So now turning the page to my final chapter on this study of Chinese history; the Civil War. As I mentioned in the previous post this is a topic I have always been fascinated with, however knew very little about until this recent submersion into Chinese history. The first image that always comes to mind when I think of the Chinese Civil War is the communist leader of Mao Zedong. I also often associate them with Russia's Bolshevik/Communist revolution and subsequent Civil War. However the Chinese Civil War was a much longer and more complicated affair than the Russian Civil War.
For starters the Chinese Civil War lasted for 13 years and was interrupted by WWII, particularly the Japanese invasion of China in 1937 (also known as the Second Sino-Japanese War). This foreign invasion essentially put a freeze on the civil conflict and united China against their agitators. One could make the case that the breakout of WWII severely weakened the Republic of China and ultimately served as an advantage for the Communist Party of China.
But now I'd like to lay out the historical timeline of events following the Xinhai Revolution. It's quite interesting that even after the abdication of the Qing Empire in 1912, the newly established Republic of China was still in disarray for some time. The death of general Yuan Shukai in 1916 brought about yet another Chinese age of Warlords and also gave way to the rise of communism. The Republic of China was not able to fully establish itself until 1928 under the leadership of General Chiang Kai-shek. Yet despite surviving the Warlord era, the Republic of China had an even greater threat with the insurgent Communist Party of China.
Yuan Shukai's Empire of China
During the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912, general Yuan Shukai of the Beiyang Army was able to swindle the position as prime minister from the key political leader Sun Yat-sen. Yun Shukai no doubt had better military and diplomatic leverage over Sun Yat-sen which allowed this transition of power. However it also quickly proved to be the downfall of the newly established Republic. From the onset of his leadership, Yuan Shukai governed as a dictator, and eliminated any who opposed him. At the 1913 democratic elections, his greatest challenger Song Jiaoren of the Kuomintang Nationalist Party was mysteriously assassinated.
This led to a period of tension between Yuan Shukai and the KMT who was guided once again by the heroic father of China, Sun Yat-sen. In 1915 Yuan Shukai was able to consolidate his military power and establish the Empire of China declaring himself as emperor of China. However this brought about a 2nd revolution in China led by Sun Yat-sen, known as the National-Protection War (anti-Monarchy war). This war only lasted several months due to the emperor's declining health and his defecting army. In June of 1916 Yuan Shukai died and his Empire was brought to an abrupt end restoring the Republic of China.
Warlord Era
However despite the death of Yuan Shukai, the tension continued to burn, between the conservative Beiyang Government and Sun Yat-Sen's Kuomintang Nationalist government. This eventually gave way to a political division across mainland China often referred to as the Warlord Era. Regions throughout China became controlled by former imperial generals who established themselves as warlords in the likes of ancient Chinese history. Many of these warlords instituted notorious policy, dominated the railways, and would often enlist bandits to join their cause.
The warlords often fought against one another yet more so against the nationalist Republic of China. The culmination of these civil disputes was fought in the Central Plains War of 1929 which consisted of an alliance of warlords against the Nationalist Armies of Chiang Kai-Shek. This conflict brought an end to the warlord era and re-unified the Republic of China. This ultimately replaced the Beiyang government with the Nationalist Republic of China which included a symbolic change of the nation's flag. In 1928 the Republic of China also became recognized as a sovereign state. However despite bringing an end to their warlord problems, they now had a new problem with communist insurgency.
Rise of Communisty Party of China
Following the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, the ideals of Marxism and Communism quickly began to spread throughout the intellectual circles of China. The ideals became all the more apparent with the May Fourth Movement of 1919. This protest was organized by college students in response to China's weak standing after WWI and against Japanese aggression. The growing spirit of Chinese nationalism gave way to this New Culture Movement that became the cornerstone of the Communist Party of China. The party became officially established on July 23rd of 1921 with only 50 members.
