Chinese Civil War

The Chinese Civil War was the conflict in China between the Kuomintang (the Nationalist Party) led by Chiang Kai-Shek and the Communist Party of China led by Mao Zedong.

Before the conflict, Communists and Kuomintang were allies under Sun Yat-sen's leadership. Many notable communists such as Zhou Enlai were members of the KMT. The alliance soon collapsed after the death of Sun Yat-sen.

Table of contents 1 Northern Expedition (北伐战争) (1926 - 1928) 2 Agrarian Revolution (土地革命战争) (1927 - 1937) 3 Second Sino-Japanese War (抗日战争) (1937 - 1945) 4 War of Liberation (解放战争) (1945 - 1949)

Northern Expedition (北伐战争) (1926 - 1928)

In July 1926, Kuomintang and Communist party decided to campaign north from southern China to remove the warlord-controlled northern China. Their army was called National Revolutionary Army. After capturing Wuhan, issues broke out between Communists and Kuomintang. On April 12, 1927, Chiang Kai-Shek, arguing that communist activities are socially and economically disruptive, purged communists from the ranks. Many communists were executed. Chiang was expelled for his action and formed his own government in Nanjing. The rest of Kuomintang broke up with communists in July 1927 and joined with Chiang in February 1928. Kuomintang resumed the campaign again warlords and captured Beijing in June 1928. Nanjing was chosen as capital.

Agrarian Revolution (土地革命战争) (1927 - 1937)

Communist Party activists retreated to the countryside where they fomented a peasant rebellion (Nanchang Uprising on August 1, 1927) and established control over several areas in southern China. Attempts by the Nationalist armies to suppress the rebellion were unsuccessful but extremely damaging to the Communist forces.

A decision was made that the bulk of the Communist force called "Red Army" (红军) to go to northern China by means of Long March (Oct 1935 - Oct 1936). The Red Army later become part of People's Liberation Army.

Second Sino-Japanese War (抗日战争) (1937 - 1945)

During World War 2, Chiang Kai-Shek refused to ally with Communists to fight against Japanese. On December 12, 1936, Kuomintang Generals Zhang Xue-liang and Yang Hu-cheng[?] kidnapped Chiang Kai-Shek and forced him to a truce with Communists. The incident became known as the Xian Incident (西安事变). Both parties agreed to suspend fighting to focus their energies against the Japanese.

The capital was moved Chongqing City after Japanese enclosed on Nanjing.

At the end of the war Russia captured Manchuria from Japan based on the terms of Yalta Conference.

War of Liberation (解放战争) (1945 - 1949)

The conflict restarted immediately after the end of World War II. Russia returned Manchuria along with captured Japanese supplies to Chinese Communists. U.S. tried and failed to bring the two sides to negotiation. U.S. started to support Kuomintang.

Ultimately, the Communist Party was victorious. This led to the establishment of the People's Republic of China and the flight of the Kuomintang to Taiwan, where they continued to rule as the Republic of China.