The Chinese Civil War began in April of 1927, when the Kuomintang (KMT), led by Chiang Kai-shek, launched a military campaign against Communist-controlled areas throughout China. The KMT had been ruling China since 1911, but its power was challenged by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), led by Mao Zedong, who began calling for an overthrow of the ruling KMT government. The rise of the CCP, and the communist ideals it represented, posed a serious threat to the KMT government’s control over China, and in 1927 the KMT initiated a military campaign to suppress the spread of communism and re-establish control over the country. The conflict between the two sides — the KMT and CCP — soon escalated into full-blown civil war.
The early years of the Chinese Civil War were marked by continual clashes between the two sides and significant territorial gains by the KMT. However, the KMT was plagued with internal divisions and was not able to effectively organize its forces to suppress the CCP. In 1934, Chiang Kai-shek split the KMT in two, leading to a further weakening of his government’s position. Following the split, the CCP made huge advances, culminating in the famous Long March of 1934-35, where Mao Zedong and 80,000 CCP soldiers traveled 8,000 miles away from the KMT and reestablished their stronghold in the north-western province of Shaanxi.
The CCP and KMT spent the next several years focusing on consolidating their respective positions, but this period of relative peace was broken in 1937 when the KMT launched an all-out assault on the communists in what became known as the Second Sino-Japanese War. This war lasted for eight long years and saw millions of people killed or displaced, both Chinese and foreign. By 1945, the Communists had won a great victory over the imperial Japanese forces, and in 1949, the CCP emerged victorious over the KMT, firmly establishing CCP rule over the whole of mainland China.
In the decades that followed, there were still occasional skirmishes between the Communists and Nationalists, but the civil war officially ended in 1950. Since then, the CCP has been the sole ruling force in China. Despite being more than 70 years since the end of the conflict, many battle lines drawn during the civil war remain intact today and are seen as a reminder of the sacrifices made during this tumultuous period in Chinese history.