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{{redirect|Military history of the People's Republic of China|other uses|Military history of China}}
{{redirect|Military history of the People's Republic of China|other uses|Military history of China}}

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The '''history of the [[People's Liberation Army]]''' began in 1927 with the start of the [[Chinese Civil War]] and spans to the present, having developed from a [[peasant]] [[guerrilla]] force into the largest [[armed force]] in the world.


{{Politics of China |expanded = Military }}
==Historical background==
{{refimprove section|date=September 2017}}
China has a long [[military tradition]], dating back to the earliest days of [[recorded history]]. The [[martial]] exploits of kings and emperors, loyal generals and [[peasant]] [[Rebellion|rebels]], and [[strategist]]s and [[theorist]]s are well known in [[Chinese high culture]] and [[folk tradition]].{{cn|date=October 2017}}


The '''history of the People's Liberation Army''' began in 1927 with the start of the [[Chinese Civil War]] and spans to the present, having developed from a [[peasant]] [[guerrilla]] force into the largest [[armed force]] in the world.
Throughout the centuries, two tendencies have influenced the role of the military in national life, one in [[peacetime]] and the other in times of upheaval. In times of peace and stability, military forces were firmly subordinated to [[civilian]] control. The military was strong enough to overcome domestic rebellions and foreign invasion, yet it did not threaten civilian control of the political system. In times of disorder, however, new military leaders and organizations arose to challenge the old system, resulting in the [[militarization]] of [[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.<ref>Barnouin, Barbara and Yu Changgen. ''Zhou Enlai: A Political Life''. Hong Kong: Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. {{ISBN|962-996-280-2}}. Retrieved March 12, 2011. [https://books.google.com/books?id=NztlWQeXf2IC&printsec=frontcover&dq=zhou+enlai&hl=en&ei=wBkuTdKyB4H_8AaJucigAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false p.49-52]</ref>


==Historical background==
In the past 150 years, a third factor entered the Chinese military tradition—the introduction of modern [[military technology]] and [[military organization|organization]] to strengthen military capabilities against domestic and foreign enemies.{{cn|date=October 2017}}
Throughout the centuries, two tendencies have influenced the role of the military in national life, one in [[peacetime]] and the other in times of upheaval. In times of peace and stability, military forces were firmly subordinated to [[civilian]] control. The military was strong enough to overcome domestic rebellions and foreign invasion, yet it did not threaten civilian control of the political system. In times of disorder, however, new military leaders and organizations arose to challenge the old system, resulting in the [[militarization]] of [[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.<ref>Barnouin, Barbara and Yu Changgen. ''Zhou Enlai: A Political Life''. Hong Kong: Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. {{ISBN|962-996-280-2}}. Retrieved March 12, 2011. [https://books.google.com/books?id=NztlWQeXf2IC&q=zhou+enlai p.49-52] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911172827/https://books.google.com/books?id=NztlWQeXf2IC&printsec=frontcover&dq=zhou+enlai&hl=en&ei=wBkuTdKyB4H_8AaJucigAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAQ |date=2017-09-11 }}</ref>


Since the 1960s, China had considered the Soviet Union the principal threat to its security; lesser threats were posed by long standing [[border dispute]]s 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 [[Chinese unification|unification]] of [[Taiwan]] with the [[mainland|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.<ref>Kissinger, H. On China, Penguin, New York, p.346</ref>
Since the beginning of the 20th century, all three tendencies have been discernible in the role of the military in national life. These factors have been particularly apparent in the role of the [[People's Liberation Army]] in the rise to power of the [[Chinese Communist Party]], in the military's role in the [[politics of the People's Republic of China]], and in the efforts of Chinese leaders to [[modernize]] the [[armed forces]].{{cn|date=October 2017}}


==Before the founding of the People's Republic of China==
After decades of development from a [[peasant]] [[guerrilla]] force to a conventional [[military organization]] capable of achieving longsought national liberation from foreign colonial powers and the invasion and occupation by the [[Imperial Japanese Army]], the [[People's Liberation Army]] pursued further technical competence and improved organization, with [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] assistance, in the 1950s. Political involvement in the [[Great Leap Forward]] (1958–60) and the [[Cultural Revolution]] (1966–76) delayed these efforts until the late 1970s, when the People's Liberation Army embarked on a [[military modernization]] program, which had three major focuses. First, military modernization required both the strengthening of party control over the military and the continued disengagement of the armed forces from politics. These steps were necessary to ensure that a politically reliable yet professionally competent military would concentrate on the task of military reform. Second, defense modernization attempted to achieve improved [[combat effectiveness]] through organizational, doctrinal, training, educational, and personnel reforms (including recruitment, promotion, and [[demobilization]]). These reforms emphasized the development of combat capabilities in waging combined arms warfare. Third, military modernization was aimed at the transformation of the [[Defense (military)|defense]] establishment into a system capable of independently sustaining modern military forces. This transformation necessitated the reorganization and closer integration of civilian and military [[science]] and [[industry]] and also the selective use of foreign technology.{{cn|date=October 2017}}
{{Main|Chinese Civil War|Second Sino-Japanese War}}

Since the 1960s, China had considered the Soviet Union the principal threat to its security; lesser threats were posed by long standing [[border dispute]]s 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 reunification of [[Taiwan]] with the [[mainland|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.<ref>Kissinger, H. On China, Penguin, New York, p.346</ref>

The scope of foreign military cooperation has evolved gradually. In the 1950s, China dealt only with [[communist]] nations and insurgencies. In the 1960s, it began to provide military assistance to [[Third World]] nations to counteract [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] and United States influence. Beginning in the late 1970s, China shifted its arms transfer policy away from military assistance in favor of commercial [[arms sales]] and began developing military ties with [[Western Europe]] and the United States. Chinese military contacts with foreign countries expanded rapidly with the introduction of the military modernization program and the policy of opening up to the outside world.{{cn|date=October 2017}}

In the late 1980s, [[People's Liberation Army]] forces consisted of the various arms like [[People's Liberation Army Ground Force|Ground forces]], and the [[People's Liberation Army Air Force|Air Force]], [[People's Liberation Army Navy|Navy]], and [[People's Liberation Army Rocket Force|Rocket Force]] . The ground forces were divided into [[group armies]]. [[Army|Ground force]] equipment was largely of Soviet design and [[obsolete]], although some weaponry had been upgraded with foreign technology. The Air Force had serious technological deficiencies despite incremental improvements of aircraft. The Navy was developing a blue-water capability and sea-based strategic forces. China possessed a small but relatively credible nuclear deterrent force with an incipient [[second-strike capability]]. Paramilitary forces consisted of the [[militia]], [[Military reserve force|reserve service]] system, [[Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps]], and [[People's Armed Police]] Force.{{cn|date=October 2017}}

==Historical development, 1927-79==

===From the founding of the People's Liberation Army to the Korean War===
[[File:中國工農紅軍軍旗.svg|200px|thumb|Flag of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (中國工農紅軍).]]
[[File:中國工農紅軍軍旗.svg|200px|thumb|Flag of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (中國工農紅軍).]]
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.


