The Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a decades-long conflict between the Chinese Communist Party and the Nationalist Party, ultimately resulting in Communist victory and the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.
Interrupted by a shared fight against Japanese invasion but resuming with full ferocity once that threat passed, this decades-long struggle for China's future ultimately produced one of the most consequential political transformations of the 20th century.
A Fractured Revolutionary Alliance
The war emerged from a broken alliance between the Chinese Communist Party and the Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang, following the death of a unifying revolutionary leader in the 1920s.
An Interruption for War with Japan
The civil war was largely paused during the Second Sino-Japanese War, as both factions nominally cooperated against the shared threat of Japanese invasion during World War II.
Communist Victory
Fighting resumed after Japan's defeat, and the Communist Party under Mao Zedong ultimately triumphed in 1949, forcing Nationalist forces to retreat to the island of Taiwan.
A Divided China
The war's outcome established the People's Republic of China under communist rule on the mainland, while Nationalist forces established a separate government in Taiwan, a political division that persists to this day.
