Dixie Mission
Encyclopedia
The United States Army Observation Group, commonly known as the Dixie Mission, was the first U.S. effort to establish official relations with the Communist Party of China
and the People's Liberation Army
, then headquartered in the mountainous city of Yan'an
. This mission was launched on 22 July 1944 during World War II
, and lasted until 11 March 1947.
In addition to establishing relations, the goal was to investigate the Communist Party politically and militarily, and determine if the U.S. would benefit from establishing liaison. John S. Service
, of the United States Department of State
, was responsible for political analysis, and Colonel
David D. Barrett
of the United States Army
performed the military analysis. Initially, they reported that the Chinese Communists might be useful wartime and post-war ally, and that the atmosphere in Yan'an was more energetic and less corrupt than in Nationalist areas. After the war, the Dixie Mission's reports, and Service and Barrett, were condemned by pro-Chinese Nationalist
factions in the American government and fell victim to McCarthyism
. Service was fired from his position at the State Department, and Barrett was denied a promotion to brigadier general
.
The Dixie Mission hosted the Patrick Hurley and George Marshall
diplomatic missions to negotiate a unification of the Chinese Communists and Nationalists. Both diplomatic efforts failed. Later, the brief existence of the Dixie Mission served as a positive memory between the People's Republic of China and the United States during the administration of President
Richard M. Nixon when official relations between the two countries were re-established. Veterans of the Dixie Mission, like John Service and Koji Ariyoshi, were among the first Americans invited to visit the People's Republic of China.
to send agents into north China. The Dixie Mission began with John Paton Davies, Jr.
's memo of January 15, 1944. Davies, a Foreign Service Officer
serving in the China Burma India Theater (CBI), called for the establishment of an observers' mission in Chinese Communist territory. Davies argued that: the communists offered attractive strategic benefits in the fight against Japan; and that
the more the U.S. ignored the communists, the closer Yan'an - the 'capital' of CPC held China - would move to Moscow. With the support of Davies' superior, General Joseph Stilwell
, this memorandum successfully convinced the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt
to put the plan into motion.
The Roosevelt Administration asked Chinese Nationalist president Chiang Kai-shek
's permission to send U.S. observers to visit the CPC. Initially, Chiang was hostile to the proposal and delayed action. The Generalissimo consented after foreign correspondents that he had permitted to visit Yan'an reported on the CPC to U.S. readers. Chiang agreed after American Vice-President Henry Wallace
made a state visit to Chungking, the nationalists' capital, in late June 1944. John Carter Vincent
, an experienced State Department China expert, assisted Wallace in persuading Chiang to allow the U.S. to visit the CPC in Yan'an without Nationalist supervision. In exchange, the U.S. promised to replace the American commander of the Burma India Theater, General Stilwell. He was removed from command in October 1944.
. This team consisted of: Colonel David D. Barrett
, John S. Service
, Major Melvin A. Casberg
, Major Ray Cromley
, Captain John G. Colling
, Captain Charles G. Stelle
, Captain Paul C. Domke
, 1st Lieutenant Henry S. Whittlesey
, and Staff Sergeant Anton H. Remeneh
.
The second half of the team arrived on August 7, and consisted of:
Raymond P. Ludden
, Lieutenant Colonel Reginald E. Foss
, Major Wilbur J. Peterkin
, Major Charles E. Dole
, Captain Brooke Dolan
, Lieutenant Simon H. Hitch
, 1st Lieutenant Louis M. Jones
, Sergeant Walter Gress
, and Technician 4th Class George I. Nakamura
. Later, other members, including Koji Ariyoshi
, joined the mission.
Colonel David Barrett evaluated the communists' military potential by observing war games between CPC troops and visiting war schools set up to train the Chinese officer corps. Barrett felt the CPC emphasized indoctrinating their soldiers over military training, but he believed that American advisors could train the CPC soldiers to become excellent fighters.
The Americans were impressed by the CPC's attacks on the Japanese, often in guerilla raids. However, the last significant CPC military campaign against the Japanese had occurred four years earlier in the Hundred Regiments Campaign by the Chinese Communist 8th Route Army. After disastrous results, the CPC avoided large campaigns against the Japanese, but maintained an illusion as active fighters.