The 1929 [[Gutian Congress]] was important in establishing the principle of party control over the military, which continues to be a core principle of the [[Ideology of the Chinese Communist Party|party's ideology]].<ref name=":Duan">{{Cite book |last=Duan |first=Lei |title=China under Xi Jinping: A New Assessment |publisher=[[Leiden University Press]] |year=2024 |isbn=9789087284411 |editor-last=Fang |editor-first=Qiang |pages= |chapter=Towards a More Joint Strategy: Assessing Chinese Military Reforms and Militia Reconstruction |editor-last2=Li |editor-first2=Xiaobing}}</ref>{{Rp|page=280}} In the short term, this concept was further developed in the June 1930 Program for the Red Fourth Army at All Levels and the winter 1930 Provisional Regulations on the Political Work of the Chinese Workers and Peasants Army (Draft), which formally established Party leadership of the military.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Huang |first=Yibing |url= |title=An Ideological History of the Communist Party of China |date=2020 |publisher=Royal Collins |others=Qian Zheng, Guoyou Wu, Xuemei Ding, Li Sun, Shelly Bryant |isbn=978-1-4878-0425-1 |edition= |volume=1 |location=Montreal, Quebec |pages= |oclc=1165409653}}</ref>{{Rp|page=307}}
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) traces its origins to the August 1, 1927, [[Nanchang Uprising]] in which [[Kuomintang]] (Nationalists, also spelled "Guomindang") troops led by [[Communist Party of China]] leaders [[Zhu De]] and [[Zhou Enlai]] (while engaged in the [[Northern Expedition (1926–1927)|Northern Expedition]]) rebelled following the [[April 12 Incident|violent dissolution]] of the first Kuomintang-Communist Party of China united front earlier that year. The survivors of that and other abortive communist insurrections, including the [[Autumn Harvest Uprising]] led by [[Mao Zedong]], fled to the [[Jinggang Mountains]] along the border of [[Hunan]] and [[Jiangxi]] provinces. Joining forces under the leadership of Mao and Zhu, this collection of communists, bandits, Kuomintang deserters, and impoverished peasants became the [[First Workers' and Peasants' Army]], or Red Army—the military arm of the Chinese Communist Party.{{cn|date=October 2017}}


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".<ref>Peoples Liberation Army Daily (August 14, 2006) [http://english.pladaily.com.cn/site2/special-reports/2006-08/14/content_554037.htm Notes] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081212212710/http://english.pladaily.com.cn/site2/special-reports/2006-08/14/content_554037.htm |date=2008-12-12 }} Retrieved 2007-02-17</ref>
Using [[guerrilla warfare]] that would later make Mao Zedong internationally famous as a [[military strategist]], the Red Army survived several encirclement and suppression campaigns by superior Kuomintang forces. However, internal politics in the Communist Party forced the Red Army to temporarily abandon its guerrilla tactics and resulted in the epic [[Long March]] of 1934-35 (see [[Chinese nationalism]] and [[Chinese communism]]). The Red Army's exploits during the Long March became legendary and remain a potent symbol of the spirit and prowess of the Red Army and its successor, the PLA. During that period, Mao's political power and his strategy of guerrilla warfare gained ascendancy in the party and the Red Army.{{cn|date=October 2017}}


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 "[[people's war]]" concept, which became the [[military doctrine|doctrine]] of the Red Army and the [[People's Liberation Army]] (PLA). In developing his thought, Mao drew on the works of the Chinese military strategist [[Sun Zi]] (4th century BC) and Soviet and other theorists, as well as on the lore of peasant uprisings, such as the stories found in the classical novel ''[[Shuihu Zhuan]]'' (''Water Margin'') and the stories of the [[Taiping Rebellion]]. Synthesizing these influences with lessons learned from the Red Army's successes and failures, Mao created a comprehensive politico-military doctrine for waging [[revolutionary warfare]]. People's war incorporated political, economic, and [[psychological warfare|psychological]] measures with protracted military struggle against a superior foe. As a military doctrine, people's war emphasized the [[mobilization]] of the populace to support regular and guerrilla forces; the primacy of men over weapons, with superior motivation compensating for inferior [[technology]]; and the three progressive phases of protracted warfare—strategic [[Defense (military)|defensive]], strategic [[stalemate]], and strategic [[Offensive (military)|offensive]] (see [[Mobile Warfare]]). During the first stage, enemy forces were "lured in deep" into one's own territory to overextend, disperse, and isolate them. The Red Army established base areas from which to harass the enemy, but these bases and other territory could be abandoned to preserve Red Army forces. In addition, policies ordered by Mao for all soldiers to follow, 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.<ref>Indo-Asian News Service (October 22, 2006): [http://in.news.yahoo.com/061022/43/68om7.html Retracing Mao's Long March]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} (Retrieved 23 November 2006)</ref>
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 Communist-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".<ref>Peoples Liberation Army Daily (August 14, 2006) [http://english.pladaily.com.cn/site2/special-reports/2006-08/14/content_554037.htm Notes] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081212212710/http://english.pladaily.com.cn/site2/special-reports/2006-08/14/content_554037.htm |date=2008-12-12 }} Retrieved 2007-02-17</ref>


On January 15, 1949, the CCP's [[Central Military Commission (China)|Central Military Commission]] decided to reorganise the regional armies of the PLA into four field armies.<ref>Historical Dictionary of Modern China (1800-1949), James Zheng Gao, Scarecrow Press, 2009, {{ISBN|0810849305}}, 116</ref>
The First Front Red Army formed from the First, Third and Fifth Red Army in southern [[Kiangsi]] under command of [[Bo Gu]] and Li De, while the Fourth Front Red Army under [[Zhang Guotao]] was formed in the [[Szechuan]]–[[Shensi]] border area from several smaller units. After the organization of these first two main forces, the Second Front Red Army formed in eastern [[Kweichow]] by unifying the Second and Sixth Red Army under [[He Long]] and Jen Pi-shih. A "Third Front Red Army" was never established, and the three armies would maintain their historical denominations of First, Second and Fourth Front Red Armies until Communist military forces were nominally integrated into the [[National Revolutionary Army]], forming the [[Eighth Route Army]] and the [[New Fourth Army]], during the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] from 1937 to 1945.{{cn|date=October 2017}}


==People's Republic of China==
In 1937 the Red Army joined in a second united front with the Kuomintang against the invading Japanese army (see [[Anti-Japanese War]]). Although nominally cooperating with the Kuomintang, the Chinese Communist Party used the Red Army to expand its influence while leading the anti-Japanese resistance in [[north China]]. At the time of the war, the Red Army numbered 1 million and was backed by a [[militia]] of 2 million. Although the Red Army fought several conventional battles against the Japanese (and Kuomintang troops), guerrilla operations were the primary mode of warfare.{{cn|date=October 2017}}