The party quickly expanded thanks to the financial support of the Soviet Union under Vladimir Lenin. They eventually tied themselves with the left wing of the prominent KMT party, of which it's leader Sun Yat-sen called upon their assistance against the warlords. Seeking to reunify China, Sun had hoped an active cooperation with the Communist party (especially their Russian allies) would solidify the government of the Republic of China. However following Sun Yat-sen's death in 1925 he was seceded by the more conservative general Chiang Kai-Shek whom did not want to cooperate with the Communist Party.
The Communist Army played a significant role in supporting the Nationalist campaign against the Beiyang government during the Northern Expedition of 1926-1928. However in one of the most atrocious acts in Chinese history, General Chiang Kai-Shek turned on the Communists during the Shanghai Massacre of April 12, 1927. This political purging was an effort by the KMT conservative wing to eliminate the growing threat of Communism in China. General Chiang massacred 5000 CPC members in Shanghai, while other nationalist leaders waged similar massacres against communists throughout China. From April to May of 1927 nearly 25,000 Communist members in total had been massacred which quickly gave way to the Chinese Civil War.
Mao Zedong and the Communist Insurgency
Following the Shanghai massacres, the Chinese Communist Party began a new military campaign against the Nationalist government in August of 1927. The first of these major uprisings occurred in the city of Nanchang by which the communist forces were able to occupy the city. This marked the beginning of the Chinese Civil War and the establishment of the CPC's military force known as the Red Army. The CPC also made various other unsuccessful attempts to occupy Changsha, Shantou, and Guangzhou.
Following the Central Plains War and the defeat of the warlords in 1930, the KMT Nationalist Army was able to focus it's full force against the Communist insurgents. It thus began an offensive campaign known as the Encirclement campaigns to drive out the Communist strongholds from China. This effort was supported by the German Nazi's who were also very against the rise of communism at the time. From 1930-1934 the KMT armies led by Chiang waged four unsuccessful campaigns, however were finally successful in their fifth campaign in 1934. This forced the Communists to retreat further inland in what has become known as the Long March. During this retreat the Communist army was able reorganize under the leadership of Mao Zedong.
This historic march lasted for a full year from 1934-1935 and covered nearly 5600 miles. Under the leadership of Mao Zedong the CPC was eventually able to establish themselves in the central region of Shaanxi, however their numbers were greatly reduced during this march(from 90,000 down to 7,000). While things had begun to look quite dire for the Communist Party, the Japanese Empire had emerged as a major threat to the Republic of China. Their invasion of Manchuria in 1931, began a sudden shift of Chinese nationalism fervor, and ultimately took the attention away from the CPC.
During the Second-Sino Japanese War the KMT and CPC alliance was mostly for show, and hardly recognized by either side. Despite their efforts to work together and defend against the Japanese aggression, the tension and infighting still remained between the two parties. The CPC carried out guerrilla efforts against the Japanese forces and the KMT forces during this period. This eventually led to the New Fourth Army Incident of January 1941 by which General Chiang ambushed thousands of CPC soldiers in the central-eastern regions of China. The CPC responded by bringing an offical end to their military alliance with the KMT thus ending the Second United Front.
Despite the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the situation grew even worse for the nationalist Republic of China, when the Soviet Union invaded Manchuria. The Soviets were able to liberate the region from Japanese control and hand the territory over to Communist Party and not the national government. By June of 1946 the CPC and KMT had finally cut off any talks of compromise and returned to full scale civil war. By this point the CPC had amassed a grand army with better organization and funding from the Soviet Union. Thru greater communications and propaganda Zedong was able to enlist large numbers of peasants as well as KMT defectors. Also to their benefit was a stream of weaponry they had secured from the surrendered Japanese armies, yet also the Soviets.
By the autumn of 1949 the Communist Red Army had secured China from the nationalist army. Mao Zedong proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of China on October 1st, 1949 bringing an end to the Chinese Civil War. Despite various minor efforts, the nationalist government was forced to completely relocate it's operation to Taiwan, known as the Great Retreat. To this day Taiwan serves as the headquarters of the former nationalist Republic of China, however it is still not officially recognized internationally.
