise for full-scale war against the Guomindang (GMD). One of Mao's first acts after the establishment of People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, was to visit the USSR, first time he had ever ventured out of China. He had been invited by Stalin over a year before but had delayed until victory over the GMD was assured.