=== Border disputes in the 1970s ===
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 "[[people's war]]" concept, which became the [[military doctrine|doctrine]] of the Red Army and the PLA. In developing his thought, Mao drew on the works of the Chinese military strategist [[Sun Zi]] (4th century BC) and Soviet and other theorists, as well as on the lore of peasant uprisings, such as the stories found in the classical novel ''[[Shuihu Zhuan]]'' (''Water Margin'') and the stories of the [[Taiping Rebellion]]. Synthesizing these influences with lessons learned from the Red Army's successes and failures, Mao created a comprehensive politico-military doctrine for waging [[revolutionary warfare]]. People's war incorporated political, economic, and [[psychological warfare|psychological]] measures with protracted military struggle against a superior foe. As a military doctrine, people's war emphasized the [[mobilization]] of the populace to support regular and guerrilla forces; the primacy of men over weapons, with superior motivation compensating for inferior [[technology]]; and the three progressive phases of protracted warfare—strategic [[Defense (military)|defensive]], strategic [[stalemate]], and strategic [[Offensive (military)|offensive]] (see [[Mobile Warfare]]). During the first stage, enemy forces were "lured in deep" into one's own territory to overextend, disperse, and isolate them. The Red Army established base areas from which to harass the enemy, but these bases and other territory could be abandoned to preserve Red Army forces. In addition, policies ordered by Mao for all soldiers to follow, 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.<ref>Indo-Asian News Service (October 22, 2006): [http://in.news.yahoo.com/061022/43/68om7.html Retracing Mao's Long March] (Retrieved 23 November 2006)</ref>
In January 1974, the PLA saw action in the [[South China Sea]] following a long-simmering dispute with the [[Republic of Vietnam]] (South Vietnam) over the [[Paracel Islands]]. The PLA successfully seized control of three disputed islands in a [[Battle of the Paracel Islands|naval battle]] and a subsequent [[Amphibious warfare|amphibious]] assault.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://thanhnien.vn/chinh-tri-xa-hoi/hai-chien-hoang-sa/tai-lieu-trung-quoc-ve-hai-chien-hoang-sa-lan-dau-he-lo-ve-vu-khi-5579.html |title=Tài liệu Trung Quốc về Hải chiến Hoàng Sa: Lần đầu hé lộ về vũ khí {{!}} Hải chiến Hoàng Sa {{!}} Thanh Niên<!-- Bot generated title --> |date=12 January 2014 |access-date=2017-09-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170907034942/http://thanhnien.vn/chinh-tri-xa-hoi/hai-chien-hoang-sa/tai-lieu-trung-quoc-ve-hai-chien-hoang-sa-lan-dau-he-lo-ve-vu-khi-5579.html |archive-date=2017-09-07 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Gwertzman">{{Cite news |last=Gwertzman |first=Bernard |date=26 January 1974 |title=Peking Reports Holding U.S. Aide |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1974/01/26/79903943.html?pageNumber=1 |newspaper=The New York Times |location=New York, NY |access-date=20 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181027051928/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1974/01/26/79903943.html?pageNumber=1 |archive-date=27 October 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>


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.<ref name="auto">{{cite book|last=Elleman|first=Bruce A.|title=Modern Chinese Warfare, 1795-1989|year=2001|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0415214742|page=297}}</ref> Both China and Vietnam claimed victory.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Chen|first=King C.|title=China's war against Vietnam, 1979 : a military analysis|date=1983|publisher=School of Law, University of Maryland|others=University of Maryland at Baltimore. School of Law.|isbn=0-942182-57-X|location=[Baltimore]|oclc=10513693}}</ref><ref name="auto" />
In the second phase, superior numbers and [[morale]] were applied to wear down the enemy in a war of attrition in which guerrilla operations predominated. During the final phase, Red Army forces made the transition to regular warfare as the enemy was reduced to parity and eventually defeated.{{cn|date=October 2017}}


=== Military modernization in the 1980s ===
In the [[Chinese Civil War]] which followed [[Empire of Japan|Japan's]] defeat after the [[Second World War]], the Red Army, newly renamed the People's Liberation Army, again used the principles of people's war in following a policy of strategic withdrawal, waging a [[war of attrition]], and abandoning cities and communication lines to the well-armed, numerically superior Kuomintang forces. In 1947 the PLA launched a [[counteroffensive]] during a brief strategic stalemate. By the next summer, the PLA had entered the strategic offensive stage, using conventional warfare as the Kuomintang forces went on the defensive and then collapsed rapidly on the mainland in 1949. By 1950 the PLA had seized [[Hainan Island]] and [[Xizang]].{{cn|date=October 2017}}
{{Main|Modernization of the People's Liberation Army}}
In 1981, the PLA conducted its largest [[North China Military Exercise|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.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=1985-05-06|title=Troop Cut to Save Money, Deng Says|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-05-06-mn-4457-story.html|access-date=2020-06-20|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}</ref>


On the other hand, [[Sino-Vietnamese conflicts 1979-1990|border battles and skirmishes]] continued throughout the 1980s.
On January 15, 1949, the Communist Party Central Military Commission decided to reorganise the regional armies of the PLA into four field armies.<ref>Historical Dictionary of Modern China (1800-1949), James Zheng Gao, Scarecrow Press, 2009, {{ISBN|0810849305}}, 116</ref> The forces in Northwest China were designated the [[First Field Army (China)|First Field Army]], with [[Peng Dehuai]] as commander and also serving as political commissar. The First Field Army was to comprise the 1st Corps Army and 2nd Corps Army, and totalled 134,000 men. After 1949, the First Field Army controlled five provinces - Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and [[Xinjiang]]. The [[Second Field Army]] took control of PLA troops in central China, with [[Liu Bocheng]] as commander and [[Deng Xiaoping]] as commissar. It comprised the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Armies, plus a special technical column, and totalled 128,000 men. After 1949, the Second Field Army was stationed in southwest China and controlled five provinces - Yunnan, Giuzhou, Sichan, Xikang, and [[Tibet]]. The [[Third Field Army]] took control of the troops in eastern China, with [[Chen Yi (communist)|Chen Yi]] as its commander. It comprised the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th Corps Army plus the headquarters of the special technical troops, with a total of 580,000 men. After 1949, the Third Field Army remained on China's east coast, controlling Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, and Fujian. The PLA troops in Manchuria were designated the [[Fourth Field Army]] under [[Lin Biao]]. The army comprised the 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th Corps Army, special technical troops, the Column of Guangdong and Guangxi, and the 50th and 51st Corps.{{cn|date=October 2017}}


=== 2015-2016 reorganization ===
When the PLA became a national armed force with the founding of the [[People's Republic of China]] on October 1, 1949, it was an unwieldy, 5-million-strong [[peasant]] [[armed force]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}} In 1950 the PLA included 10,000 troops in the [[People's Liberation Army Air Force|Air Force]] (founded in 1949) and 60,000 in the [[People's Liberation Army Navy|Navy]] (founded in 1950). At that time, demobilization of ill-trained or politically unreliable [[troops]] began, resulting in the reduction of [[military strength]] to 2.8 million in 1953.{{cn|date=October 2017}}
{{Main article|2015 People's Republic of China military reform}}
The "deepening national defense and military reform" was announced in November 2015 at a [[plenary session]] of the [[Central Military Commission (China)|Central Military Commission]] (CMC)'s [[Central Leading Group for Military Reform]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Chan |first=Minnie |date=25 November 2015 |title=China hits the launch button for massive PLA shake-up to create a modern, nimble force |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/1883071/china-hits-launch-button-massive-pla-shake |access-date=5 April 2022 |work=[[South China Morning Post]]}}</ref>


