Chinese Civil War (1945-1947)

The Chinese Civil War in 1945-1947 was the final stage in a civil war between forces loyal to the Kuomintang (KMT) led "Nationalist" Republic of China and those loyal to the Communist Party of China (CPC). The Civil War had initially raged from 1927 until 1937 when both sides declared a United Front to resistance Japanese invasion. It began again roughly a year after the defeat of Japan as conferences and foreign backed negotiations failed to create an acceptable compromise and both sides returned to conflict.

Covertly backed by the Soviet Union, CPC troops began a full scale scale invasion of Nationalist territory from their strongholds in the north. Highly motivated and armed with Soviet and Japanese equipment, Communist offensives were widely successful for most of 1945. By early 1946, with CPC forces approaching Nanjing, European powers decided to intervene on behalf of the Nationalists and helped decisively defeat Communist troops. Western backed reforms gradually helped root out corruption in the KMT government and establish a stable economy, giving them support among the populace. Several renewed offensives were turned back by Nationalist and Western forces along the Yangtze although they lacked the strength to launch major attacks of their own. After close to a year of stalemate, both sides agreed to Armistice talks in Switzerland which resulted in a ceasefire as the current front-lines stood.

Several postwar conferences failed to reach an agreement and China was divided into the nationalist Republic of China in the south and the communist People's Republic of China in the north. The Civil War was in many ways the catalyst for the present Cold War as it led to confrontation between Monarchist forces from Europe and Communist forces from Asia and the Soviet Union. The Chinese border line is a continuous source of tension as numerous border clashes have erupted after the war and into the present day.