History of the People's Liberation Army
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The history of the People's Liberation Army began in 1927 with the start of the
armed force
in the world.
Historical background
Throughout the centuries, two tendencies have influenced the role of the military in national life, one in
political life. When one of these leaders became strong enough, he established a new political order ruling all China. After consolidating power, the new ruler or his successors subordinated the military to civilian control once again.[1]
Since the 1960s, China had considered the Soviet Union the principal threat to its security; lesser threats were posed by long standing
border disputes with Vietnam and India. China's territorial claims and economic interests made the South China Sea an area of strategic importance to China. Although China sought peaceful unification of Taiwan with the mainland China, it did not rule out the use of force against the island if serious internal disturbances, a declaration of independence, or a threatening alliance occurred.[2]
Before the founding of the People's Republic of China
The divisions of the "Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army" (中國工農紅軍) were named according to historical circumstances, sometimes in a nonconsecutive way. Early Communist units often formed by defection from existing Kuomintang forces, keeping their original designations. Moreover, during the Chinese Civil War, central control of separate Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-controlled enclaves within China was limited, adding to the confusion of nomenclature of Communist forces. By the time of the 1934 Long March, numerous small units had been organized into three unified groups, the First Front Red Army (紅一方面軍/红一方面军/Hóng Yī Fāngmiàn Jūn), the Second Front Red Army (紅二方面軍/红二方面军/Hóng Èr Fāngmiàn Jūn) and the Fourth Front Red Army (紅四方面軍/红四方面军/Hóng Sì Fāngmiàn Jūn), also translated as "First Front Red Army", "Second Front Red Army" and "Fourth Front Red Army".[3]
Mao's military thought grew out of the Red Army's experiences in the late 1930s and early 1940s and formed the basis for the "
Eight Points of Attention, instructed the army to avoid harm to or disrespect for the peasants, regardless of the need for food and supplies. This policy won support for the Communists among the rural peasants.[4]
On January 15, 1949, the CCP's Central Military Commission decided to reorganise the regional armies of the PLA into four field armies.[5]
People's Republic of China
Border disputes in the 1970s
In January 1974, the PLA saw action in the
Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) over the Paracel Islands. The PLA successfully seized control of three disputed islands in a naval battle and a subsequent amphibious assault.[6][7]
A Sino-Vietnamese War revealed specific shortcomings in military capabilities and thus provided an additional impetus to the military modernization effort. The border war, the PLA's largest military operation since the Korean War, was essentially a limited, offensive, ground-force campaign. The war had mixed results militarily and politically. Although the numerically superior Chinese forces penetrated about fifty kilometers into Vietnam, the PLA was not on good terms with its supply lines and was unable to achieve a decisive victory in the war.[8] Both China and Vietnam claimed victory.[9][8]
Military modernization in the 1980s
In 1981, the PLA conducted its largest military exercise in North China since the founding of the People's Republic of China. In 1985, Deng Xiaoping announced that the PLA would demobilize 1 million troops.[10]
On the other hand,
border battles and skirmishes
continued throughout the 1980s.
Chronology
The Ten-Year Civil War (1927–1937)
- 1927: Nanchang Uprising / Autumn Harvest Uprising / Guangzhou Uprising
- Kuomintang campaigns against the Jiangxi Soviet:
- November 1930 to December 1931: First Encirclement Campaign against Jiangxi Soviet
- April to May 1931: Second Encirclement Campaign against Jiangxi Soviet
- July 1931: Third Encirclement Campaign against Jiangxi Soviet
- December 1932 to March 1933: Fourth Encirclement Campaign against Jiangxi Soviet
- September 1933 to October 1934: Fifth Encirclement Campaign against Jiangxi Soviet
- November 1930 to December 1931:
- 1934–1936: The Long March, a strategic retreat to avoid destruction by the Nationalist armies of Chiang Kai-shek
- 1935: Battle at the Luding Bridge
- 1927:
Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945)
- 1937 to 1945: Second Sino-Japanese War
- September 25, 1937: The Battle of Pingxingguan
- January 1940: The New Fourth Army Incident
- August–December 1940: The Hundred Regiments Offensive
Chinese Civil War (1945–1950)
- 1945 to 1950: Chinese Civil War against the Kuomintang:
- September 10, 1945 to October 12, 1945 – Shangdang Campaign
- October 22, 1945 to November 2, 1945 – Handan Campaign
- December 17, 1946 to April 1, 1947 – Linjiang Campaign
- May 13, 1947 to July 1, 1947 – Summer Offensive of 1947 in Northeast China