On 7 November 1944, General Patrick Hurley arrived in Yan'an. Hurley had been in the CBI theater since August, as part of an agreement between Wallace and Chiang to provide a liaison for Chiang to communicate directly with Roosevelt and circumvent Stilwell. Successful in negotiating in the private sector, Hurley was sent to China to improve operations in the China theater, which he extended to uniting the Nationalists and CPC in a unified government. Hurley approached the CPC and the KMT without knowledge of either political group, and believed that their differences were no greater than those between the Republican and Democratic parties in the United States. He failed at reconciling the Nationalists and Chinese Communists and blamed Dixie Mission staff, John Service and John Paton Davies, and others.
which they had set aside in the United Front to fight the Japanese in 1937. In 1946, President Harry S. Truman
sent General George C. Marshall to China to negotiate a ceasefire and to form a unified government between the CPC and the KMT. While Marshall spent most of his time in Chungking, the Dixie Mission hosted Marshall in Yan'an so he could speak with the CPC leadership. Like Hurley, Marshall failed to develop a lasting compromise, and the Civil War resumed.
Truman then sent another representative to China, General Albert Wedemeyer, who had commanded U.S. troops in China during the war, on a fact finding mission. Again, the Dixie Mission in Yan'an hosted the presidential mission. Wedemeyer reported that U.S. interests were best served by continued support for the Nationalist government, but Truman suppressed the report because he was waiting to see who would win and refused to expand aid the Nationalists so as to avoid involvement in the Chinese Civil War. After Wedemeyer's visit, the U.S. packed up operations in Yan'an and liquidated everything that could not be transported aboard a C-47
. On 11 March 1947, the last members of the Dixie Mission left Yan'an.
, so as to mature the society to a point where it would be prepared for a peaceful transition to a communist society. This belief was disseminated to the American people prior to and during the war by the popular authors Edgar Snow
and Agnes Smedley
. In his August 3, 1944, report, "The Communist Policy Towards the Kuomintang," Service underlined his opinion of the Communists as such and stated:
After the Dixie Mission, Colonel Barrett reflected upon this position and wrote in his memoir:
The history of China after the revolution is that the CPC did not pursue a slow gradual change in the economy as some believed in 1944. Regardless, 25 years later Service believed that American cooperation with the CPC might have prevented the excesses that occurred under Mao Zedong
's leadership after the war. After the same number of years, John Davies, in his memoir, Dragon by the Tail, defended his belief that the CPC would have been a better Chinese ally for the U.S. than the Kuomintang. Davies believes that the U.S. interests would have been better served allying with the CPC based on Realpolitik
practical considerations. Allying with the CPC would have prevented it from allying with the Soviet Union
, and lessened the risk and anxiety that the U.S. and the world experienced in the Cold War
. In the "Lost Chance" theory, the United States missed the opportunity to build a friendly relationship with the CPC and prevent their later alignment with the Soviet Union. Service and Davies reported in good faith what they saw at the time.
The Dixie Mission had consequences for individuals, and for the nation. Many participants were accused of being communists, such as John Davies and John Service. Both were subjected to multiple Congressional investigations that consistently found that they were not Communist Party
members, agents of foreign powers, or disloyal to the United States. This did not spare Service from termination at the State Department. He appealed this decision and ultimately the Supreme Court of the United States
ruled in his favor. Davies was exiled from China, his field of expertise, by Hurley. Then he was hounded from a position in Russia to an inconsequential post in South America. Davies resigned that position and began manufacturing furniture. Hurley accused Colonel David Barrett of sabotaging his diplomacy with the KMT and the CPC. He succeeded in preventing Barrett from promotion to brigadier general
, even though Barrett's promotion was endorsed by the theater commander, General Albert C. Wedemeyer. Barrett was retained in the China Theater, but placed in an inferior position.
Misperceptions of the Dixie Mission contributed to the nationwide Red Scare
in the 1950s and 1960s. Thawing relations between the People's Republic of China
and the United States in the 1970s opened a new chapter for the mission. For the first time, the mission and its participants became the subject of serious scholarship, and many of the mission participants were among the first Americans invited to visit China in twenty years. In China, the Dixie Mission is remembered as a positive time between the two nations, and a symbol of Sino-American cooperation.
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
and the People's Liberation Army
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
, then headquartered in the mountainous city of Yan'an
Yan'an
Yan'an , is a prefecture-level city in the Shanbei region of Shaanxi province in China, administering several counties, including Zhidan County , which served as the Chinese communist capital before the city of Yan'an proper took that role....
