Final answer:
Mao Zedong's leadership was pivotal to the Communist victory in China due to his ideological appeal to the peasantry, strategic recruitment and military tactics during the Civil War, and the stark contrast between his vision and the corrupted Nationalist regime.
Step-by-step explanation:
Mao Zedong was a central figure in the victory of the Communists in China, a complexity that unfolds from multiple layers of strategy, ideology, and wartime dynamics. Initially, Mao galvanized the peasantry, channeling their grievances against the existing feudal structures into a revolutionary force. He provided an appealing vision of land redistribution and egalitarianism, which starkly contrasted with the corruption and inefficiency of Chiang Kai-shek's regime, compelling the peasantry to flock to his side.
Mao's distinctive form of Marxist-Leninist ideology, Maoism, posited that the peasantry were the rightful agents of communist revolution, diverging significantly from traditional Marxist focus on the industrial proletariat. This garnered mass support among China's predominantly rural population. Additionally, the Nationalists' failure to adequately respond to the Japanese invasion further discredited them, boosting Mao's standing. In the later stages, as the Civil War recommenced post World War II, despite significant US aid to the Nationalists, Mao's forces emerged victorious. The Communists' ability to marshal grassroots support, along with their considerable ingenuity in guerrilla warfare, tipped the balance in their favor. The declaration of the People's Republic of China in 1949 solidified this triumph, altering the course of Chinese history and shaping global geopolitics for decades to come.