Mao Zedong

• In Chinese, this war is known as the “resist America, support Korea” war.
• On 27 July 1953, 70 years ago today, hostilities came to an indefinite halt with the signing of an armistice.
• In this bitter, destructive and still unresolved conflict, one of the greatest challenges for both sides was how to deal with the weather.
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Mass mobilisation of sewing labour

• These items of clothing were all products of global militarisation in the 20th century.
• The altered appearance of the crowd in any Chinese town after 1949 was one of the most immediate effects of regime change.
• Clothing regulations for employees in the state sector established the Sun Yatsen jacket or its poor relative, the “People’s jacket”, as standard dress.
• For provisioning the armed forces, mass mobilisation of labour was required.
• The huge labour reserves available in China failed to avert a crisis in the supply of winter uniforms in the early months of the war.
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Unpicking and refluffing

• By August 1951, the US had come up with an airtight, insulated rubber boot, popularly known as the Mickey Mouse boot on account of its large toe.
• It did not eliminate the problem of frostbite but with frequent changes of woollen socks sharply reduced its incidence.
• The Chinese, too, developed something more effective, with a larger toe, providing room for extra padding.
• Padded cloth socks were widely used and sewing socks for soldiers became a common domestic pastime.
• At the end of the war the majority of POWs from the People’s Volunteer Army chose to go to Taiwan.