. This mission was launched on 22 July 1944 during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and lasted until 11 March 1947.
In addition to establishing relations, the goal was to investigate the Communist Party politically and militarily, and determine if the U.S. would benefit from establishing liaison. John S. Service
John S. Service
John Stewart Service was an American diplomat who served in the Foreign Service in China prior to and during the World War II. Considered one of the State Department's "China Hands," he was an important member of the Dixie Mission to Yan'an...
, of the United States Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
, was responsible for political analysis, and Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
David D. Barrett
David D. Barrett
David Dean Barrett was an American soldier, diplomat, and an old Army China hand. Barrett served more than 35 years in the U.S. Army, almost entirely in China...
of the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
performed the military analysis. Initially, they reported that the Chinese Communists might be useful wartime and post-war ally, and that the atmosphere in Yan'an was more energetic and less corrupt than in Nationalist areas. After the war, the Dixie Mission's reports, and Service and Barrett, were condemned by pro-Chinese Nationalist
Chinese nationalist
Chinese nationalist can refer to:* Chinese nationalism* Kuomintang - Chinese Nationalist Party in Taiwan....
factions in the American government and fell victim to McCarthyism
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
. Service was fired from his position at the State Department, and Barrett was denied a promotion to brigadier general
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
.
The Dixie Mission hosted the Patrick Hurley and George Marshall
George Marshall
George Catlett Marshall was an American military leader, Chief of Staff of the Army, Secretary of State, and the third Secretary of Defense...
diplomatic missions to negotiate a unification of the Chinese Communists and Nationalists. Both diplomatic efforts failed. Later, the brief existence of the Dixie Mission served as a positive memory between the People's Republic of China and the United States during the administration of President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Richard M. Nixon when official relations between the two countries were re-established. Veterans of the Dixie Mission, like John Service and Koji Ariyoshi, were among the first Americans invited to visit the People's Republic of China.
Origin
Prior to the Dixie Mission, the U.S considered military interventions into CPC held China, such as an unimplemented idea by the Office of Strategic ServicesOffice of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
to send agents into north China. The Dixie Mission began with John Paton Davies, Jr.
John P. Davies
John Paton Davies, Jr. was an American diplomat and Medal of Freedom recipient. He was one of the China Hands, whose careers in the Foreign Service were destroyed by McCarthyism and the reaction to the fall of China....
's memo of January 15, 1944. Davies, a Foreign Service Officer
Foreign Service Officer
A Foreign Service Officer is a commissioned member of the United States Foreign Service. As diplomats, Foreign Service Officers formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. FSOs spend most of their careers overseas as members of U.S. embassies, consulates, and other diplomatic...
serving in the China Burma India Theater (CBI), called for the establishment of an observers' mission in Chinese Communist territory. Davies argued that: the communists offered attractive strategic benefits in the fight against Japan; and that
the more the U.S. ignored the communists, the closer Yan'an - the 'capital' of CPC held China - would move to Moscow. With the support of Davies' superior, General Joseph Stilwell
Joseph Stilwell
General Joseph Warren Stilwell was a United States Army four-star General known for service in the China Burma India Theater. His caustic personality was reflected in the nickname "Vinegar Joe"...
, this memorandum successfully convinced the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
to put the plan into motion.
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
's permission to send U.S. observers to visit the CPC. Initially, Chiang was hostile to the proposal and delayed action. The Generalissimo consented after foreign correspondents that he had permitted to visit Yan'an reported on the CPC to U.S. readers. Chiang agreed after American Vice-President Henry Wallace
Henry A. Wallace
Henry Agard Wallace was the 33rd Vice President of the United States , the Secretary of Agriculture , and the Secretary of Commerce . In the 1948 presidential election, Wallace was the nominee of the Progressive Party.-Early life:Henry A...
made a state visit to Chungking, the nationalists' capital, in late June 1944. John Carter Vincent
John Carter Vincent
John Carter Vincent was an American diplomat, Foreign Service Officer, and China Hand. Born in Seneca, Kansas,Vincent graduated from Mercer University in 1923 and was appointed Foreign Service Officer in the same year...
, an experienced State Department China expert, assisted Wallace in persuading Chiang to allow the U.S. to visit the CPC in Yan'an without Nationalist supervision. In exchange, the U.S. promised to replace the American commander of the Burma India Theater, General Stilwell. He was removed from command in October 1944.