In 2016, the four traditional departments of the military were replaced by 15 new departments, commissions, and offices led by the CMC.<ref name=":Duan2">{{Cite book |last=Duan |first=Lei |title=China under Xi Jinping: A New Assessment |publisher=[[Leiden University Press]] |year=2024 |isbn=9789087284411 |editor-last=Fang |editor-first=Qiang |pages= |chapter=Towards a More Joint Strategy: Assessing Chinese Military Reforms and Militia Reconstruction |editor-last2=Li |editor-first2=Xiaobing}}</ref>{{Rp|page=288}}
China's new leaders recognized the need to transform the PLA, essentially an [[infantry]] army with limited [[Mobility (military)|mobility]], [[logistics]], [[Ammunition#Ordnance ammunition|ordnance]], and [[communications]], into a modern military force. The signing of the [[Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance, and Mutual Assistance]] in February 1950 provided the framework for defense [[modernization]] in the 1950s. However, the [[Korean War]] was the real watershed in armed forces modernization. The [[Chinese People's Volunteers]] (as the military forces in [[Korea]] were called) achieved initial success in throwing back [[United Nations]] (UN) troops and, despite the PLA's first encounter with modern firepower, managed to fight UN forces to a stalemate. Nevertheless, China's [[Korean War]] experience demonstrated PLA deficiencies and stimulated Soviet assistance in equipping and reorganizing the military. The use of unsupported infantry attacks against combined arms firepower caused serious [[Human resources|manpower]] and [[materiel]] losses. Shortcomings in [[transportation]] and [[materiel|supply]] indicated the need to improve [[logistics]] capabilities.{{cn|date=October 2017}}


On 1 February 2016, China replaced its system of seven military regions with newly-established Theater Commands: [[Northern Theater Command|Northern]], [[Southern Theater Command|Southern]], [[Western Theater Command|Western]], [[Eastern Theater Command|Eastern]], and [[Central Theater Command|Central]].<ref name=":Duan2" />{{Rp|page=289}} In the prior system, operations were segmented by military branch and region.<ref name=":Duan2" />{{Rp|page=289}} In contrast, each [[Theater command (China)|Theater Command]] is intended to function as a unified entity with joint operations across different military branches.<ref name=":Duan2" />{{Rp|page=289}}
===Military modernization in the 1950s and 1960s===


==Chronology==
{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2017}}
Large-scale Soviet aid in modernizing the PLA, which began in the fall of 1951, took the form of [[weapons]] and [[Military equipment|equipment]], assistance in building China's [[defense industry]], and the loan of advisers, primarily technical ones. Mostly during the [[Korean War]] years, the Soviet Union supplied [[infantry]] weapons, [[artillery]], [[armor]], [[truck]]s, [[fighter aircraft]], [[bombers]], [[submarines]], [[destroyers]], and [[gunboats]]. Soviet advisers assisted primarily in developing a defense industry set up along Soviet organizational lines. Aircraft and ordnance factories and [[shipbuilding]] facilities were constructed and by the late 1950s were producing a wide variety of Soviet-design military equipment. Because the Soviet Union would not provide China with its most modern equipment, most of the weapons were outdated and lacked an offensive capability. Both Chinese dissatisfaction with this defensive aid and the Soviet refusal to supply China with [[nuclear bomb]] [[blueprint]]s partly contributed to the withdrawal of Soviet advisers in 1960 (see [[Sino-Soviet Split]]).


=== The Ten-Year Civil War (1927–1937) ===
In the early 1940s, China's leaders decided to reorganize the military along Soviet lines. In 1954 they established the [[Central Military Commission (China)|National Defense Council]], [[Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China|Ministry of National Defense]], and thirteen [[military region]]s. The PLA was reconstituted according to Soviet [[Order of battle|tables of organization and equipment]]. It adopted the [[combined-arms]] concept of armor- and artillery-heavy mobile forces, which required the adoption of some Soviet strategy and tactics. PLA modernization according to the Soviet model also entailed creation of a [[Officer (armed forces)|professional officer corps]], complete with Soviet-style [[uniforms]], [[Military rank|ranks]], and [[insignia]]; [[conscription]]; a [[Military reserve force|reserve system]]; and new rules of [[discipline]]. The introduction of modern weaponry necessitated raising the [[education]] level of soldiers and intensifying formal military training. Political education and the role of [[political commissar]]s lost their importance as the modernization effort progressed.
:* 1927: [[Nanchang Uprising]] / [[Autumn Harvest Uprising]] / [[Guangzhou Uprising]]

The military's new emphasis on Soviet-style [[professionalism]] produced tensions between the party and the military. The party feared that it would lose political control over the military, that the PLA would become alienated from a society concentrating on economic construction, and that relations between officers and soldiers would deteriorate. The party reemphasized Mao's thesis of the supremacy of men over weapons and subjected the PLA to several political campaigns. The military, for its part, resented party attempts to strengthen political education, build a mass militia system under local party control, and conduct economic [[Production, costs, and pricing|production]] activities to the detriment of [[military training]]. These tensions culminated in September 1959, when Mao Zedong replaced Minister of National Defense [[Peng Dehuai]], the chief advocate of military modernization, with [[Lin Biao]], who deemphasized military [[professionalism]] in favor of revolutionary purity (see [[Great Leap Forward]] 1958-60).

The ascension of Lin Biao and the complete withdrawal of Soviet assistance and advisers in 1960 marked a new stage in [[military development]]. The Soviet withdrawal disrupted the defense industry and weapons production, particularly crippling the [[aircraft industry]]. Although the military purchased some foreign technology in the 1960s, it was forced to stress [[Self-sufficiency|self-reliance]] in weapons production. Lin Biao moved to restore PLA morale and discipline and to mold the PLA into a politically reliable fighting force. Lin reorganized the PLA [[Chain of command|high command]], replaced the mass militia with a smaller militia under PLA control, and reformulated the [[Maoist]] doctrine of the supremacy of men over materiel. Lin stated that "men and materiel form a unity, with men as the leading factor", giving ideological justification to the reemphasis on military training. Political training, however, continued to occupy 30 to 40 percent of a soldier's time. At the same time, Lin instituted stricter party control, restored party organization at the company level, and intensified political education. In 1964 the prestige of the PLA as an exemplary, revolutionary organization was confirmed by the "Learn from the PLA" campaign. This campaign, which purported to disseminate the military's political-work experience throughout society, resulted in the introduction of military personnel into party and government organizations, a trend that increased after the [[Cultural Revolution]] began.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the PLA fought one internal and one external campaign: in [[Xizang]] against Tibetan rebels, and on the Sino-Indian border against India. In the first campaign, PLA forces suppressed Tibetan insurgents who rebelled in 1958-59 against Chinese rule. The Sino-Indian border war broke out in October 1962 amid the deterioration of Sino-Indian relations and mutual accusations of intrusions into disputed territory. In this brief (one month) but decisive conflict, the PLA attacked Indian positions in the [[North-East Frontier Agency]] (later called [[Arunachal Pradesh]]), penetrating to the [[Himalayas|Himalayan]] foothills, and in [[Ladakh]], particularly in the [[Aksai Chin]] region. After routing the [[Indian Army]], the PLA withdrew behind the original "line of actual control" after China announced a [[unilateral]] [[cease-fire]]. Both campaigns were limited conflicts using conventional tactics.

