Seeds of Destruction: Nationalist China in War and Revolution, 1937-1949

by Lloyd E. Eastman

The question "Who lost China?" has provoked political vituperation and academic controversy ever since the Chinese Communists drove the Nationalist regime of Chiang Kai-shek off the mainland in 1949. In this study based on a wide array of hitherto unused documentary sources, the author delves deeply into the inner workings of the Nationalist regime and concludes that the Nationalists collapsed largely as a result of their own failings. Most strikingly, he uses the records and memoirs of the Nationalists themselves to document the weaknesses of the Nationalist rule. For even Chiang Kai-shek said of the Kuomintang on the eve of its final defeat in 1949, "This kind of party should long ago have been destroyed and swept away!" To illuminate the factors that contributed to its ultimate defeat, the author examines the Nationalist government during the period 1937-1949 from several different perspectives. He carefully scrutinizes the relationship between the central and provincial governments, the plight of the tax-burdened peasantry in the Nationalist-held areas, the intraparty politics of the regime as expressed in the Youth Corps and the reformist Ko-hsin Movement, the deficiencies of the army during the wars against Japan and the Communists, the failure of the Gold Yüan currency reform of late 1948, and finally, Chiang Kai-shek's own assessment of his army and the civilian branches of his regime during the final phases of the war.

Genres: China, History

326 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1984

Reviews

[Ming Kahnawake · Rating 5 out of 5]

通篇阅读都是带着愤怒、哀叹与无奈的感情。孙中山建立国民党，本是为着实现三民主义，让这个走向独立、民主、繁荣；然而在蒋介石的带领下，我们看到的是国家军阀各自为政、党和政府堕落不堪的官僚主义，再就是对百姓无底线的压榨和掠夺。国民党从未完全掌控中国所有地区，蒋介石也落入惯性，自1927年起，就开始把他个人关于革命的观念强加于党和政府之上。“像清朝的皇帝一样，对他来说政治就是在统治层中的争斗。”在国民党各方势力的敌人名单上，其他地方势力排名第一，共产党排名第二，日本人第三。就这样的对敌策略，如何能赢？他也一直惧怕左派的改革，所以根本性地解决体制问题。
老百姓过去常说，“国民党的税多，”苛捐杂税，乱抓壮丁，由于层层盘剥，士兵待遇堪比集中营，死伤逃亡的人数远远超过战争中的伤亡人数。几次金融改革失败，让国家近乎破产。这样的政府怎能得民心！得民心者得天下。那时共产党的宣传和组织性、纪律性，无不为百姓喜欢，顺应民意的结果不言而喻。“蒋介石直言不讳地流露了他对共产党的欣赏。而他所赞道的每一样东西，也正是国民党缺乏的，如共产党的组织性、纪律性和精神道德。”
几千年的朝野更替，朝廷体系和官员间的争名夺利到国民党这里也还在延续。没有监督制约、没有彻底挖掉旧体制根源的党是没有希望的。它的失败也就是注定的。

[Carlos Wang · Rating 4 out of 5]

電影〈建國大業〉中有一段，「改革亡黨，不改革亡國」，我印象很深。其實與其說是黨，不如說是校長自身的權力。他依賴以成事的那批人也是腐朽其當前基業的，更可怕的是他完全沒有時間可以緩衝，內外交迫下進退失據。

個人是頗佩服“蔣公”的意志力，居然還能挺過來到島上堅持。對於怎麼丟光江山他心底多少也有譜，看之後的作為可知一二，可惜遲了，算他命不好，一山還有一山高，遇見了毛澤東，不然校長風采豈不如佛朗哥？

原書出的蠻早的，有點研究的人會覺得這本內容蠻“標準答案”，那是恰好正是因為其內容切中要害，所以廣為人所用，現下所見，自然略顯落伍，但對於新手來說，仍是不錯打底的讀物，翻譯跟文采俱佳。



HOI4畢竟只是遊戲，為了玩家還是把國民黨的處境簡化了，抗日，談何容易，剿共，難啊。拿著十九世紀的思維與體制去應付二十世紀的新戰場，志清落伍久矣。

[Kevin_Raccoon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice and short examination of KMT's weak rule.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thorough, well-organized, sound (in terms of scholarship), and historically important.

[寻找家园 · Rating 4 out of 5]

这本书相当于一篇对国民党政权垮台的检讨书，里面对国民党与三青团关系的研究令我联想到中共与共青团之间的关系。希望有学者研究中共党、团与中国政府的关系。