The consolidation of the Communist State, 1949–55 China’s eighteen provinces were merged to form six large – essentially military – regions, each made up of smaller units ranging upwards from administrative villages and towns to districts, cities, counties and provinces. At each of these levels, there were Communist committees that, among other things, had to ensure that each unit carried out government decisions. RUSSIA
RUSSIA
NORTH-WEST CHINA BUREAU
CHAHAR
MONGOLIA
HEILONGJIANG
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ER INN SUITUAN
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Bay of Bengal
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GUANGXI GUANGDONG
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CENTRAL SOUTH CHINA BUREAU HAINAN
300
600 km
TAIWAIN
VIETNAM LAOS
East China Sea
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GUIZHOU YUNNAN
JIA
SOUTH-WEST CHINA BUREAU
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ZHEJIANG HUNAN
INDIA
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ANHUI
HUBEI
SICHUAN
BHUTAN
JAPAN
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Sea of Japan
SOUTH KOREA
HEBEI
AN
NE
NORTH KOREA
JI
GANSU TIBET (XIZANG)
PAKISTAN
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NIN
LIAO
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QINGHAI
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NINGXIA
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GANSU
MO
NORTH-EAST CHINA BUREAU
JILIN
LIA
XINJIANG
IA
L GO
DO ON G
NORTH CHINA BUREAU
South China Sea
Administrative division Province boundaries International borders
Figure 2.2: The six administrative regions and the provinces of the PRC, as established after 1949.
From 1949 until the 1954 constitution, the civilian administration was overshadowed by the military, as the PLA was used to help re-establish law and order via several ‘reunification campaigns’. As the Civil War and the Japanese invasion had greatly disrupted China’s administrative and communications systems, the PLA was also used to establish central control. Reunification campaigns Although the Communists had won the Civil War in 1949, they did not yet control the whole of China. Many outlying border provinces in China still contained GMD or warlord armies that continued armed resistance to the new government. Several ‘bandit’ groups also operated in some areas. In addition, US support for Jiang – which increased after 45