===[[The Cultural Revolution]]===

{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2017}}
The PLA played a complex political role during the [[Cultural Revolution]]. From 1966 to 1968, military training, conscription and demobilization, and political education virtually ceased as the PLA was ordered first to help promote the Cultural Revolution and then to reestablish order and authority. Although the Cultural Revolution initially developed separately in the PLA and in the party apparatus, the PLA, under the leadership of its radical leftist leader, [[Lin Biao]], soon became deeply involved in civilian affairs. In early 1967, the military high command was purged, and regional military forces were instructed to maintain order, establish military control, and support the "revolutionary left". Because many regional-force commanders supported conservative party and government officials rather than radical mass organizations, many provincial-level military leaders were purged or transferred, and Beijing ordered several main-force units to take over the duties of the regional-force units. In the summer of 1967, regional military organizations came under leftist attack, Red Guard factions obtained weapons, and violence escalated. By September, the central authorities had called off the attack on the PLA, but factional rivalries between regional- and main-force units persisted. Violence among rival mass organizations, often backed by different PLA units, continued in the first half of 1968 and delayed the formation of revolutionary committees, which were to replace traditional government and party organizations. In July 1968, Mao abolished the [[Red Guards (China)|Red Guards]] and ordered the PLA to impose revolutionary committees wherever such bodies previously had not been established.

Worries over military [[Political faction|factionalism]] caused the leadership to curtail the Cultural Revolution and to initiate a policy of rotating military commanders and units. The [[Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia]], the enunciation of the [[Brezhnev Doctrine]], the Soviet military buildup in its [[Far East]]ern theater, and [[Sino-Soviet border clashes]] in the spring of 1969 brought about a renewed emphasis on some of the PLA's traditional military roles. In 1969, Lin Biao launched an extensive "war preparations" campaign; [[military training]] was resumed, and [[military procurement]], which had suffered in the first years of the Cultural Revolution, rose dramatically. [[Military preparedness]] was further advanced along China's [[frontier]]s and particularly the Sino-Soviet border when the thirteen military regions were reorganized into eleven in 1970.
The resulting military regions were the Shenyang, Beijing, Lanzhou, Xinjiang, Jinan, Nanjing, Fuzhou, Guangzhou (including Hainan Island), Wuhan, Chengdu, and Kunming MRs.

The PLA emerged from the more violent phase of the Cultural Revolution deeply involved in civilian [[politics]] and [[public administration]]. It had committed 2 million troops to political activities and reportedly suffered hundreds of thousands of casualties. Regional military forces were almost completely absorbed in political work. PLA units did not withdraw fully from these duties until 1974. Following the sudden death of Lin Biao in 1971, the military began to disengage from politics, and civilian control over the PLA was reasserted. Lin's supporters in the PLA were purged, leaving some high-level positions in the PLA unfilled for several years. PLA officers who had dominated provincial-level and local party and government bodies resigned from those posts in 1973 and 1974. Military region commanders were reshuffled, and some purged military leaders were rehabilitated. Military representation in the national-level political organizations, following an all-time high at the Ninth National Party Congress in 1969, declined sharply at the Tenth National Party Congress in 1973.

Along with the reassertion of civilian control over the military and the return to military duties came a shift of resources away from the defense sector. Defense procurement dropped by 20 percent in 1971 and shifted from [[aircraft]] production and [[intercontinental ballistic missile]] development to the modernization of the ground forces and medium-range [[ballistic missile]] and intermediate-range ballistic missile development.

===Military modernization in the 1970s===
In January 1974, the PLA saw action in the [[South China Sea]] following a long-simmering dispute with the [[Republic of Vietnam]] (South Vietnam) over the [[Paracel Islands]]. The PLA successfully seized control of three disputed islands in a [[Battle of the Paracel Islands|naval battle]] and a subsequent [[Amphibious warfare|amphibious]] assault.<ref>[http://thanhnien.vn/chinh-tri-xa-hoi/hai-chien-hoang-sa/tai-lieu-trung-quoc-ve-hai-chien-hoang-sa-lan-dau-he-lo-ve-vu-khi-5579.html Tài liệu Trung Quốc về Hải chiến Hoàng Sa: Lần đầu hé lộ về vũ khí | Hải chiến Hoàng Sa | Thanh Niên<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref name="Gwertzman">{{Cite news |last=Gwertzman |first=Bernard |date=26 January 1974 |title=Peking Reports Holding U.S. Aide |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1974/01/26/79903943.html?pageNumber=1 |newspaper=The New York Times |location=New York, NY |publisher= |accessdate=20 July 2016 }}</ref>

By the mid-1970s, concerns among Chinese leaders about military weakness, especially vis-à-vis the Soviet Union, resulted in a decision to modernize the PLA. Two initial steps were taken to promote military modernization. First, in 1975, vacant key positions in the [[military structure]] and the party Central Military Commission were filled. (The state [[Central Military Commission]] was not founded until 1982; see the [[National People's Congress]]). Nonetheless, to ensure party control of the PLA, civilians were appointed to key positions. [[Deng Xiaoping]] was appointed [[Chief of the General Staff (People's Republic of China)|Chief of the General Staff]], while [[Gang of Four]] member [[Zhang Chunqiao]] was appointed director of the General Political Department. Second, in the summer following Premier [[Zhou Enlai]]'s January 1975 proclamation of the [[Four Modernizations]] as national policy, the party Central Military Commission convened an enlarged meeting to chart the development of military modernization. The military modernization program, [[Codification (law)|codified]] in Central Directive No. 18 of 1975, instructed the military to withdraw from politics and to concentrate on [[military training]] and other defense matters. Factional struggles between party [[moderate]]s and [[Political radicalism|radical]]s in 1975 and 1976, however, led to the dismissal of Deng from all his posts and the delay of military modernization until after the death of Mao Zedong. Within a month of Mao's death, military leaders headed by Minister of National Defense [[Ye Jianying]] cooperated with party chairman [[Hua Guofeng]] to arrest the Gang of Four, thus ending a decade of [[Political radicalism|radical politics]].{{cn|date=October 2017}}

The Chinese leadership resumed the military modernization program in early 1977. Three crucial events in the late 1970s shaped the course of this program: the second rehabilitation of Deng Xiaoping, the major civilian proponent of military modernization; the re-ordering of priorities in the [[Four Modernizations]], relegating [[defense (military)|national defense]] modernization from third to fourth place (following [[agriculture]], [[industry]], and science and technology); and the [[Sino-Vietnamese border war of 1979]]. In July 1977, with the backing of moderate military leaders, Deng Xiaoping reassumed his position as PLA chief of general staff as well as his other party and state posts. At the same time, Deng became a vice chairman of the party Central Military Commission. In February 1980 Deng resigned his PLA position in favor of professional military commander [[Yang Dezhi]]; Deng improved his party Central Military Commission position, becoming chairman of it at the Sixth Plenum of the Eleventh Central Committee in June 1981. With enormous prestige in both the military and the civilian sectors, Deng vigorously promoted military modernization, the further disengagement of the military from politics, and the shift in national priorities to [[economic development]] at the expense of [[Defense (military)|defense]].{{cn|date=October 2017}}

In 1977-78, military and civilian leaders debated whether the military or the civilian economy should receive priority in [[allocation of resources|allocating]] resources for the Four Modernizations. The military hoped for additional resources to promote its own modernization, while civilian leaders stressed the overall, balanced development of the economy, including civilian industry and science and technology. By arguing that a rapid military buildup would hinder the economy and harm the defense industrial base, civilian leaders convinced the PLA to accept the relegation of national defense to last place in the Four Modernizations. The defense budget accordingly was reduced. Nonetheless, the Chinese military and civilian leadership remained firmly committed to military modernization.{{cn|date=October 2017}}

The [[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.<ref name="auto">{{cite book|last=Elleman|first=Bruce A.|title=Modern Chinese Warfare, 1795-1989|year=2001|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0415214742|page=297}}</ref> Both China and Vietnam claimed victory.<ref name="digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu">http://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1057&context=mscas</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Elleman|first=Bruce A.|title=Modern Chinese Warfare, 1795-1989|year=2001|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0415214742|page=297}}</ref> [[Sino-Vietnamese conflicts 1979-1990|Border battles and skirmishes]] continued throughout the 1980s.