But now I'd like to lay out the historical timeline of events following the Xinhai Revolution. It's quite interesting that even after the abdication of the Qing Empire in 1912, the newly established Republic of China was still in disarray for some time. The death of general Yuan Shukai in 1916 brought about yet another Chinese age of Warlords and also gave way to the rise of communism. The Republic of China was not able to fully establish itself until 1928 under the leadership of General Chiang Kai-shek. Yet despite surviving the Warlord era, the Republic of China had an even greater threat with the insurgent Communist Party of China.
Yuan Shukai's Empire of China
During the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912, general Yuan Shukai of the Beiyang Army was able to swindle the position as prime minister from the key political leader Sun Yat-sen. Yun Shukai no doubt had better military and diplomatic leverage over Sun Yat-sen which allowed this transition of power. However it also quickly proved to be the downfall of the newly established Republic. From the onset of his leadership, Yuan Shukai governed as a dictator, and eliminated any who opposed him. At the 1913 democratic elections, his greatest challenger Song Jiaoren of the Kuomintang Nationalist Party was mysteriously assassinated.This led to a period of tension between Yuan Shukai and the KMT who was guided once again by the heroic father of China, Sun Yat-sen. In 1915 Yuan Shukai was able to consolidate his military power and establish the Empire of China declaring himself as emperor of China. However this brought about a 2nd revolution in China led by Sun Yat-sen, known as the National-Protection War (anti-Monarchy war). This war only lasted several months due to the emperor's declining health and his defecting army. In June of 1916 Yuan Shukai died and his Empire was brought to an abrupt end restoring the Republic of China.
Warlord Era
However despite the death of Yuan Shukai, the tension continued to burn, between the conservative Beiyang Government and Sun Yat-Sen's Kuomintang Nationalist government. This eventually gave way to a political division across mainland China often referred to as the Warlord Era. Regions throughout China became controlled by former imperial generals who established themselves as warlords in the likes of ancient Chinese history. Many of these warlords instituted notorious policy, dominated the railways, and would often enlist bandits to join their cause.The warlords often fought against one another yet more so against the nationalist Republic of China. The culmination of these civil disputes was fought in the Central Plains War of 1929 which consisted of an alliance of warlords against the Nationalist Armies of Chiang Kai-Shek. This conflict brought an end to the warlord era and re-unified the Republic of China. This ultimately replaced the Beiyang government with the Nationalist Republic of China which included a symbolic change of the nation's flag. In 1928 the Republic of China also became recognized as a sovereign state. However despite bringing an end to their warlord problems, they now had a new problem with communist insurgency.
Rise of Communisty Party of China
Following the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, the ideals of Marxism and Communism quickly began to spread throughout the intellectual circles of China. The ideals became all the more apparent with the May Fourth Movement of 1919. This protest was organized by college students in response to China's weak standing after WWI and against Japanese aggression. The growing spirit of Chinese nationalism gave way to this New Culture Movement that became the cornerstone of the Communist Party of China. The party became officially established on July 23rd of 1921 with only 50 members.
The Communist Army played a significant role in supporting the Nationalist campaign against the Beiyang government during the Northern Expedition of 1926-1928. However in one of the most atrocious acts in Chinese history, General Chiang Kai-Shek turned on the Communists during the Shanghai Massacre of April 12, 1927. This political purging was an effort by the KMT conservative wing to eliminate the growing threat of Communism in China. General Chiang massacred 5000 CPC members in Shanghai, while other nationalist leaders waged similar massacres against communists throughout China. From April to May of 1927 nearly 25,000 Communist members in total had been massacred which quickly gave way to the Chinese Civil War.
