Chinese Revolution (1949)

Chinese Communist Revolution
Part of the Chinese Civil War
People's Liberation Army occupies the Presidential Palace in Nanjing. April, 1949
Date 1946–1950 Location China Result Communist victory and takeover of mainland China People's Republic of China established in mainland China Government of the Republic of China relocated to Taiwan
Belligerents
Communist Party Communist Militia People's Liberation Army (since 1947)  People's Republic of China (since Oct.1, 1949)	Republic of China Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) National Revolutionary Army (until 1947) Republic of China Armed Forces (since 1947 Constitution)  Republic of China on Taiwan (after 1949 retreat)
Commanders and leaders
Chairman Mao Zedong Commander-in-Chief Zhu De	President and Director-General Chiang Kai-shek
Strength
1,270,000 regulars (1945-09) 2,800,000 regulars (1948-06) 4,000,000 regulars(1949-06)	4,300,000 (1946-07) 3,650,000 (1948-06) 1,490,000 (1949-06)
Casualties and losses
250,000 in three campaigns	1.5 million in three campaigns

The Chinese Communist Revolution or The Second Chinese Civil War started from 1945, after the end of Second Sino-Japanese War, and it is the second part of the Chinese Civil War. It was the culmination of the Chinese Communist Party's drive to power since its founding in 1921. In the official media, this period is known as the War of Liberation (simplified Chinese: 解放战争; traditional Chinese: 解放戰爭; pinyin: Jiěfàng Zhànzhēng).

On the eve of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, the Kuomintang or Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), and the Communist Party of China (CPC) joined in a United Front against Japan. After the entrance of the United States into the war after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the two sides maintained the formal alliance, but fought each other on several occasions. In 1945, Stalin's troops invaded from Soviet Outer Manchuria as part of its declaration of war against Japan. After the Japanese surrender in August, the Americans attempted to broker a coalition government in China, but an all-out war between these two forces soon resumed.

The Nationalists had an advantage in both troops and weapons, controlled a much larger territory and population, and enjoyed world support. The communists were well established in the north and northwest. During the war they had built up networks of local governments and village party leaders who appealed to patriotism rather than class struggle. The best trained Nationalist troops had been lost in early battles against the better equipped Japanese army and in Burma, while the communists had suffered less severe losses. The Soviet Union, though distrustful, provided aid to the communists, and the United States assisted the Nationalists with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of military supplies, as well as airlifting Nationalist troops from central China to Manchuria, an area Chiang Kai-shek saw as strategically vital to retake. Chiang determined to confront the PLA in Manchuria and committed his troops in one decisive battle in the autumn of 1948. The strength of the communist side was 1.27 million regulars and 2.68 million militias in Sept. 1945. The strength of Nationalist troops in July 1946 was 4.3 million, of which 2.2 million were well-trained and ready for country-wide mobile combat(Some of nationalist troops are poorly trained and equipped). The loss of the battle and of important troops was the military turning point. Mao then called for a return to radical land policies which built support among activists. Under generals such as General Lin Biao the PLA had grown beyond the strategy of people's war outlined by Mao and engaged in full-scale conventional war. The Huaihai Campaign of late 1948 and early 1949 in which roughly a million soldiers fought on either side and the decisive battles on the plains gave the PLA complete control over North China.

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