==History of military doctrine==
{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2017}}
As a component of its function as the fighting arm of the Communist Party, PLA units has served a political role within their area of operations. This role evolved during the alliance with the Kuomintang, as Communists and leftist political administrators began [[land reform]] favoring peasants in the areas conquered by the [[Northern Expedition (1926–1927)|Northern Expedition]] army in 1927. Later, as part of the command structure, [[political commissar]]s were appointed by the Communist Party to military units for the purpose directing political education efforts, and to ensure that Party decisions were implemented. In this system, each unit had a political officer who was not responsible to the normal military chain of command, but instead answered to a separate chain of command within the Communist Party, to ensure the loyalty of army commanders and to prevent a possible [[coup d'état]]. The political commissar had the authority to override any decision of the military officers, and to remove them from command if necessary. However, that was almost never necessary — the mere presence of a commissar usually meant that military commanders would follow their directives, and the day-to-day duties of the political commissar generally involved only propaganda work and boosting the morale of the troops.

==Timeline of military action==

===Chronology===
* The Ten Years Civil War between the Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang:
:* August 1, 1927: [[Nanchang Uprising]], marking the first battle of the Chinese Red Army
:*1927: [[Autumn Harvest Uprising]]
:*1927: [[Guangzhou Uprising]]
:* Kuomintang campaigns against the [[Jiangxi Soviet]]:
:* Kuomintang campaigns against the [[Jiangxi Soviet]]:
::* November 1930 to December 1931: [[First Encirclement Campaign against Jiangxi Soviet]]
::* November 1930 to December 1931: [[First Encirclement Campaign against Jiangxi Soviet]]
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::* December 1932 to March 1933: [[Fourth 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]]
::* September 1933 to October 1934: [[Fifth Encirclement Campaign against Jiangxi Soviet]]
:* 1934-1936: The [[Long March]], a strategic retreat to avoid destruction by the Nationalist armies of Chiang Kai-shek
:* 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]]
:* 1935: Battle at the [[Luding Bridge]]
*

=== Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) ===
* 1937 to 1945: [[Second Sino-Japanese War]]
* 1937 to 1945: [[Second Sino-Japanese War]]
:* September 25, 1937: The [[Battle of Pingxingguan]]
:* September 25, 1937: The [[Battle of Pingxingguan]]
:* January 1940: The [[New Fourth Army Incident]]
:* January 1940: The [[New Fourth Army Incident]]
:* August–December 1940: The [[Hundred Regiments Offensive]]
:* August–December 1940: The [[Hundred Regiments Offensive]]

=== Chinese Civil War (1945–1950) ===
* 1945 to 1950: [[Chinese Civil War]] against the Kuomintang:
* 1945 to 1950: [[Chinese Civil War]] against the Kuomintang:
:*September 10, 1945 to October 12, 1945 - Shangdang Campaign
:*September 10, 1945 to October 12, 1945 – Shangdang Campaign
:*October 22, 1945 to November 2, 1945 - [[Handan Campaign]]
:*October 22, 1945 to November 2, 1945 – [[Handan Campaign]]
:*December 17, 1946 to April 1, 1947 - [[Linjiang Campaign]]
:*December 17, 1946 to April 1, 1947 – [[Linjiang Campaign]]
:*May 13, 1947 to July 1, 1947 - [[Summer Offensive of 1947 in Northeast China]]
:*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]]
:*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]]
:*December 15, 1947 to March 15, 1948 – [[Winter Offensive of 1947 in Northeast China]]
:*September 12, 1948 to November 12, 1949 - [[Liaoshen Campaign]]
:*May 23, 1948 to October 19, 1948 – [[Siege of Changchun]]
:*October 7, 1948 to November 15, 1948 - [[Battle of Jinzhou]]
:*September 12, 1948 to November 12, 1949 – [[Liaoshen Campaign]]
:*November 6, 1948 to January 10, 1949 - [[Huaihai Campaign]]
:*October 7, 1948 to November 15, 1948 – [[Battle of Jinzhou]]
:*November 29, 1948 to January 31, 1949 - [[Pingjin Campaign]]
:*November 6, 1948 to January 10, 1949 – [[Huaihai Campaign]]
:*October 25, 1949 to October 27, 1949 - [[Battle of Kuningtou]]
:*November 29, 1948 to January 31, 1949 – [[Pingjin Campaign]]
:*November 3, 1949 to November 5, 1949 - [[Battle of Denbu Island]]
:*October 25, 1949 to October 27, 1949 – [[Battle of Kuningtou]]
:*March 3, 1950 to March 3, 1950 - [[Battle of Nan'ao Island]]
:*November 3, 1949 to November 5, 1949 – [[Battle of Denbu Island]]
:*May 12, 1950 to June 2, 1950 - Shanghai Campaign
:*March 3, 1950 to March 3, 1950 – [[Battle of Nan'ao Island]]
:*May 25, 1950 to August 7, 1950 - [[Wanshan Archipelago Campaign]]
:*May 12, 1950 to June 2, 1950 – Shanghai Campaign
:*August 9, 1950 to August 9, 1950 - [[Battle of Nanpéng Island]]
:*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):
* 1952 to 1996: Taiwan Strait conflicts with the [[Republic of China]] (Taiwan):
:*April 11, 1952 to April 15, 1952 - [[Battle of Nanri Island]]
:*April 11, 1952 to April 15, 1952 – [[Battle of Nanri Island]]
:*September 20, 1952 to October 20, 1952: [[Battle of Nanpēng Archipelago]]
:*September 20, 1952 to October 20, 1952: [[Battle of Nanpēng Archipelago]]
:* August 1954 to May 1955: The [[First Taiwan Strait Crisis]]
:* August 1954 to May 1955: The [[First Taiwan Strait Crisis]]
Line 135: Line 101:
:* August 23 to October 6, 1958: [[Second Taiwan Strait Crisis]]
:* August 23 to October 6, 1958: [[Second Taiwan Strait Crisis]]
:* July 21, 1995 to March 23, 1996: [[Third Taiwan Strait Crisis]]
:* July 21, 1995 to March 23, 1996: [[Third Taiwan Strait Crisis]]

* Tibet
==== 1949–1979 ====
:* October 19, 1950: The [[Battle of Chamdo]]

:* 1956 to 1959: Suppression of the [[Tibetan resistance movement]]
* 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)
* 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]]
* October 20, 1962 to November 21, 1962: [[Sino-Indian War]]
* September 11, 1967 to October 1, 1967: [[Nathu La and Cho La clashes]]
* September 11, 1967 to October 1, 1967: [[Nathu La and Cho La clashes]]
Line 144: Line 112:
* January 17 to January 19, 1974: [[Battle of Hoang Sa]], a sea battle with the [[Republic of Vietnam Navy]] near the disputed [[Xisha Islands]]
* January 17 to January 19, 1974: [[Battle of Hoang Sa]], a sea battle with the [[Republic of Vietnam Navy]] near the disputed [[Xisha Islands]]
* February 17 to March 16, 1979: [[Sino-Vietnamese War]]
* 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<ref name=":0" />
* 1986: Border skirmishes with [[Vietnam]]
* 1986: Border skirmishes with [[Vietnam]]
* May 20 to June 9, 1989: [[People's Liberation Army at Tiananmen Square protests of 1989]] the [[Tiananmen Square protests of 1989]].
* May 20 to June 9, 1989: [[People's Liberation Army at Tiananmen Square protests of 1989]] the [[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.
* 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.


