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GMD Formed
This GMD, also called the KMT, was founded by and off the ideas of Sun Yat-Sen. The roots of the GMD are based off Chinese nationalism and democracy. The GMD would become one of the sides in the Chinese Civil War, opposing the CCP. -
May Fourth Movement
The May Fourth Movement was a series of demonstrations in Bejing that protested Chinese government's response in The Treaty of Versailles. This was a time that many of the political leaders that led through the Civil War emerged. It also sparked Chinese nationalism. In the long term, this event built the strength for the Communist Revolution. -
CCP Formed
The CCP, Chinese Communist Party, was found by Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu, leaders that rose during the May Fourth Movement. Mao Zedong was a member of the CCP. The CCP is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China. The founding bases of this party are anarchism and communism. The CCP fought in the Civil War against the GMD. -
United Front Established Between GMD and CCP
The United Front was an alliance between the GMD and CCP that was formed to end warlordism in China. The alliance was ultimatley unsuccessful because the GMD and CCP both had different visions and goals. The CCP wanted to spread communism while the GMD wanted to supress and control it. This urge to control communism from the GMD eventually led to events like the Shanghai Massacre. This was the main tension that fueled the Civil War. -
Shanghai Massacre
In this massacre, the Chiang Kai-shek and conservative factions, the GMD, turned on the communists in Shanghai and launched attacks on them, a full-scale purge of Communists. This purge was the beginning of the split between the Chinese Nationalist Party. More than 10,000 communists were arrested or killed during this massacre and the days after. -
GMD Captures Beijing
In 1928, the GMD took control of Beijing under the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek. The GMD then declared China united and they had most control. They started to become recognized as the sole ruling government in China. The GMD then turned against the communists and ruled under a constitutional democracy. -
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First Encirclement Campaign against the Jiangxi Soviet
This was a series of battles that began with attacks on the Chinese Red Army by the Chinese Nationalist Government. The purpose of these battles were to annihilate the Chinese Red Army as well as the Chinese Soviet Republic. The communists then later responded with counter attacks. These series of battles ended in communist victory that marked the beginning of a general retreat by the nationalists and the Chinese Red Army’s transition from guerrilla warfare to mobile and conventional warfare. -
Invasion of Manchuria
In 1931, the Japanese attacked Manchuria as an invasion on China. Japan then became a large threat to China. The leader of the GMD, was not reactive at this time because he was more focused on the threat of the CCP. The GMD had eventually made truce with the Japanese but some northern warlords were struggling under Japanese occupation so they kidnapped the leader of the GMD. They did this to force him to form the Second United Front because they knew it was the only way to fight the Japanese. -
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The Long March
The Long March was very important for Mao's rise to power. The march helped Mao gain popularity and support amoungst the power so it helped his rising to power. Also, after the Long March, the CCP needed to be rebuilt due to the attacks by GMD.
This event was a major turning point in the Civil War. -
Survivors of the Long March reach Shanxi Soviet base.
86,000 soldiers set on the 8,000 mile journey and only 4,000 soldiers returned. Amoungst these survivors was Mao Zedong. The surviving members were a powerful symbol for Mao. For Mao the Long March was proof of the superiority of men over weapons, and more broadly of the power of the human will. -
Second United Front Formed
This was the second brief alliance between the GMD and the CCP. This alliance was forced when the GMD kidnapped the CCP leader. The purpose of the alliance was to resist a Japanese invasion duirng the Second Sino-Japanese War. This suspended the civil war. During this allainace both parties were still fighting for terriorial advantages. At this point the communists started to aggresively expland through military strength, the alliance started to breakdown. -
Battle of Baoying
This was a battle between the communists and former nationalists. The battle resulted in communist victory. This battle showed that it was a fatal mistake for Jiang to have a goal of both exterminating the communists and solving the warlord problem in China. The resentment for the GMD grew very strong around this time. -
Truce between CCP and GMD
At this point the USA played a very important role in the outcome of the war. General Marshall of the US was able to convince the GMD to agree to a truce with the CCP. This truce actually worked to the CCP's favor. It saved them from an invasion of their headquarters so they had time prepare and train their forces for war again. When the fighting resumed Mao used guerilla tactics. -
2nd Phase of Civil War Begins
Coming out of the war with Japan, the CCP was strong while the GMD was weak. The civil war continued, however, this time the war was more of an international affair. Russia and USA became involved in the war because both of the superpowers wanted to weaken Japan and form a stable China. They hoped for the CCP and the GMD to form a coalition government. The USA tried to use diplomacy and negotiate peace between the two parties but they did not want to share power. -
Autumn Offensive
The Autumn Offensive was a series of battles in Northeast China that was launched by the communists against the nationalists. It was broken up into three stages but ended in communist victory. The communists succeeded in taking over fifteen cities while the nationalists weakened their strength in the redeployment of six divisions. The communists victory also provided the foundation of their next offensive. -
US Congress passes China Aid Act
The aid was to balance China's international payments and to promote agricultural and industrial production. This aid sent support to the GMD. With all the support that the USA gave the GMD and the 3 billion dollars worth of supplies it gave to the GMD leader, their regime was too weak to survive. -
Huhai Campaign
The Huihai campaign was a decisive battle during the Chinese Civil War. During this battle the GMD was surrounded and destroyed by the communists. This battle was very detrimental to the nationalist forces, many men lost and their troop weakened. This campaign was one of the battles that marked the end of the Nationalist power in the China. -
Start of Pingjin Campaign
This was the start of three major campaigns in the Hebei province in China, launched by the People's Liberation Army during the war. This was launched against the nationalist government. The campaign lasted 64 days. When it ended it marked the end of nationalist dominance in the North China Plain. -
Shanghai Campaign
This was a battle over the largest city in China, Shanghai, fought between the nationalists and the communists. The city winded up in the hands of the communists. The war was split into three stages. It cost nationalists greatly. There was huge casualties and the army was badly mauled. -
Mao announces the establishment of the People’s Republic of China
On October 1st, 1949 Mao Zedong announced the establishment of the People 's Republic of China and names himself the head of state. This was the climax of the long tension between the communists and nationalists in China. China was now under communist control. This takeover of communism in China was also a huge loss to the USA.
