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Chinese Civil War
Part of the Chinese Reformation and Japanese involvement in China
Sino Japanese war 1894
Chinese republicans engage KMT forces at Xinjiang
Date 12 August 1912 - 3 November 1921 (9 years, 2 months, 23 days)
Location China and the surrounding maritime region; spillover into British Burma
Result
Belligerents
Chinese Republicans
  • Flag of the Republic of China (1912-1928) Chinese Democratic Party (1912 - 1914)
  • Flag of the Republic of China (1912-1928) Federation of Chinese Republics (1914-1921)
  • (China) Flag of the Empire of China Republican Front of China
    • Flag of Mongolia (1911-1921) Mongolian Independence Front
    • Flag of the Philippines (navy blue) Filipino Independence Front
    • Flag of Chinese Rebels Burma Chinese Resistance Burma
  • Allied warlords

Allied Coalition

Other Combatants

  • Flag of Tuva Tannu Tuva
  • Flag of Tibet Tibet

Supported by

  • Kingdomofmexico-regnumbueno Mexico
  • Flag of Canada Canada
Chinese Nationalists
  • Flag of the Republic of China Republic of China
    • Mongolia 1991~ Mongolian loyalists
    • Flag of the Republic of China-Nanjing (Naval Jack) Filipino KMT
  • Flag of the Mongol Empire (World of the Rising Sun) Mongolian Chinese Association
  • Flag of the Empire of China (ICW) Chinese Revolutionary Party
  • Allied warlords

Supported by

  • Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom
  • Flag of France France
Chinese Soviet Movement
  • Fengtaicommunistflag Chinese Communist Party in-exile
  • Flag of Inner-Mongolian Autonomous Government Soviet League of Mongolia

Non-state Combatants

  • Naval Jack of the Republic of China White Sun Brigade
  • Flag of the Xinjiang Autonomous Republic (Eastern Manifest Destiny) Ilkhanate
Korean Intervention
  • Flag of Korea (1919–1925) (Myomi Republic) Korean Empire
Commanders and leaders
DPC
  • Sun Yat-sen
  • Deng Xiaoping
  • Sun Li-jien

RFC

  • Zhang Renjie†
  • Mao Zedong
  • Cao Kun (1914 - 1921)
  • Duan Qirui

Japan

  • Tōgō Heihachirō
  • Tamemoto Kuroki
  • Nakamura Satoru
  • Oku Yasukata
ROC
  • Chiang Kai-shek
  • Cao Kun (1912 - 1914)
  • Ma Fuxiang

RPC

  • Zhang Zuolin
  • Wu Peifu†
Strength
Chinese/Mongolian
  • DPC: 1.15 million
  • RFC: 2.45 million
  • MIF: 50,000

Japan

  • 320,000

Mexico

  • 1700

Russia

  • 120
Chinese
  • ROC: 3.5 million
  • RPC: 1.2 million

United Kingdom

  • UK: 1500
  • BI: 3000

France

  • 315

The Chinese Civil War was a civil war in China fought between forces loyal to the KMT (Kuomintang)-led Republic of China and forces loyal to the DPC (Chinese Democratic Party)-led Chinese republicans. The war started in August 1912 with Chinese warlord Cao Kun's attack on the Beiyang Government, and ended in the surrender of the KMT forces in Nanjing in 1921. Many Chinese nationalist leaders were either tried for war crimes, fled to British Malaya and French Indochina, or were sent to North America to be "reformed".

The war represented the Chinese people's want for a less oppressive government as well as the ideological split as to what a republic is. Many of the DPC officers were defected Nationalists who disagreed with Chiang Kai-shek's policies.

Despite a surrender treaty being signed in Nanjing in January 1922, many veteran KMT officers still believed that their government was rightfully in control of China and the DPC stole it from them. 

The late stages of the war were primarily between the KMT and Japanese forces, while the Republicans planned out their government once the war was to end. 

Prelude to War[]

Fall of the Qing Dynasty and the First Republic of China[]

Following the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in 1905, the KMT were quick to establish themselves in Beijing as the ruling power. They renamed the fallen dynasty into the Republic of China. Sun Yat-sen, a founding member of the KMT, was selected to be the provisional president of the Republic of China. Despite being president, much of the decisions on how to run the country fell to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and his personally selected cabinet. Chiang and his cabinet essentially ran the country like a military state, enforcing conscription and martial law indefinitely. Despite criticisms from many foreign powers, Chiang continued to enforce his laws. 

Sun-Chiang Split[]

As Chiang's rule continued, many civilians and opposition parties began being arrest by Chiang's secret police, know as the "Bureau of National Safety". Many were tortured and even executed by the BNS because they refused to "reveal the whereabouts of suspected spies." Resentment grew amongst the civilian population as well as within the KMT itself, most notably from the provisional president, Sun Yat-sen. Sun criticized and condemned Chiang's actions as "undemocratic and inhumane". Chiang ignored Sun's criticisms and continued with his policies. When riots broke out at the KMT headquarters in Nanjing in 1911, Sun was arrested and exiled by Chiang and the BNS on the grounds of "high treason against the government of the Republic of China and a threat to national security." Sun escaped to Japan, where he would gain the support of many in the Imperial Japanese Army and even from the Emperor himself. 