===Chinese Civil War===
== See also ==
* [[Outline of the military history of the People's Republic of China]]
{{main article|Chinese Civil War}}
* [[Outline of the Chinese Civil War]]

* [[Timeline of the Chinese Civil War]]
===Second Sino-Japanese War===
{{main article|Second Sino-Japanese War}}

===Chinese Civil War===
{{main article|Chinese Civil War}}

===Korean War===
{{main article|Korean War}}

===Sino-Indian War===
{{main article|Sino-Indian War|Events leading to the Sino-Indian War}}

===Sino-Vietnamese War===
{{main article|Sino-Vietnamese War}}

=== Soviet–Afghan War ===
{{Main article|Soviet war in Afghanistan}}

== Military modernization ==
{{Main article|Modernization of the People's Liberation Army}}

==Foreign military cooperation==

{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2017}}
In the 1950s China limited its military cooperation almost entirely to [[communist]] nations and to insurgent movements in [[Southeast Asia]]. The Soviet Union provided China with substantial assistance, and with advice in modernizing the PLA and developing China's defense industry. China provided [[North Korea]] with arms and assistance, and the PLA and the Korean People's Army developed close ties because of their association in the [[Korean War]]. In 1961 China and North Korea signed a mutual defense agreement, and Chinese-North Korean military cooperation continued in the late 1980s. China also provided weapons and military and economic assistance to Vietnam, which ended in 1978 when relations between the two countries soured. In the 1950s and 1960s, China provided weapons to communist insurgent groups in [[Laos]], [[Cambodia]], [[Burma]], [[Thailand]], [[Malaysia]], [[Indonesia]], and the [[Philippines]].

In the 1960s and 1970s, China began developing military ties with [[Third World]] nations in Asia and Africa, while maintaining or promoting cooperation with [[North Korea]], the [[Democratic Republic of Vietnam]] (North Vietnam), and [[Albania]]. Chinese military cooperation with North Korea and North Vietnam stemmed from security considerations. Chinese military assistance to Third World countries arose from attempts to extend Chinese influence and counteract Soviet and United States influence. China became increasingly anti-Soviet in the 1970s. In the 1980s China developed close military ties and provided considerable military assistance to Pakistan, [[Bangladesh]], and [[Sri Lanka]] in [[South Asia]]; [[Egypt]] in the Middle East; and [[Tanzania]], [[Sudan]], [[Somalia]], [[Zaire]], and [[Zambia]] in Africa.

In the late 1970s, the scope and tenor of foreign military cooperation changed with the shift to commercial [[arms sales]], attempts to gain some influence in Eastern Europe, and improvement in relations with the United States and [[Western Europe]]. Chinese military assistance to communist insurgents, especially in Southeast Asia, tapered off. Nevertheless, China continued to provide weapons both to the [[Khmer Rouge]] and to noncommunist [[Cambodia]]n resistance groups, and it developed close relations with and sold weapons to [[Thailand]]. Traditionally friendly states in South Asia continued to have close military ties with China and to purchase Chinese military hardware under generous terms. Chinese-Albanian relations deteriorated in the 1970s, and Beijing terminated all assistance in 1978. But at the same time, China began to exchange military delegations with two other East European countries—[[Yugoslavia]] and [[Romania]]. Chinese military relations with these two countries were limited and, especially in the case of Romania (a [[Warsaw Pact]] member), served to irritate the Soviet Union.

A major change in foreign military cooperation occurred when China began developing military contacts with West European nations and the United States in the late 1970s and the 1980s. This change reflected China's desire to counter Soviet influence, especially in Europe, as well as to develop relations with modern armed forces. China needed advanced hardware and technology and organizational, training, personnel, logistics, and doctrinal concepts for modernizing the PLA. Chinese military ties with West European countries were strongest with Britain, France, and Italy. Chinese military relations with the United States developed rapidly in the 1980s and included exchanges of high-level military officials and working-level delegations in training, logistics, and education. The United States sold some weapons to China for defensive purposes, but China was unlikely to purchase large amounts of American arms because of financial and political constraints (see [[Sino-American relations]]).

Beginning in 1979, when China introduced its policy of opening up to the outside world, military exchanges with foreign countries grew substantially. The PLA hosted 500 military delegations from 1979 to 1987 and sent thousands of military officials abroad for visits, study, and lectures. China received port calls from thirty-three foreign [[warship]]s, including United States, British, French, and Australian ships, and it sent two naval ships to visit Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka in 1985. PLA departments, academies, and research institutes opened their doors to foreign military visitors. In 1987 China had ties with eighty-five foreign armies, posted Chinese [[military attaché]]s in sixty countries, and hosted forty military attaches in Beijing.

==See also==
*[[Military history of China (pre-1911)]]
*[[Military history of China (pre-1911)]]
*[[Naval history of China]]
*[[Naval history of China]]
Line 192: Line 130:


== References ==
== References ==

=== Citations ===
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Reflist}}


=== Sources ===
=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{loc}} [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cntoc.html]
* {{Country study}} [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cntoc.html]
{{refend}}


== Further reading ==
== Further reading ==
Line 203: Line 142:
* Cole, Bernard D. ''The Great Wall at Sea: China's Navy in the Twenty-First Century'' (2nd ed., 2010)
* 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) [https://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0804771952/ excerpt and text search]
* Fisher, Richard. ''China's Military Modernization: Building for Regional and Global Reach'' (2010) [https://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0804771952/ excerpt and text search]
* Fravel, M. Taylor. ''Active Defense: China's Military Strategy since 1949'' (Princeton University Press, 2019) [https://issforum.org/to/ir11-12 online reviews]
* Harlan W. Jencks, From Muskets to Missiles: Politics and Professionalism in the Chinese Army 1945-1981, Westview, 1982
* Jencks, Harlan W. ''From Muskets to Missiles: Politics and Professionalism in the Chinese Army 1945-1981'' Westview, 1982
* Harvey W. Nelson, The Chinese Military System: An Organizational Study of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, Boulder
* Nelson, Harvey W. ''The Chinese Military System: An Organizational Study of the Chinese People's Liberation Army'' Boulder
* {{cite book |author1 = [[Larry Wortzel|Wortzel, Larry M.]] |author2 = Robin D. S. Higham |title = Dictionary of Contemporary Chinese Military History |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=rfu-hR8msh4C&pg=PA308 |year=1999 |publisher=ABC-CLIO}}
* {{cite book |author1 = Wortzel, Larry M. |author2 = Robin D. S. Higham |title = Dictionary of Contemporary Chinese Military History |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=rfu-hR8msh4C&pg=PA308 |year=1999 |publisher=ABC-CLIO|author1-link = Larry Wortzel |isbn = 9780313293375 }}
* William W. Whitson with Chen-Hsia Huang, The Chinese High Command: A History of Communist Military Politics 1927-71, Palgrave MacMillan, 1973
* Whitson, William W. with Chen-Hsia Huang. ''The Chinese High Command: A History of Communist Military Politics 1927-71'' Palgrave MacMillan, 1973