First arrivals
The first members of the Dixie Mission arrived in Yan'an on July 22, 1944, on an Army C-47C-47 Skytrain
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport aircraft that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front line operations through the 1950s with a few remaining in operation to this day.-Design and...
. This team consisted of: Colonel David D. Barrett
David D. Barrett
David Dean Barrett was an American soldier, diplomat, and an old Army China hand. Barrett served more than 35 years in the U.S. Army, almost entirely in China...
, John S. Service
John S. Service
John Stewart Service was an American diplomat who served in the Foreign Service in China prior to and during the World War II. Considered one of the State Department's "China Hands," he was an important member of the Dixie Mission to Yan'an...
, Major Melvin A. Casberg
Melvin A. Casberg
Melvin A. Casberg was born in India and grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. He was a Major in the United States Army and the chief medical officer for the United States Army Observation Group to Yenan. More commonly known as the Dixie Mission, Casberg was personally selected for the mission by...
, Major Ray Cromley
Ray Cromley
Raymond "Ray" Cromley was a Major in the United States Army and a Journalist. Prior to the Second World War, Cromley was a correspondent and journalist in Japan. Following its outbreak, Cromley joined the American army and served in the China Burma India Theater...
, Captain John G. Colling
John G. Colling
John G. Colling was a member of the Dixie Mission, an American observation group which visited the Chinese Communists in 1944.He was born in Tienstin, China and was valuable to the mission as Chinese was his first language....
, Captain Charles G. Stelle
Charles G. Stelle
Charles C. Stelle was a member of the Dixie Mission, an American observation mission to Yan'an, China, to investigate the Chinese Communists during the Second World War.-References:...
, Captain Paul C. Domke
Paul C. Domke
Paul C. Domke was a member of the Dixie Mission, an American observation mission to Yan'an, China, in 1944 to investigate and establish official relations with the Chinese Communists.-References:...
, 1st Lieutenant Henry S. Whittlesey
Henry S. Whittlesey
Henry C. Whittlesey was a writer and a member of the Dixie Mission. His literary work has been collected by his daughter Ruth Schroeder in "Sidelights of the War"....
, and Staff Sergeant Anton H. Remeneh
Anton H. Remeneh
Anton H. Remeneh was a member of the Dixie Mission, an American observation mission to Yan'an, China, in 1944 to investigate and establish official relations with the Chinese Communists.-References:...
.
Raymond P. Ludden
Raymond P. Ludden
Raymond P. Ludden was one of the United States State Department's China experts. He was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, graduated from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and in 1932 went to China, where he served for seventeen years...
, Lieutenant Colonel Reginald E. Foss
Reginald E. Foss
Reginald E. Foss was a member of the Dixie Mission, an American observation mission to Yan'an, China, in 1944 to investigate and establish official relations with the Chinese Communists.-References:...
, Major Wilbur J. Peterkin
Wilbur J. Peterkin
Colonel Wilbur J. Peterkin was a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army during the Second World War in the China Burma India Theater, and an executive and commanding officer of the United States Army Observer Group, commonly known as the Dixie Mission. Prior to the war, Peterkin was a high...
, Major Charles E. Dole
Charles E. Dole
Charles E. Dole was a member of the Dixie Mission, an American observation mission to Yan'an, China, in 1944 to investigate and establish official relations with the Chinese Communists.-References:...
, Captain Brooke Dolan
Brooke Dolan
Brooke Dolan II was an American adventurer and naturalist in the 1930s and 1940s. His father was Brooke Dolan, a wealthy American industrialist in Philadelphia. During World War II, he served as a lieutenant.- Overview :...
, Lieutenant Simon H. Hitch
Simon H. Hitch
Simon H. Hitch was a member of the Dixie Mission, an American observation mission to Yan'an, China, in 1944 to investigate and establish official relations with the Chinese Communists.-References:...
, 1st Lieutenant Louis M. Jones
Louis M. Jones
Louis M. Jones was a member of the Dixie Mission, an American observation mission to Yan'an, China, in 1944 to investigate and establish official relations with the Chinese Communists....
, Sergeant Walter Gress
Walter Gress
Walter Gress was a member of the Dixie Mission, an American observation mission to Yan'an, China, in 1944 to investigate and establish official relations with the Chinese Communists.-References:...
