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Second United Front


The Second United Front was the brief alliance between the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang, or KMT) and Communist Party of China (CPC) to resist the Japanese invasion during the Second Sino-Japanese War, which suspended the Chinese Civil War from 1937 to 1941.

In 1927 the Chinese Communists revolted against Kuomintang following a purge of its members in Shanghai by National Revolutionary Army commander Chiang Kai-shek, which marked the end of the KMT's four-year alliance with Soviet Union and its cooperation with the CPC during the Northern Expedition to defeat warlords and unify China.

In 1931 the Japanese launched its invasion and subsequent occupation of Manchuria. Chiang Kai-shek, who led the central government of China, decided that China must avoid all-out war with Japan due to domestic turmoil and inadequate preparation. Therefore, he "pursued a strategy of appeasing Japan while struggling for real national unity and over time sufficient strength to confront the Imperial army. This appeasement policy lasted for another six years". Even though his campaigns against the Communists resulted in their retreat and a 90% reduction in their fighting strength, he was unable to eliminate their forces entirely, and his policy of “internal pacification before external resistance" ((Chinese): 攘外必先安内) was very unpopular with the Chinese populace, which caused widespread resentment against the ruling KMT leadership and its regional warlord allies. ref

In 1936 Chiang Kai-shek assigned the "young marshal" Zhang Xueliang the duty of suppressing the Red Army of the CCP. Battles with the Red Army resulted in great casualties for Zhang’s forces, but Chiang Kai-shek did not provide any support to his troops.


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