Chinese Civil War

Chinese Civil War
Chinese Civil War
Traditional Chinese	國共內戰
Simplified Chinese	国共内战
Literal meaning	Kuomintang–Communist civil war
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Guó-Gòng Nèizhàn
Bopomofo	ㄍㄨㄛˊ ㄍㄨㄥˋ ㄋㄟˋ ㄓㄢˋ
Wade–Giles	Kuo2-Kung4 Nei4-chan4
Tongyong Pinyin	Guó-Gòng Nèi-jhàn
IPA	[kwǒ.kʊ̂ŋ nêɪ.ʈʂân]
Wu
Romanization	Koh-gon-ne-tsoe
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping	Gwok3 gung6 noi6 zin3
IPA	[kʷɔːk̚˧ koŋ˨ nɔːi˨ tsiːn˧]
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ	Kok-kiōng lāi-chiàn

Chinese Civil War
	Part of the interwar period, the Chinese Communist Revolution and the Cold War (from 1947)
	Clockwise from top left: Communist troops at the Battle of Siping; National Revolutionary Army troops during the Shangdang Campaign; Chiang Kai-shek inspecting soldiers; ROCA members boarding a ship during the retreat to Taiwan in 1949; Mao Zedong in the 1930s; CCP general Su Yu inspecting troops shortly before the Menglianggu campaign;
Date	1 August 1927 – 26 December 1936 (first phase); 10 August 1945 – 7 December 1949 (second phase);
Location	Mainland China
Result	Communist victory
Territorial; changes	Communist control of mainland China; People's Republic of China established; Nationalist government retreat to Taiwan;
Belligerents
1927–1936: Republic of China Kuomintang; National Revolutionary Army; ;	1927–1936: Chinese Communist Party Chinese Red Army; Chinese Soviet Republic (from 1931); Jiangxi Soviet (1931–1934); ;
1945–1949: Republic of China Kuomintang; Republic of China Armed Forces; ;	1945–1949: Chinese Communist Party People's Liberation Army; ; Supported by: Soviet Union; Mongolia;
Commanders and leaders
Chiang Kai-shek; Bai Chongxi; Li Zongren; Yan Xishan; Zhang Xueliang; Feng Yuxiang (until 1930);	Mao Zedong; Zhou Enlai; Deng Xiaoping; Su Yu; Zhang Guotao (until 1936);
Strength
2 million regular troops; 2.3 million militia (August 1948);	1.2 million regular troops; 2.6 million militia (July 1945);
Casualties and losses
370,000 killed; 1.5–1.7 million total (second phase);	263,800 killed; 190,000 missing; over 2.8 million total (second phase); 850,000 wounded (second phase);
	est. 7 million (first phase); est. 2.5 million (second phase) ; up to 6 million total (second phase);

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.

The war is generally divided into two phases with an interlude: from August 1927 to 1937, the First United Front alliance of the KMT and CCP collapsed during the Northern Expedition, and the Nationalists controlled most of China. From 1937 to 1945, hostilities were mostly put on hold as the Second United Front fought the Japanese invasion of China with eventual help from the Allies of World War II, although armed clashes between the groups remained common. Exacerbating the divisions within China further was the formation of a Wang Jingwei regime puppet government, sponsored by Japan and ostensibly led by Wang Jingwei, which was established to nominally govern the regions of China that came under Japanese occupation.

The civil war resumed as soon as it became apparent that Japanese defeat was imminent, with the communists gaining the upper hand in the second phase of the war from 1945 to 1949, generally referred to as the Chinese Communist Revolution.

The Communists gained control of mainland China and proclaimed the People's Republic of China in 1949, forcing the leadership of the Republic of China to retreat to the island of Taiwan.^[13] Starting in the 1950s, a lasting political and military stand-off between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait has ensued, with the ROC in Taiwan and the PRC on the mainland both claiming to be the legitimate government of all China. After the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis, both tacitly ceased to engage in open conflict in 1979; however, no armistice or peace treaty has ever been signed.^[14]

^ Li, Xiaobing (2012). China at War: An Encyclopedia. Bloomsbury. p. 295. ISBN 978-1-598-84415-3 – via Google Books.
^ Li, Xiaobing (2007). A History of the Modern Chinese Army. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-813-17224-8.
^ ^a ^b Hsiung, James C. (1992). China's Bitter Victory: The War With Japan, 1937–1945. M. E. Sharpe. ISBN 1-563-24246-X.
^ ^a ^b Sarker, Sunil Kumar (1994). The Rise and Fall of Communism. Atlantic. ISBN 978-8-171-56515-3.
^ Cao Qianfa (曹前发). 毛泽东的独创："兵民是胜利之本". People's Daily (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
^ Ho. Studies in the Population of China. p. 253.
^ White, Matthew (2011). Atrocities. W. W. Norton. p. 381. ISBN 978-0-393-08192-3.
^ ^a ^b ^c Lynch, Michael (2010). The Chinese Civil War 1945–49. Osprey. p. 91. ISBN 978-1-841-76671-3.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ Ho. Studies in the Population of China. p. 253.
^ The History of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Beijing: People's Liberation Army Press. 1983.
^ "Twentieth Century Atlas – Death Tolls". Archived from the original on 5 March 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
^ "Twentieth Century Atlas – Death Tolls". Archived from the original on 5 March 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
^ Lew, Christopher R.; Leung, Pak-Wah, eds. (2013). Historical Dictionary of the Chinese Civil War. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-810-87873-0. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
^ Lynch, Michael (9 October 2022). "The Chinese Civil War: 1945–49". Osprey Publishing. Retrieved 4 April 2024. There is also a sense in which the Chinese Civil War has not ended; no formal peace treaty or agreement has ever been made.

[Nanchang-1] Li, Xiaobing (2012). China at War: An Encyclopedia. Bloomsbury. p. 295. ISBN 978-1-598-84415-3 – via Google Books.

[2] Li, Xiaobing (2007). A History of the Modern Chinese Army. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-813-17224-8.

[Hsiung-3] Hsiung, James C. (1992). China's Bitter Victory: The War With Japan, 1937–1945. M. E. Sharpe. ISBN 1-563-24246-X.

[Sarker-4] Sarker, Sunil Kumar (1994). The Rise and Fall of Communism. Atlantic. ISBN 978-8-171-56515-3.

[5] Cao Qianfa (曹前发). 毛泽东的独创："兵民是胜利之本". People's Daily (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.

[6] Ho. Studies in the Population of China. p. 253.

[7] White, Matthew (2011). Atrocities. W. W. Norton. p. 381. ISBN 978-0-393-08192-3.

[Lynch-8] Lynch, Michael (2010). The Chinese Civil War 1945–49. Osprey. p. 91. ISBN 978-1-841-76671-3.^{[permanent dead link]}

[9] Ho. Studies in the Population of China. p. 253.

[Chinese_People's_Liberation_Army_1983-10] The History of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Beijing: People's Liberation Army Press. 1983.

[11] "Twentieth Century Atlas – Death Tolls". Archived from the original on 5 March 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2017.

[12] "Twentieth Century Atlas – Death Tolls". Archived from the original on 5 March 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2017.

[13] Lew, Christopher R.; Leung, Pak-Wah, eds. (2013). Historical Dictionary of the Chinese Civil War. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-810-87873-0. Retrieved 26 June 2017.

[14] Lynch, Michael (9 October 2022). "The Chinese Civil War: 1945–49". Osprey Publishing. Retrieved 4 April 2024. There is also a sense in which the Chinese Civil War has not ended; no formal peace treaty or agreement has ever been made.

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