- September 14, 1947 to November 5, 1947 – Autumn Offensive of 1947 in Northeast China
- October 10, 1947 - Eighth Route Army and New Fourth Army reorganised into the People's Liberation Army
- December 15, 1947 to March 15, 1948 – Winter Offensive of 1947 in Northeast China
- May 23, 1948 to October 19, 1948 – Siege of Changchun
- September 12, 1948 to November 12, 1949 – Liaoshen Campaign
- October 7, 1948 to November 15, 1948 – Battle of Jinzhou
- November 6, 1948 to January 10, 1949 – Huaihai Campaign
- November 29, 1948 to January 31, 1949 – Pingjin Campaign
- October 25, 1949 to October 27, 1949 – Battle of Kuningtou
- November 3, 1949 to November 5, 1949 – Battle of Denbu Island
- March 3, 1950 to March 3, 1950 – Battle of Nan'ao Island
- May 12, 1950 to June 2, 1950 – Shanghai Campaign
- May 25, 1950 to August 7, 1950 – Wanshan Archipelago Campaign
- August 9, 1950 to August 9, 1950 – Battle of Nanpéng Island
People's Republic of China (since 1949)
Taiwan Strait (aftermath of the civil war)
- 1952 to 1996: Taiwan Strait conflicts with the Republic of China(Taiwan):
- April 11, 1952 to April 15, 1952 – Battle of Nanri Island
- September 20, 1952 to October 20, 1952: Battle of Nanpēng Archipelago
- August 1954 to May 1955: The First Taiwan Strait Crisis
- January 18, 1955 to January 20, 1955: Battle of YijiangshanIslands
- January 18, 1955 to January 20, 1955:
- August 23 to October 6, 1958: Second Taiwan Strait Crisis
- July 21, 1995 to March 23, 1996: Third Taiwan Strait Crisis
1949–1979
- October 19, 1950: The Battle of Chamdo
- December 1951 to 1953: Korean War (under the official banner of the Chinese People's Volunteers, although they are PLA regulars)
- 1956 to 1959: Suppression of the Tibetan resistance movement
- October 20, 1962 to November 21, 1962: Sino-Indian War
- September 11, 1967 to October 1, 1967: Nathu La and Cho La clashes
- 1969 to 1978: Sino-Soviet border conflict
- January 17 to January 19, 1974: Xisha Islands
- February 17 to March 16, 1979: Sino-Vietnamese War
Military modernization (1980s)
- September 14–18, 1981: North China Military Exercise, the largest military exercise since the founding of People's Republic of China in 1949
- 1985: Deng Xiaoping downsized the PLA significantly and demobilized around 1 million soldiers[10]
- 1986: Border skirmishes with Vietnam
- May 20 to June 9, 1989: Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
- April 1, 2001: Hainan Island incident, a Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy jet intercepting a US Navy reconnaissance aircraft collides with the US plane. The Chinese pilot is marked missing in action (but assumed dead), while the crew of the US reconnaissance is detained by Chinese authorities, and released shortly after.
See also
- Outline of the military history of the People's Republic of China
- Outline of the Chinese Civil War
- Timeline of the Chinese Civil War
- Military history of China (pre-1911)
- Naval history of China
- Revolution in Military Affairs(RMA)
- People's Republic of China military reform
References
Citations
- ^ Kissinger, H. On China, Penguin, New York, p.346
- ^ Peoples Liberation Army Daily (August 14, 2006) Notes Archived 2008-12-12 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2007-02-17
- ^ Indo-Asian News Service (October 22, 2006): Retracing Mao's Long March[permanent dead link] (Retrieved 23 November 2006)
- ISBN 0810849305, 116
- ^ "Tài liệu Trung Quốc về Hải chiến Hoàng Sa: Lần đầu hé lộ về vũ khí | Hải chiến Hoàng Sa | Thanh Niên". 12 January 2014. Archived from the original on 2017-09-07. Retrieved 2017-09-06.
- ^ Gwertzman, Bernard (26 January 1974). "Peking Reports Holding U.S. Aide". The New York Times. New York, NY. Archived from the original on 27 October 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
- ^ ISBN 0415214742.
- OCLC 10513693.
- ^ a b "Troop Cut to Save Money, Deng Says". Los Angeles Times. 1985-05-06. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
Sources
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Country Studies. Federal Research Division. [1]
Further reading
- Blasko, Dennis J. The Chinese Army Today: Tradition and Transformation for the 21st Century (2012) excerpt and text search
- Cole, Bernard D. The Great Wall at Sea: China's Navy in the Twenty-First Century (2nd ed., 2010)
- Fisher, Richard. China's Military Modernization: Building for Regional and Global Reach (2010) excerpt and text search
- Fravel, M. Taylor. Active Defense: China's Military Strategy since 1949 (Princeton University Press, 2019) online reviews
- Jencks, Harlan W. From Muskets to Missiles: Politics and Professionalism in the Chinese Army 1945-1981 Westview, 1982
- Nelson, Harvey W. The Chinese Military System: An Organizational Study of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Boulder
- ISBN 9780313293375.
- Whitson, William W. with Chen-Hsia Huang. The Chinese High Command: A History of Communist Military Politics 1927-71 Palgrave MacMillan, 1973
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