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History Optional PYQ Master Pack · Model answer

“The failure of Kuomintang against the communist onslaught was unimaginable and it was Mao Tse-tung whose tenacity and innovative approach had accomplished the unthinkable.” Discuss.

  • UPSC 2015
  • Revolution and Counter-Revolution

The statement advances a dual thesis: that the Kuomintang's (KMT) collapse was disproportionate to its material strength, and that Mao Zedong's personal qualities and strategic innovations were decisive in converting that collapse into communist victory by 1949.

You are reading the opening of the model answer. The full answer is part of the History Optional PYQ Master Pack.

What the full answer covers

  • Why KMT Failure Was "Unimaginable"
  • Mao's Tenacity: Surviving to Fight Another Day
  • Mao's Innovative Approach: Departing from Orthodoxy
  • Weighing the Two Halves of the Statement

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