, and Technician 4th Class George I. Nakamura
George I. Nakamura
George Itsuo Nakamura was a Nisei and Japanese-American, a lieutenant in the United States Army during World War II, and recipient of the Bronze Star...
. Later, other members, including Koji Ariyoshi
Koji Ariyoshi
' was a Nisei, Labor activist, and a Sergeant in the United States Army during the Second World War.-Early life:Ariyoshi was born in Hawaii in 1914 to Japanese immigrant parents. Ariyoshi grew up helping his family make a living on a small eight-acre coffee plantation. He attended Konawaena High...
, joined the mission.
At work in Yan'an
John Service, while under Stilwell's command, served as a diplomatic observer for both Stilwell and the American Embassy in Chungking. Over the next three months, he sent a series of reports to Chungking, and sparked controversy immediately. Service praised the CPC and compared them to European socialists, rather than the feared U.S.S.R. Service credited the CPC for a clean and superior society in stark contrast to the corruption and chaos he saw in the Nationalist areas controlled by Chiang Kai-shek. He was accused of bias, rather than credited with reasonable observations. After visiting Yan'an, Service advocated that the United States should work with the forces opposed to the Nationalists, such as the Communists, though he did not advocate abandoning Chiang. This opinion was shared by John Paton Davies, and this position ruined both careers.The Americans were impressed by the CPC's attacks on the Japanese, often in guerilla raids. However, the last significant CPC military campaign against the Japanese had occurred four years earlier in the Hundred Regiments Campaign by the Chinese Communist 8th Route Army. After disastrous results, the CPC avoided large campaigns against the Japanese, but maintained an illusion as active fighters.
Hurley Mission
Marshall and Wedemeyer Missions
Following the Japanese surrender, the KMT and the CPC resumed the Chinese Civil WarChinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
which they had set aside in the United Front to fight the Japanese in 1937. In 1946, President Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
sent General George C. Marshall to China to negotiate a ceasefire and to form a unified government between the CPC and the KMT. While Marshall spent most of his time in Chungking, the Dixie Mission hosted Marshall in Yan'an so he could speak with the CPC leadership. Like Hurley, Marshall failed to develop a lasting compromise, and the Civil War resumed.
C-47 Skytrain
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport aircraft that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front line operations through the 1950s with a few remaining in operation to this day.-Design and...
. On 11 March 1947, the last members of the Dixie Mission left Yan'an.
Question of Communist subterfuge
Dixie Mission participants such as John Service were criticized for viewing the CPC leadership as socialist agrarian reformers, who claimed that China under their rule would not follow the violent path of Russia under the Bolsheviks. Instead, socialism would come to China only after economic reforms that preserved capitalismCapitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
, so as to mature the society to a point where it would be prepared for a peaceful transition to a communist society. This belief was disseminated to the American people prior to and during the war by the popular authors Edgar Snow
Edgar Snow
Edgar P. Snow was an American journalist known for his books and articles on Communism in China and the Chinese Communist revolution...
and Agnes Smedley
Agnes Smedley
Agnes Smedley was an American journalist and writer best known for her semi-autobiographical novelDaughter of Earth. She was also known for her sympathetic chronicling of the Chinese revolution...
. In his August 3, 1944, report, "The Communist Policy Towards the Kuomintang," Service underlined his opinion of the Communists as such and stated:
"And the impressive personal qualities of the Communist leaders, their seeming sincerity, and the coherence and logical nature of their program leads me, at least, toward general acceptance of the first explanation -- that the Communists base their policy toward the KuomintangKuomintangThe Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
on a real desire for democracy in China under which there can be orderly economic growth through a stage of private enterprise to eventual socialism without the need of violent social upheaval and revolution."
After the Dixie Mission, Colonel Barrett reflected upon this position and wrote in his memoir:
"In addition, I had fallen to some extent, not as much perhaps as did some other foreigners, for the "agrarian reformer" guff. I should have known better than this, particularly since the Chinese Communists themselves never at any time made claim to being anything but revolutionaries - period."
