Communist Forces Capture Nanjing

Setting the scene

The Chinese Communist victory was proclaimed on October 1, 1949, when Mao Zedong declared the founding of the People's Republic of China in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, ending the Chinese Civil War. The Communists, led by Mao, had defeated the Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek after a four-year civil war (1945-1949) that followed the war against Japan. The Nationalists, corrupt and demoralized, lost despite U.S. aid of $2 billion, while the Communists gained peasant support through land reform.

What happened

The final campaign began in 1948 with Communist victories at Liaoshen, Huaihai, and Pingjin, destroying Nationalist armies. In April 1949, Communists crossed the Yangtze and captured Nanjing, then Shanghai. Chiang fled to Taiwan in December 1949 with 2 million followers and China's gold reserves. Mao's victory brought 550 million people under communist rule, the largest expansion of communism in history, shifting the Cold War balance of power.

Why it still matters

The Communist victory transformed China and the world. It ended a century of foreign domination and civil war, but began decades of Maoist rule that would kill 30-50 million people through the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution. The victory led to U.S. non-recognition of China until 1979, the Korean War, and Vietnam War, as America sought to contain communism in Asia. Taiwan remained a separate entity, creating the ongoing Taiwan Strait crisis. October 1 is celebrated as National Day in China. The 1949 victory created the geopolitical framework for East Asia that persists today.

Background

Chiangs nationalists fled to Taiwan.