Mao Tse-Tung

From Turtledove

Mao Tse-tung (Chinese 毛泽东) (1893– 1976) was a Chinese military and political leader who led the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) to victory against the Kuomintang (KMT) in the Chinese Civil War, and was the leader of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976.

[edit] Mao Tse-Tung in Worldwar

Mao Tse-Tung was chairman of the Chinese Communist Party.

In 1937, when Japan invaded China, Mao’s Communist forces resisted the Japanese occupation. The Kuomintang, which was by then the government of China, devoted the bulk of its military resources to destroying the Communists, calling Japan “a disease of the skin” and Communism “a disease of the heart.” Mao also fought the Kuomintang during the Sino-Japanese War, and both he and Chiang Kai-Shek were criticized for failing to ally with one another against a common threat.

In 1942, Mao resisted the Race when its Conquest Fleet invaded. Now the threat was too great to allow him to fight Chiang, and he made common cause with the Nationalists, and even with Japanese forces stranded in China. The popular front did not preserve China's independence; it was overrun and was not invited to attend the peace conference in Cairo.

Chinese forces continuously resisted the Race, making China one of the most restive Race colonies on Tosev 3. The Communists took the lead, with tremendous material support from the Soviet Union (though Mao strongly distrusted Joseph Stalin and found Vyacheslav Molotov even harder to work with, a feeling that was mutual). He was also helped by the United States.

In 1963, Mao's forces temporarily expelled the Race from Beijing, Shanghai, and other Chinese cities with the help of other Chinese factions. They were not able to hold the cities long. After a second more successful rebellion in 1966 using shoulder fired missiles, they were able to force the Race's authorities to treat with them diplomatically, though mutual distrust hampered the negotiations. The Race refused to recognize China as independent in the territory it controlled fearing it would be the beginning of the end of their rule on Earth if they did. Mao's forces still held Beijing as of 1966 but are presumed to have been forced underground again shortly after.

A very effective guerrilla leader, Mao never attained his ultimate goal: the possession of an atomic bomb.