To say that Chiang and Stilwell hated each other is an understatement and, from their own points of view, each had good cause. It is not fair to accuse Stilwell of racial prejudice, judging from the content of his diaries he hated everyone impartially, except his own troops. His contempt for other military leaders and politicians was boundless but his hatred for Chiang (who he referred to as "the Peanut") was acute. Stilwell thought Chiang was a coward who held back urgently needed resources and changed his mind with irrational speed. Chiang saw Stilwell as brusque, overbearing and power hungry.
Stilwell was brusque and overbearing. He was also a brilliant tactical commander and a thoroughly modern American soldier who believed in defensive attack. A graduate of West Point (1904) he had served as an Intelligence Officer in France during the First World War. The Postwar years saw him serving as an instructor at the Fort Benning Infantry School, where he acquired the nickname Vinegar Joe because of his acerbic speech and astounding lack of diplomatic skills. He also served three tours of duty in China, where he learned to speak Mandarin, one of the more common Chinese dialects. In February 1942 he was named Commander of American Forces in the China-Burma-India Theater of War. He would command a multinational force consisting of troops from every Allied nation, with the exception of Russia, and improve the fighting ability of Chinese forces.
Stilwell was selected for this position for a number of reasons. He was an excellent commander, he spoke Chinese, and he was already acquainted with Chiang Kai-Shek. What no-one realized was that he had disliked Chiang from their very first meeting in 1935, their ideologies were poles apart and they did not speak the same language. Stilwell was proud of his command of Mandarin, but Chiang was from the Chekiang District and spoke that dialect. The two dialects have many differences and Stilwell consistently refused the aid of an interpreter. As a result, he often misunderstood Chiang's true response. (This was sometimes a problem between Chiang and his own people.) Worse, from Chiang's point of view, Stilwell was pro-Mao.
