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The Overthrow of the Manchu Dyansty
In October 1911, the ruling dynasty of China was overthrown in the Double-Tenth revolution. In November, independent delegates met in Nanjing to establish the Republic; they agreed on numerous provisions such as democracy and a removal of family powers. The president, Sun Yixian, however double-crossed the delegates creating an ultimately radical and oppressive regime that would become the target of Mao and the communist party of China. -
May Fourth Movement
The May Fourth Movement was two political responses to the warlords and foreign influence in China. Students in 1919 led a mass demonstration in Beijing against traditional Chinese culture, the Japanese, and the warlords. The protest was prompted by the Versailles settlement that gave Japan territory in the Chinese mainland. The nationalist GMD party inspired other Chinese people. The two forces- communists and nationalists- would come together in the First United Front. -
First United Front
Both the CCP and the GMD wished to unify China. Thus, they agreed that it was imperative to remove the warlords. In 1922, the GMD and the CCP created the First United Front so that to remove both parties primary obstacles. After the warlord period, however, the front broke down as the GMD became more and more anti-communist. -
GMD Attacks CCP
After the white terror in Shanghai where the GMD attacked supporters of the communist party, the GMD officially declared war and attacked the CCP in July 1928. The GMD saw the CCP as an ideological foe and a political threat to the GMD's rule over China, thus a civil war erupted between the two sides. -
Mao and Revolutionary Warfare
Mao, at a disadvantage initially compared to the Nationalists, needed to use guerilla warfare tactics in order to win the civil war. Thus, Mao's strategy consisted of setting up base areas, defending those base areas, and then converging to form a conventional army. It was this strategy that lead to Mao winning the war. -
The Jiangxi Soviet
After the GMD onslaught, the CCP was forced to retreat to the Jiangxi Soviet. Mao organized the soviet around the importance of the peasant. This ideological shift divided himself from other members of the CCP, but allowed Mao to recruit thousands of peasants that would become the bulk of his military forces in this area. -
Five Encirclement Campaigns
In order to counter revolutionary warfare, Nationalist general Jiang Jieshi created a military strategy dubbed "the encirclement campaign". The campaign was meant to destroy the CCP and the Jiangxi Soviet by encircling the communists so as to cut them off from all supply lines. Despite the ingenuity of this plan, the CCP defeated the nationalists in all five campaigns. -
The Long March
In order to avoid an invading force of 800,000 men, Mao decided that it was imperative for the CCP to set up another base and move north. The Long March took 368 days to complete and lead to the death of 90% of the Chinese communists who survived the encirclement campaigns. The Long March was taxing yet necessary for the CCP's survival. -
Second United Front
The GMD and the CCP united together to fight the Japanese in 1937. The civil war was suspended and a national war of resistance was declared, this would be the first time the two sides agreed to discontinue fighting since the war began. The GMD would benefit from USSR aid and the CCP would benefit from increased legitimacy and public image. -
Sino-Japanese War
The Sino-Japanese war significantly contributed to the downfall of the GMD and thus the ultimate CCP victory. The GMD put up little resistance against Japan and thus suffered the most damage from their military forces. The GMD lost much needed tax revenue during the Japanese occupation of their territory and exhausted their military resources, allowing the CCP to take advantage of weak and vulnerable Chinese government. -
The Dixie Mission
The United States sent an observation group from July of 1944 to 1947 to asses the CCP military and politically. Surprisingly, the United States believed the CCP was more efficient in their governance and could make a cooperative military ally with the west. Thus, the United States began brokering peace talks between the two sides but ultimately failed to do so. Thus those involved in the Dixie mission were accused of being communist sympathizers and were persecuted during the McCarthy era. -
Truce between CCP and GMD
The United States managed to broker a two month truce between the GMD and the CCP from January 1946 to March 1946. Then, both sides moved into Manchuria and began fighting. The United States managed to get another ceasefire in June. These ceasefires allowed the CCP to recuperate and reorganize their military resources, which allowed them to win the war in the long run. So, in essence, the United States help led to the victory of the CCP in China. -
Strongpoint Offensive
The lack of decisive victory in Manchuria encouraged the Nationalists to launch a final offensive against the CCP. Their troops made initial advances but most gains made during the offensive were illusory since it focused on cities that were largely insignificant to the communist campaign. -
Communist Manchuria Campaign
In Manchuria, the CCP launched a campaign to push the Nationalists out of Manchuria. The CCP destroyed the nationalist base in Jinzhou and captured nationalist cities, resulting in 250,000 deaths. The surrender of the city of Shenyang finally left Manchuria in communist hands. -
Huai-Hai Campaign
The Huai-Hai campaign from November 1948 to January 1949 continued the CCP's strategic focus on cities. The campaign focused on the city of Xuchou, a grand junction in central China. By cutting off the nationalist from supplies, they retreated from the city in mass numbers and thus lost almost all of central China. -
Pinjin Campaign
CCP control of central China was assured by the Pinjin campaign along with the Huai-Hai campaign. The Red Army used artillery to crush the nationalist forces. By the end of the campaign, the nationalists were pleading for peace talks but Mao refused; Mao would take advantage of the GMD on the brink of defeat. -
Red Army Advances into South China
With the CCP in control of northern China, the Nationalists failed to put up any resistance against the communists. When the communists entered southern China, the GMD was spread out, weakened, and disorganized. The GMD leaders began planning to escape to Taiwan during this time. -
CCP Capture Nanjing
The CCP took Nanjing in April 1949, leading to the final collapse of resistance of the GMD. Nanjing was critical to the GMD's strategy for victory and the loss of this city lead to the complete and utter collapse of the GMD's military; once Nanjing was captured, Mao's chances of victory considerably increased. -
Establishment of the People's Republic of China
Once Mao took the city of Shanghai, it was not long until he entered Beijing and proclaimed the People's Republic of China. Mao declared himself chairman of the Republic and proposed egalitarian land reforms and communist policies that would ultimately lead to the death of nearly sixty million Chinese citizens, largely due to starvation caused by the Great Leap Forward. -
Jiang Flees to Taiwan
Jiang's flee to Taiwan represents the final end of the conflict in China. Once the GMD was defeated militarily, Jiang and other GMD leaders fled to Taiwan where they remain to this day as "The Republic of China" and still rule as a political party. China refuses to acknowledge their sovereignty as a nation while the United States fights for Taiwan's political independence on the world stage.
