Retreat of the government of Republic of China to Taiwan

Retreat of the government of Republic of China to Taiwan

Five retreats of the ROC Government in 1949
Native name	中華民國政府遷臺
English name	Republic of China Government's retreat to Taiwan
Date	December 7, 1949; 74 years ago (1949-12-07)
Location	Taipei, Taiwan Province, Republic of China

History of the Republic of China
Culture Economy Education Geography Politics
1912–1949 Mainland rule 1911 Revolution Provisional Gov't Beiyang Government Warlord Era Northern Expedition Shanghai massacre Chinese Civil War Nationalist Government Second Sino-Japanese War (Nanjing Massacre) Second Kuomintang-Communist Civil War Constitutional government
1945–present Taiwan Retrocession of Taiwan February 28 Incident White Terror Exodus to Taiwan Korean War First Taiwan Strait Crisis Vietnam War Second Taiwan Strait Crisis Project National Glory Three Noes Lieyu massacre Wild Lily student movement Third Taiwan Strait Crisis Anti-Secession Law 100th anniversary Sunflower Student Movement 2015 Ma–Xi meeting 2017 Summer Universiade
History of China the PRC (1949–present) Taiwan (geographical) Taipei Kaohsiung Beijing the Kuomintang the Taiwan issue
Taiwan portal
v t e

Part of a series on the
History of China
Timeline Dynasties Historiography
Prehistoric Paleolithic Neolithic (c. 8500 – c. 2000 BCE) Yellow, Yangtze, and Liao civilization
Ancient Xia (c. 2070 – c. 1600 BCE) Shang (c. 1600 – c. 1046 BCE) Zhou (c. 1046 – c. 256 BCE) Western Zhou (1046–771 BCE) Eastern Zhou (771–256 BCE) Spring and Autumn (c. 770 – c. 476 BCE) Warring States (475–221 BCE)
Imperial
Modern Republic of China (mainland, 1912–1949)
Related articles Art history Economic history Education history Legal history Jewish history LGBT history Media history Music history Timeline Military history Naval history Science and technology history Archaeology Cartography Discoveries Inventions Transport history Women's history
v t e

The retreat of the government of Republic of China to Taiwan (Chinese: 中華民國政府遷臺), also known as the Kuomintang's retreat to Taiwan or the Great Retreat (Chinese: 大撤退) in Taiwan, refers to the exodus of the remnants of the then-internationally-recognized Kuomintang-ruled government of the Republic of China (ROC) to the island of Taiwan (Formosa) on December 7, 1949, after losing the Chinese Civil War in the Chinese mainland. The Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party), its officers, and approximately 2 million ROC troops took part in the retreat, in addition to many civilians and refugees, fleeing the advance of the People's Liberation Army of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The CCP, who now effectively controlled most of Mainland China, spent the subsequent years purging any remnant Nationalist agents and bandits in western and southern China, solidifying the rule of the newly established People's Republic of China.

ROC troops mostly fled to Taiwan from provinces in southern China, in particular Sichuan Province, where the last stand of the ROC's main army took place. The flight to Taiwan took place over four months after Mao Zedong had proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Beijing on October 1, 1949.^[1] The island of Taiwan remained part of Japan during the occupation until Japan severed its territorial claims in the Treaty of San Francisco, which came into effect in 1952.

After the retreat, the leadership of the ROC, particularly Generalissimo and President Chiang Kai-shek, planned to make the retreat only temporary, hoping to regroup, fortify, and reconquer the mainland.^[1] This plan, which never came into fruition, was known as "Project National Glory", and made the national priority of the ROC on Taiwan. Once it became apparent that such a plan could not be realized, the ROC's national focus shifted to the modernization and economic development of Taiwan. The ROC, however, continues to officially claim exclusive sovereignty over the now-CCP-governed mainland China. As the ROC does not recognize any border agreements made by the PRC, it also technically claims Mongolia as well as parts of Russia, India, Myanmar, Pakistan, Bhutan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. (Both the ROC and PRC also claim the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands administered by Japan.)^[2][3][4]