{{People's Liberation Army}}
{{People's Liberation Army}}
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[[Category:People's Liberation Army]]
[[Category:People's Liberation Army]]
[[Category:Military history of the People's Republic of China]]
[[Category:Military history of the People's Republic of China]]
[[Category:Military history of the Republic of China]]
[[Category:Military history of the Republic of China (1912–1949)]]

Latest revision as of 15:42, 9 December 2024

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The history of the People's Liberation Army began in 1927 with the start of the Chinese Civil War and spans to the present, having developed from a peasant guerrilla force into the largest armed force in the world.

Historical background

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Throughout the centuries, two tendencies have influenced the role of the military in national life, one in peacetime and the other in times of upheaval. In times of peace and stability, military forces were firmly subordinated to civilian control. The military was strong enough to overcome domestic rebellions and foreign invasion, yet it did not threaten civilian control of the political system. In times of disorder, however, new military leaders and organizations arose to challenge the old system, resulting in the militarization of 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

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Main articles: Chinese Civil War and Second Sino-Japanese War
Flag of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (中國工農紅軍).

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.

The 1929 Gutian Congress was important in establishing the principle of party control over the military, which continues to be a core principle of the party's ideology.[3]: 280  In the short term, this concept was further developed in the June 1930 Program for the Red Fourth Army at All Levels and the winter 1930 Provisional Regulations on the Political Work of the Chinese Workers and Peasants Army (Draft), which formally established Party leadership of the military.[4]: 307 

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".[5]

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 "people's war" concept, which became the doctrine of the Red Army and the People's Liberation Army (PLA). In developing his thought, Mao drew on the works of the Chinese military strategist Sun Zi (4th century BC) and Soviet and other theorists, as well as on the lore of peasant uprisings, such as the stories found in the classical novel Shuihu Zhuan (Water Margin) and the stories of the Taiping Rebellion. Synthesizing these influences with lessons learned from the Red Army's successes and failures, Mao created a comprehensive politico-military doctrine for waging revolutionary warfare. People's war incorporated political, economic, and psychological measures with protracted military struggle against a superior foe. As a military doctrine, people's war emphasized the mobilization of the populace to support regular and guerrilla forces; the primacy of men over weapons, with superior motivation compensating for inferior technology; and the three progressive phases of protracted warfare—strategic defensive, strategic stalemate, and strategic offensive (see Mobile Warfare). During the first stage, enemy forces were "lured in deep" into one's own territory to overextend, disperse, and isolate them. The Red Army established base areas from which to harass the enemy, but these bases and other territory could be abandoned to preserve Red Army forces. In addition, policies ordered by Mao for all soldiers to follow, 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.[6]

On January 15, 1949, the CCP's Central Military Commission decided to reorganise the regional armies of the PLA into four field armies.[7]

People's Republic of China

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Border disputes in the 1970s

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In January 1974, the PLA saw action in the South China Sea following a long-simmering dispute with 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.[8][9]

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.[10] Both China and Vietnam claimed victory.[11][10]

Military modernization in the 1980s

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Main article: Modernization of the People's Liberation Army

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.[12]

On the other hand, border battles and skirmishes continued throughout the 1980s.

2015-2016 reorganization

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Main article: 2015 People's Republic of China military reform

The "deepening national defense and military reform" was announced in November 2015 at a plenary session of the Central Military Commission (CMC)'s Central Leading Group for Military Reform.[13]

In 2016, the four traditional departments of the military were replaced by 15 new departments, commissions, and offices led by the CMC.[14]: 288 

On 1 February 2016, China replaced its system of seven military regions with newly-established Theater Commands: Northern, Southern, Western, Eastern, and Central.[14]: 289  In the prior system, operations were segmented by military branch and region.[14]: 289  In contrast, each Theater Command is intended to function as a unified entity with joint operations across different military branches.[14]: 289 

Chronology

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The Ten-Year Civil War (1927–1937)

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  • 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

Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945)

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Chinese Civil War (1945–1950)

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People's Republic of China (since 1949)

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Taiwan Strait (aftermath of the civil war)

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1949–1979

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Military modernization (1980s)

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See also

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^ Barnouin, Barbara and Yu Changgen. Zhou Enlai: A Political Life. Hong Kong: Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. ISBN 962-996-280-2. Retrieved March 12, 2011. p.49-52 Archived 2017-09-11 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Kissinger, H. On China, Penguin, New York, p.346
  3. ^ Duan, Lei (2024). "Towards a More Joint Strategy: Assessing Chinese Military Reforms and Militia Reconstruction". In Fang, Qiang; Li, Xiaobing (eds.). China under Xi Jinping: A New Assessment. Leiden University Press. ISBN 9789087284411.
  4. ^ Huang, Yibing (2020). An Ideological History of the Communist Party of China. Vol. 1. Qian Zheng, Guoyou Wu, Xuemei Ding, Li Sun, Shelly Bryant. Montreal, Quebec: Royal Collins. ISBN 978-1-4878-0425-1. OCLC 1165409653.
  5. ^ Peoples Liberation Army Daily (August 14, 2006) Notes Archived 2008-12-12 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2007-02-17
  6. ^ Indo-Asian News Service (October 22, 2006): Retracing Mao's Long March[permanent dead link‍] (Retrieved 23 November 2006)
  7. ^ Historical Dictionary of Modern China (1800-1949), James Zheng Gao, Scarecrow Press, 2009, ISBN 0810849305, 116
  8. ^ "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.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ a b Elleman, Bruce A. (2001). Modern Chinese Warfare, 1795-1989. Routledge. p. 297. ISBN 0415214742.
  11. ^ Chen, King C. (1983). China's war against Vietnam, 1979 : a military analysis. University of Maryland at Baltimore. School of Law. [Baltimore]: School of Law, University of Maryland. ISBN 0-942182-57-X. OCLC 10513693.
  12. ^ a b "Troop Cut to Save Money, Deng Says". Los Angeles Times. 1985-05-06. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
  13. ^ Chan, Minnie (25 November 2015). "China hits the launch button for massive PLA shake-up to create a modern, nimble force". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  14. ^ a b c d Duan, Lei (2024). "Towards a More Joint Strategy: Assessing Chinese Military Reforms and Militia Reconstruction". In Fang, Qiang; Li, Xiaobing (eds.). China under Xi Jinping: A New Assessment. Leiden University Press. ISBN 9789087284411.

Sources

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Further reading

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  • 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
  • Wortzel, Larry M.; Robin D. S. Higham (1999). Dictionary of Contemporary Chinese Military History. ABC-CLIO. 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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