China’s Last Warlord: Gao Gang and The Northeast People’s Government (1948-1954)
Journal: Apollo (University of Cambridge)
Year: 2020

This dissertation examines how Manchuria, a vast and strategic border region existing outside the political realm of China proper since the end of the Qing Dynasty, was quickly absorbed and transformed by the Chinese Communists. This process was spearheaded by Gao Gang, the leader of the Northeast People’s Government (1948-1954) and who by the Korean War reached his pinnacle of personal power and prestige. Both the Chinese Civil War and the subsequent Korean War turned Manchuria into a vital hom