The history of China after the revolution is that the CPC did not pursue a slow gradual change in the economy as some believed in 1944. Regardless, 25 years later Service believed that American cooperation with the CPC might have prevented the excesses that occurred under Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
's leadership after the war. After the same number of years, John Davies, in his memoir, Dragon by the Tail, defended his belief that the CPC would have been a better Chinese ally for the U.S. than the Kuomintang. Davies believes that the U.S. interests would have been better served allying with the CPC based on Realpolitik
Realpolitik
Realpolitik refers to politics or diplomacy based primarily on power and on practical and material factors and considerations, rather than ideological notions or moralistic or ethical premises...
practical considerations. Allying with the CPC would have prevented it from allying with the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, and lessened the risk and anxiety that the U.S. and the world experienced in the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. In the "Lost Chance" theory, the United States missed the opportunity to build a friendly relationship with the CPC and prevent their later alignment with the Soviet Union. Service and Davies reported in good faith what they saw at the time.
Lasting impact
Communist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
members, agents of foreign powers, or disloyal to the United States. This did not spare Service from termination at the State Department. He appealed this decision and ultimately the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
ruled in his favor. Davies was exiled from China, his field of expertise, by Hurley. Then he was hounded from a position in Russia to an inconsequential post in South America. Davies resigned that position and began manufacturing furniture. Hurley accused Colonel David Barrett of sabotaging his diplomacy with the KMT and the CPC. He succeeded in preventing Barrett from promotion to brigadier general
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
, even though Barrett's promotion was endorsed by the theater commander, General Albert C. Wedemeyer. Barrett was retained in the China Theater, but placed in an inferior position.
Misperceptions of the Dixie Mission contributed to the nationwide Red Scare
Red Scare
Durrell Blackwell Durrell Blackwell The term Red Scare denotes two distinct periods of strong Anti-Communism in the United States: the First Red Scare, from 1919 to 1920, and the Second Red Scare, from 1947 to 1957. The First Red Scare was about worker revolution and...
in the 1950s and 1960s. Thawing relations between the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
and the United States in the 1970s opened a new chapter for the mission. For the first time, the mission and its participants became the subject of serious scholarship, and many of the mission participants were among the first Americans invited to visit China in twenty years. In China, the Dixie Mission is remembered as a positive time between the two nations, and a symbol of Sino-American cooperation.
Nickname
While fondly referred to as "Dixie" or the Dixie Mission, the true name of the mission was the United States Army Observation Group to Yan'an. One war scholar attributes the name to the number of Southerners amongst the mission's personnel. John Davies declared in his memoir, Dragon by the Tail',' that the mission was called 'Dixie', as a reference to its location within "rebel" CPC held territory, by himself and his peers, a glib comparison to the territory of the Confederate States of America.Notable members
- Colonel David D. BarrettDavid D. BarrettDavid Dean Barrett was an American soldier, diplomat, and an old Army China hand. Barrett served more than 35 years in the U.S. Army, almost entirely in China...
(1892–1977), first commanding officer of the Dixie Mission. - John S. ServiceJohn S. ServiceJohn Stewart Service was an American diplomat who served in the Foreign Service in China prior to and during the World War II. Considered one of the State Department's "China Hands," he was an important member of the Dixie Mission to Yan'an...
(1909–1999), first State Department representative to arrive and operate as part of the Dixie Mission. - John P. DaviesJohn P. DaviesJohn Paton Davies, Jr. was an American diplomat and Medal of Freedom recipient. He was one of the China Hands, whose careers in the Foreign Service were destroyed by McCarthyism and the reaction to the fall of China....
(1908–1999), State Department official instrumental in the creation of the mission. - Koji AriyoshiKoji Ariyoshi' was a Nisei, Labor activist, and a Sergeant in the United States Army during the Second World War.-Early life:Ariyoshi was born in Hawaii in 1914 to Japanese immigrant parents. Ariyoshi grew up helping his family make a living on a small eight-acre coffee plantation. He attended Konawaena High...
(1914–1976), Hawaii labor editor and later a leader of the U.S.-China People's Friendship Association. - Raymond P. LuddenRaymond P. LuddenRaymond P. Ludden was one of the United States State Department's China experts. He was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, graduated from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and in 1932 went to China, where he served for seventeen years...
(1909–1970), State Department officer who undertook dangerous mission into Japanese occupied China. - Henry C. Whittlesey, a writer
Dixie Mission Commanding Officers
- Colonel David D. BarrettDavid D. BarrettDavid Dean Barrett was an American soldier, diplomat, and an old Army China hand. Barrett served more than 35 years in the U.S. Army, almost entirely in China...
