Stilwell and the American Experience in China: 1911-1945

by Barbara W. Tuchman

In charters and declarations American aims were democratic but in practice the executants opted for the old regime. In China the decision was not merely futile; it aligned America in popular eyes with the oppressor and landlord and tax collector, it disheartened the liberal forces and violently antagonized the future rulers. While many suspected that the effort was misguided, American policy could not readjust. It preferred the status quo even when the status quo was a sinking ship. There seemed to be no feasible alternative. To abandon the legal government for the Communists was not within American capacity and would have meant political suicide at home. The only other possibility was Stilwell’s advice to “get out—now” and this was ahead of its time by a year and a half.