A History of the Modern Chinese Army

Front Cover
University Press of Kentucky, Jun 1, 2007 - History - 432 pages
Since the establishment of the Red Army in 1927, ChinaÕs military has responded to profound changes in Chinese society, particularly its domestic politics, shifting economy, and evolving threat perceptions. Recently tensions between China and Taiwan and other east Asian nations have aroused great interest in the extraordinary transformation and new capabilities of the Chinese army. In A History of the Modern Chinese Army, Xiaobing Li, a former member of the PeopleÕs Liberation Army (PLA), provides a comprehensive examination of the PLA from the Cold War to the beginning of the twenty-first century that highlights the militaryÕs central function in modern Chinese society. In the 1940s, the Chinese army was in its infancy, and many soldiers were rural conscripts and volunteers who had received little formal schooling. The Chinese military rapidly increased its mobility and weapon strength, and the Korean War and Cold War offered intense combat experience that not only allowed soldiers to hone their fighting techniques but also helped China to develop military tactics tailored to the surrounding countries whose armies posed the most immediate threats. Yet even in the 1970s, the completion of a middle school education (nine years) was considered above-average, and only 4 percent of the 224 top Chinese generals had any college credit hours. However, in 1995 the high command began to institute massive reforms to transform the PLA from a labor-intensive force into a technology-intensive army. Continually seeking more urban conscripts and emphasizing higher education, the PLA Reserve Officer Training and Selection program recruited students from across the nation. These reservists would become commissioned officers upon graduation, and they majored in atomic physics, computer science, and electrical engineering. Grounding the text in previously unreleased official Chinese government and military records as well as the personal testimonies of more than two hundred PLA soldiers, Li charts the development of ChinaÕs armed forces against the backdrop of Chinese society, cultural traditions, political history, and recent technological advancements. A History of the Modern Chinese Army links ChinaÕs military modernization to the countryÕs growing international and economic power and provides a unique perspective on ChinaÕs esttablishment and maintenance of one of the worldÕs most advanced military forces.
 

Contents

Introduction
1
1 Peasants and Revolutions
13
2 The Formative Years
45
3 Transformation in Korea
79
4 Russianizing the PLA
113
5 Building Missiles and the Bomb
147
6 Crises and Politics
177
7 Border Conflicts and the Cultural Revolution
205
8 Survivor and Reformer
241
9 Technocrats and the New Generation
271
Conclusion
295
Notes
301
Selected Bibliography
371
Index
395
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

Popular passages

Page 24 - The class struggles of the peasants, the peasant uprisings and peasant wars constituted the real motive force of historical development in Chinese feudal society.

References to this book

About the author (2007)

Xiaobing Li, professor of history and director of the Western Pacific Institute at the University of Central Oklahoma, is coauthor of Voices from the Korean War: Personal Stories of American, Korean, and Chinese Soldiers. He served in the People’s Liberation Army in China.

Bibliographic information