- Colonel Morris DePassMorris DePassMorris DePass was a colonel in the United States Army and a commanding officer of the Dixie Mission, an American observation mission to Yan'an, China, in 1944 to investigate and establish official relations with the Chinese Communists.-References:*Carolle J...
- Colonel Wilbur J. PeterkinWilbur J. PeterkinColonel Wilbur J. Peterkin was a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army during the Second World War in the China Burma India Theater, and an executive and commanding officer of the United States Army Observer Group, commonly known as the Dixie Mission. Prior to the war, Peterkin was a high...
- Major Clifford F. YoungClifford F. YoungClifford F. Young was a major in the United States Army and a was a commanding officer of the Dixie Mission, an American observation mission to Yan'an, China, in 1944 to investigate and establish official relations with the Chinese Communists.-References:...
- Colonel John SellsJohn SellsJohn Sells was a colonel in the United States Army and the last commanding officer of the Dixie Mission, an American observation mission to Yan'an, China, in 1944 to investigate and establish official relations with the Chinese Communists.-References:...
Primary sources
- David D. BarrettDavid D. BarrettDavid Dean Barrett was an American soldier, diplomat, and an old Army China hand. Barrett served more than 35 years in the U.S. Army, almost entirely in China...
, Dixie Mission: The United States Army Observer Group in Yenan, 1944 (Berkeley, CA: Center for Chinese Studies, U of California, 1970). - John Colling, The Spirit of Yenan: A Wartime Chapter of Sino-American Friendship (Hong Kong: API Press, 1991).
- John Paton Davies, Dragon by the Tail: American, British, Japanese, and Russian Encounters with China and One Another (New York: W. W. Norton, 1972).
- Colonel Wilbur J. PeterkinWilbur J. PeterkinColonel Wilbur J. Peterkin was a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army during the Second World War in the China Burma India Theater, and an executive and commanding officer of the United States Army Observer Group, commonly known as the Dixie Mission. Prior to the war, Peterkin was a high...
, Inside China 1943-1945: An Eyewitness Account of America's Mission in Yenan (Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1992) - Koji AriyoshiKoji Ariyoshi' was a Nisei, Labor activist, and a Sergeant in the United States Army during the Second World War.-Early life:Ariyoshi was born in Hawaii in 1914 to Japanese immigrant parents. Ariyoshi grew up helping his family make a living on a small eight-acre coffee plantation. He attended Konawaena High...
, From Kona to Yenan: The Political Memoirs of Koji Ariyoshi, Beechert, Edward D., and Alice M. Beechert, eds, (Honolulu, HI: U of Hawai’i Press, 2000). - John Emmerson,The Japanese Thread: A Life in the U.S. Foreign Service(New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1978).
- Joseph W. Esherick, Lost Chance in China: The World War II Despatches of John S. Service (New York: Random House, 1974).
- Peter Vladimirov, The Vladimirov Diaries: Yenan, China: 1942–1945 (New York: Doubleday & Co., 1975).
Secondary sources
- Carolle J. Carter, Mission to Yenan: American Liaison with the Chinese Communists 1944-1947 (Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1997).
- E. J. Kahn, The China Hands: America's Foreign Service Officers and What Befell Them (New York: Viking Press, 1972, 1975).
- William P. Head, Yenan!: Colonel Wilbur Peterkin and the American Military Mission to the Chinese Communist, 1944–1945 (Chapel Hill, N.C.: Documentary Publications, 1987).
- Charles F. Romanus and Riley Sunderland,United States Army in World War II, China-Burma-India Theater: Stilwell's mission to China (Washington, D.C.: Department of the Army, 1953).
- --------, United States Army in World War II, China-Burma-India Theater: Stilwell's command problems (Washington, D.C.: Department of the Army, 1956).
- --------,United States Army in World War II, China-Burma-India Theater: Time Runs Out in CBI (Washington, D.C.: Department of the Army, 1959).
- Kenneth E. Shewmaker, Americans and Chinese Communists, 1927-1945: A Persuading Encounter- (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1971).
- Tsou Tang, America's Failure in China, 1941-50 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, Reissued in 2 pb. vols., 1975., 1963).
See also
:Category:Dixie Mission participants- China Burma India Theater
- Second Sino-Japanese WarSecond Sino-Japanese WarThe Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
- Wartime perception of the Chinese CommunistsWartime perception of the Chinese CommunistsThe Wartime perception of the Chinese Communists was a matter of debate in the United States before and during World War II in both the public and the government...