The Chinese Civil War: How American Media Shapes Interpretations of Foreign Conflicts

Abstract

The Chinese Civil War was one of the first important battles for Democracy versus Communism following the conclusion of World War II. The ultimate Chinese Communist victory over Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalists played an important role in future Cold War battlegrounds such as Korea. This thesis examines the American media that covered and reported on the Chinese Civil War by looking primarily at newspaper articles from major newspapers from 1945 through 1949. Examining their coverage of the Chinese Civil War helps to better understand how far away, foreign conflicts are reported, understood, and reacted to following their conclusions. After the conclusion of the Chinese Civil War, many intense debates regarding “Who lost China?” and communism emerged in the United States of America and were exacerbated by politicians like Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy. This thesis concludes that the American media’s coverage of the Chinese Civil War caused confusion and contributed to the later heated political debates regarding the Cold War.