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Second Kuomintang-Communist Civil War 第二次國共內戰 / 第二次国共内战 Other Names
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Part of the Chinese Civil War (1927–1949) Part of the Cold War (1947–1991) | |||||||
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250,000 in three campaigns | 1.5 million in three campaigns [3] |
Part of a series on the |
Chinese Communist Revolution |
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Outline of the Chinese Civil War |
Communismportal |
The Second Kuomintang-Communist Civil War, called the National Protection War against the Communist Rebellion or Mobilization for the Suppression of Communist Rebellion by the Kuomintang (KMT) , and Chinese People's War of Liberation or simply, War of Liberation, by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), was a conflict between the KMT and the CCP for the leadership of China. It was the second stage of the Chinese Civil War. The result of the civil war was that the CCP became victorious, leading to the retreat of the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan, the proclamation of the People's Republic of China, and the two regimes between the mainland and Taiwan each declaring itself as the legitimate Chinese government at present.
On August 15, 1945, the Empire of Japan, the common enemy of the Kuomintang and the CCP, announced its surrender, which marked the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War. The surrender of Japan intensified the rivalry between the KMT and the CCP which was previously weakened by the ongoing war against it. [4] : 1–2
On the eve of Japan's surrender, the major force of the KMT's army was concentrated in the home front, with almost no regular army present north of the Yangtze River and east of the Pinghan Road. The only army located to the South of the Yangtze River and to the east of the Guangzhou–Hankou railway and only troops from the Third War Area south of the Yangtze River and east of the Guangdong-Hankou Railway were the troops from the third military region. [5]
By April 1945, the CCP along with the Eighth Route Army which was under its leadership had controlled most of the rural areas of northern China, with a total population of around 95.5 million. The CCP had also built up an army that could compete with the KMT. [5] [6] : 10–43 Socially, due to the devastation brought about by the Second Sino-Japanese War, the gentry, which used to be a group that could help stabilize the society, was disintegrated. As a result, the social instability led to an increasing number of the unemployed population, many of some became the supporters of the CCP. So, the size of the People's Liberation Army, the principle military force of the CCP, experienced a rapid expansion. [7] : 724
According to the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance, the Nationalist Government had the legal status over northeastern China. The Article 5(b) of the treaty stipulated no restriction on the movement be imposed on the government troops from moving into or within northeastern China. [8] In addition, Article 2 stipulated that military mobilization within the territory of China (except for the Northeast) should cease. [8] However, the CCP believed it also had the right to take over the Northeast and refused to comply with this treaty. It continued to deploy troops from the China proper to the Northeast to take over the Soviet troops who were occupying it at the time. [8]
On August 15, the Japanese Emperor announced the surrender of the Empire of Japan. [9] : 32 The CCP-controlled Eighth Route Army and New Fourth Army refused Chiang's order to wait the government forces to arrive and receive Japanese surrender, as stipulated in the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance. Instead, they launched an offensive on all fronts against the Japanese and collaborationists. In addition, the CCP ordered the Japanese to surrender to the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army unless they were encircled by the government forces. [10] : 1–3 [11] : 185 On August 16, Mao Zedong, the chairman of the CCP, published the article "People's Enemy Chiang Kai-shek Sends Out a Signal for Civil War" in the CCP-owned Xinhua News Agency. In the article, Mao falsified the remarks made by Wu Kuo-chen, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the government by slandering that Wu accused Chiang Kai-shek of "sending out a signal of civil war" by intending to deal with the opponents "with military justice". in fact, Mao was deliberately breaking with the KMT and preparing to launch a civil war to topple the government in the name of opposing the civil war. [12] : 169
List of major KMT-CCP conflicts in late 1945 | |||
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Battle Name | Approximate Time | Reasons for Outbreak | Result |
Shangdang Campaign | Sept 10 - Oct 12 | A clique of the KMT, Yan Xishan's troops took over Xiangyuan and Lucheng, which were occupied by the Eighth Route Army after Japan's surrender, and accepted the surrender of the Japanese army in Changzhi. The Eighth Route Army launched an offensive. | Ten of the Yan Xishan's divisions were annihilated, and Changzhi was occupied by the Eighth Route Army. |
Tianjin–Pukou Railway Campaign | Oct 15 - Dec 14 | The New Fourth Army blocked the government army from moving north along the Tianjin–Pukou railway to accept the surrender of the Japanese Army. | The New Fourth Army captured a large area of Shandong. Part of Shandong and Central China, the two regions controlled by the CCP, were linked together. |
