The purge of Communists and unionists by Chiang Kai-shek's forces in April 1927 (1927)
The Shanghai massacre, which ended the First United Front and began the conflict.
History · The 20th century
The Chinese Civil War
1927–1949
Nationalists against Communists, interrupted by the war with Japan
The long struggle between Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party, fought in two main phases either side of the war with Japan. It opened with the purge of Communists in Shanghai in April 1927 and continued with the encirclement campaigns that drove the Communists out of their Jiangxi base on the Long March of 1934–35, at the end of which Mao Zedong emerged as leader at Yan'an. The kidnapping of Chiang at Xi'an in December 1936 forced a united front against Japan; fighting resumed in earnest in 1946. Three great campaigns in 1948–49 destroyed the Nationalist armies, the People's Republic was proclaimed on 1 October 1949, and the Republic of China government withdrew to Taiwan.
How to spot them
- ▸A purge of former allies in Shanghai in April 1927
- ▸A retreat of some 9,000 kilometres from Jiangxi to Shaanxi, ending at cave dwellings
- ▸A generalissimo kidnapped by his own commander to force an alliance against Japan
- ▸Three decisive campaigns in the winter of 1948–49
- ▸A proclamation from the Gate of Heavenly Peace on 1 October 1949, and a government in flight to Taipei
What happened
A retreat of some 9,000 kilometres from Jiangxi to Shaanxi, ending at Yan'an (1934–35)
The Long March; perhaps a tenth of those who set out arrived.
The January 1935 conference in Guizhou at which Mao Zedong gained effective leadership (1935)
The Zunyi Conference.
The kidnapping of the Nationalist leader by Zhang Xueliang in December 1936 (1936)
The Xi'an Incident, which produced the Second United Front against Japan.
The three campaigns of 1948–49 — Liaoshen, Huaihai and Pingjin — that destroyed the Nationalist armies (1948–49)
Some 1.5 million Nationalist troops were lost in these campaigns.
The proclamation from the Gate of Heavenly Peace on 1 October 1949 (1949)
Mao Zedong declared the founding of the People's Republic of China.
The withdrawal of a government, an army and much of the imperial art collection to an island in December 1949 (1949)
The Republic of China relocated to Taipei; the Palace Museum treasures went with it.
Quick-fire facts
- •The Chinese Communist Party was founded in Shanghai in 1921; Mao Zedong was among the delegates
- •The First United Front of 1924–27 was brokered with Soviet help under Sun Yat-sen
- •The Jiangxi Soviet was abandoned after the fifth encirclement campaign of 1934
- •Yan'an in Shaanxi was the Communist base from 1936 to 1947
- •George Marshall's mission of 1945–47 failed to broker a settlement between the two sides
- •Hyperinflation and corruption badly eroded Nationalist support in the cities after 1945
- •The Republic of China government under Chiang Kai-shek relocated to Taipei in December 1949
- •The Communists took Hainan in 1950; the Kinmen and Matsu islands remain under Taipei's control
- •No peace treaty was ever signed, and the two sides' claims underlie the Taiwan question today
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Sources
- Odd Arne Westad — Decisive Encounters: The Chinese Civil War, 1946–1950
- Jonathan Fenby — Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the China He Lost