Mao Zedong and the Communist Insurgency
In September 7th of 1927 one of the CPC's founding members, Mao Zedong led an insurrection in the southern rural provinces known as the Autumn Harvest Uprising. Although the insurrection was put down this event brought prominence to Mao Zedong, who sought to establish a peasant's army. This peasant's army later became a faction of the Red Army that was vital to the rural campaigns of the Chinese Civil War. By the end of 1927 the CPC had established a stronghold in the city of Wuhan, while the right-wing KMT faction operated out of Nanjing, and the nationalist government was centered in Beijing.
Xi'an Incident and the Second United Front
This historic march lasted for a full year from 1934-1935 and covered nearly 5600 miles. Under the leadership of Mao Zedong the CPC was eventually able to establish themselves in the central region of Shaanxi, however their numbers were greatly reduced during this march(from 90,000 down to 7,000). While things had begun to look quite dire for the Communist Party, the Japanese Empire had emerged as a major threat to the Republic of China. Their invasion of Manchuria in 1931, began a sudden shift of Chinese nationalism fervor, and ultimately took the attention away from the CPC.
During the early 1930s many KMT soldiers began to disapprove of their civil war against the Communists and felt they should be more concerned about Japan. This ultimately gave way to the Xi'an Incident of 1936 by which General Chiang was kidnapped by his own officers and forced to compromise with the CPC. After several weeks of negotiation Chiang agreed to halt the civil war and unite with the CPC to establish the Second United Front. A few months later in 1937 Japan had begun it's full scale invasion of China, thus beginning the Second Sino-Japanese War and WWII.
Post WWII phase
During the Second-Sino Japanese War the KMT and CPC alliance was mostly for show, and hardly recognized by either side. Despite their efforts to work together and defend against the Japanese aggression, the tension and infighting still remained between the two parties. The CPC carried out guerrilla efforts against the Japanese forces and the KMT forces during this period. This eventually led to the New Fourth Army Incident of January 1941 by which General Chiang ambushed thousands of CPC soldiers in the central-eastern regions of China. The CPC responded by bringing an offical end to their military alliance with the KMT thus ending the Second United Front.
General Chiang surely was within reason to fear the CPC during WWII, as it was his KMT army doing most of the fighting against the Japanese. During the final phase of the Second-Sino Japanese War in 1944, known as Operation Ichi-Go, the KMT army took on heavy losses. Meanwhile the CPC had withstood the Japanese campaigns thanks to their guerrilla tactics and their numbers continued to grow during the conflict. Thankfully for the KMT they had the United States on their side who saved them from the Japanese and continued to recognize their government after WWII. Mao Zedong and General Chiang attempted to come to agreement terms after WWII, however the civil war still continued to intensify.
Despite American aid the KMT began showing major signs of war fatigue during the second stage of the civil war, also known as the Chinese Communist Revolution. By November of 1948 the CPC launched a major offensive against the KMT headquarters in Xuzhou, known as the Huaihai campaign. This massive force of nearly 6.5 million Chinese Communist soldiers overwhelmed the KMT stronghold and secured it by January of 1949. This marked a decisive turning point for the civil war by which the Communist Red Army was now in the driver's seat.
Establishment of the People's Republic of China
Shortly after they had secured Xuzhou, the CPC army marched north on Beijing in their final offensive known as the Pingjin Campaign. This campaign brought the final blow upon the nationalist army and gave the CPC control of the capital city and the North China Plain. In the final stage of the war, against Stalin's persuasion, Mao Zedong waged the Yangtze River Crossing Campaign to capture the nationalist capital of Nanjing as well as the major city of Shanghai. By November of 1949 the remaining nationalist KMT members were forced to retreat to the island of Taiwan.
The tensions between the KMT nationalist Taiwan and the Communist controlled China, waged on for many more years and still continues to this day. The Americans eventually withdrew their military support of the KMT by 1950, however they later got involved in the Korean War supporting South Korea from a communist takeover. Meanwhile the People's Republic of China were able to return to their economic prosperity they last experienced in the 18th century. By the 1980s with the communist fallout of the Cold War, China transformed into more of a democratic state yet still a nation that favors it's people above everything else.
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