Peking–Suiyuan Railway Campaign | Oct 18 - Dec 14 | A clique of the KMT, Fu Zuoyi's troops accepted the Japanese surrender in Suiyuan. The Eighth Route Army besieged Fu's troops to try to block them from moving further north. | The Eighth Route Army besieged the cities of Guisui and Baotou for a month and a half. It later retreated after failing to capture either city. |
Handan Campaign | Dec 24 - Nov 2 | The government army went north along the Peking–Hankow railway to accept the Japanese surrender. The Eighth Route Army besieged them to try to block them from going north. | The Eighth Route Army besieged and annihilated seven government divisions. |
Battle of Shanhai Pass | Nov 15 | The government army on US-owned transport docks were refused to land in Dalian by the Soviet Union, the Eighth Route Army and the Northeast Democratic Allied Army. The government army moved to Huludao then, but they still were stilled denied landing. In the end, they moved to Qinhuangdao to land since the city was not under Soviet control. Afterwards, they were blocked by the Eighth Route Army and the Northeast Democratic Allied Forces when they were on their way to the Shanhai Pass. | The government army defeated the Eighth Route Army and the Northeast Democratic Allied Army and occupied the Shanhai pass and Jinzhou. |
On August 14, 1945, Chiang Kai-Shek invited Mao Zedong to go to Chongqing, the wartime capital of China, to negotiate with each other and reduce the disagreements between the KMT and the CCP. [13] On August 24, Mao agreed under the order made by Joseph Stalin in the name of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. [13] : 721 After the negotiation, an agreement was reached on October 10. One of the few key policies reached in the agreement stipulated that the CCP recognize the Nationalist government as the sole legitimate Chinese government while the KMT recognize the CCP as a legal opposition party. In addition, the agreement scheduled a future meeting between the major political factions in China to discuss unsolved problems. [14]
The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), with armed conflict continuing intermittently from 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949, resulting in a communist victory and control of mainland China.
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The Republic of China (ROC), or simply China, was a sovereign state based in mainland China from 1912 until its government's retreat in 1949 to Taiwan, where it is now based. The Republic of China was established after the 1911 Revolution overthrew the Qing dynasty, ending the imperial history of China. The ROC government was ruled by the Kuomintang (KMT) as a one-party state while headquartered in Nanjing from 1927 until its relocation to Taiwan on 7 December 1949, after its defeat by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the Chinese Civil War. The CCP proclaimed the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949, while the ROC retains control over the "Free Area" and the political status of Taiwan remains in dispute.
The Chinese Communist Revolution was a social revolution in China that began in 1927 and culminated with the proclamation of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. For the preceding century, termed the century of humiliation, China had faced escalating social, economic, and political problems as a result of Western and Japanese imperialism, and the decline of the Qing dynasty (1644–1912). Cyclical famines and an oppressive landlord system kept the large mass of rural peasantry poor and politically disenfranchised. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was formed by young urban intellectuals in 1921, inspired by European socialist ideas and the success of the Russian October Revolution in 1917. In the First United Front, the Communists initially allied themselves with the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) against the forces of local warlords and foreign imperialists, but the 1927 Shanghai massacre targeting Communists ordered by KMT leader Chiang Kai-shek marked the start of the Chinese Civil War between Nationalists and Communists that would ultimately last more than three decades.
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The Battle of Chishui River, popularly known in mainland China as the Four Crossings of the Chishui River or "Crossing the Chishui River Four Times" (四渡赤水), was a major battle between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in 1935. It was the first major battle commanded by Mao Zedong during the Long March, and it is regarded as one of the most representative battles under Mao's command. This battle was a turning point in the first phase of Chinese Civil War. The Chinese Red Army jumped out of the encirclement of Kuomintang by unexpectedly crossing the Chishui River four times, and eventually survived the anti-communist military campaign of Chiang Kai-shek.
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Mao Zedong, the longtime Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and the founder of the People's Republic of China, was reported to have expressed his gratitude to the Japanese military and political figures who visited China in the 1950s and 1970s. Mao said that the Japanese invasion of China had united Chinese people and allowed the Chinese Communist Party to win the Chinese Civil War. In the 21st century, these remarks by Mao caused strong reactions on the internet in China. With the 2020 Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE) history subject controversy on the historical understanding of Japan's invasion of China, these remarks have returned to the spotlight on Hong Kong and mainland Chinese websites. The word "thanks" expressed by Mao has been also interpreted by some observers as dark humour.
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