Reasons for War[]

Republic of China[]

The Chinese Republic was largely unstable and under the influence of numerous warlords all vying for power of the central government. Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang (KMT) had large control over much of the central government and was essentially the Republic of China. The KMT's conflict with other warlords as well as the Chinese republicans, and Chiang's desires and hunger for power would ultimately be used to justify the RoC's position in the Chinese Civil War.

National Revolutionary Party[]

The NPR was allied with the KMT and therefore willing to engage in a war to help the KMT. Many of the soldiers that were fighting for the NPR were also KMT members, so their influence was strong. The NPR believed in the KMT cause and hoped that by helping the KMT become victorious, they would eventually be absorbed into the KMT as their dominant military wing. 

Chinese Democratic Party[]

Many of the CDPs members were actually against a war against the KMT. Many board members were much more willing to put up with Chiang's shenanigans and eventually gain support from disgruntled civilians to be elected and change laws. The military wing of the CDP, the Defenders of Progress (DoP), were itching for a fight with Chiang. Many members of the DoP had friends and family who were tortured and even killed by Chiang's BNS for openly expressing more democratic ideals, which were labeled as "socialist" by Chiang, and therefore illegal. It was the DoP that took the CDP to war with the KMT, as Cao Kun's invasion of Beijing would prove to be the last straw. 

Chinese Republican Front[]

The Chinese Republic Front was nonexistent until the start of major hostilities in late 1913. The RFC was a group of disgruntled KMT officers, soldiers, and civilians. They trained and armed specifically to harass the KMT into submission. As the war progressed, many more civilians, CDP members, and even some DoP members began to join together and fight as the United RFC against the Nationalist Chinese forces. 

Cao Kun's Invasion of Peking (Beijing)[]

Full article: First Battle of Beijing (Eastern Manifest Destiny) Hostilities between the Chinese republicans and the Chinese nationalists have been considered to begin when Zhili warlord Cao Kun led an expedition force of 30 men from the Zhili Clique, Ma Clique and KMT-associated Guominjun to kill Yuan Shikai and seize control of the Beiyang Government on 12 August 1912. Although Chiang Kai-shek was neither involved nor sponsored the attacks, many of the Chinese Democratic Party members believed that Chiang had planned this attack out completely seize control of China due to the Guominjun involvement. The attack was a success and Yuan was killed by Cao Kun and the Zhili Clique seized the capital and stated that China was under the Zhili Clique's control.

However, Chiang, and many Guominjun members disagreed with Cao Kun and argued that China rightfully belonged to the KMT. This dispute led to a coup organized by Chiang himself that overthrew Cao Kun just two years later in 1914. This forced Cao Kun and the Zhili Clique to retreat and reorganize in Mukden, where they would reach out the Sun Yat-sen and eventually ally themselves with the Chinese republicans. 

Early Years (1912-1914)[]

Small scale attacks on KMT outposts and installations were common from 1912 to 1914 due to the fact that the world, including China, were engaged in the First World War. Several small victories by RFC forces were won against the KMT in Mukden, Hunan and Hubei in March 1913, August 1914, and December 1914, respectively.

Start of Major Conflicts (1913-1915)[]

Despite this, full hostilities between the both parties did not fully come to head until after the Wuhan Rebellion in late March 1913. Subsequently, after the Wuhan Rebellion, Lt. Commander Deng Xiaoping led a series of KMT counterattacks on Chinese republican forces with high success, only failing to retake Hebei. 

Early Nationalist Victories []

For much of 1913 and early 1914, KMT forces were able to keep the Chinese republicans at bay. This allowed the NRA to reorganize and consolidate their forces in major cities. The NRA was able to continue making major gains in western China, invading and taking over Tibet within a week. They also gained massive victories in Mukden, Jilin, and Qiqihar. The CDP was falling pretty quickly and many began to lose hope for democracy. 

Republican Comebacks []

After a devastating loss in Shanghai in March 1914, the Republicans were harassed back to Hebei. Just as the KMT was about to enter Hebei, the Chinese Republican Front launched a guerrilla assault on the KMT forces, pushing them back nearly 50 miles in a week. With fresh new troops, the Chinese Republicans began gaining ground against the KMT, having a series of victories until both sides were eventually stalemated in early 1915. By early June 1915, it was getting clear to both the Republicans and Nationalists that no neither side was going to win. 

Japanese Intervention and Mongolian War (1915 - 1917)[]

Japanese troops engaging Guominjun troops in Guisui (now Hohhot)

Because neither the Republicans or the Nationalists could gain ground on each other, both sides had to figure out a way to break the stalemate. The Nationalists appealed to the French and British for military support, but both refused, fearing that their intervention would result in other foreign intervention against them. 

Japanese landings in Shanghai[]

The Japanese, who saw the Nationalists as inferior to the Republicans, debated amongst themselves whether or not they should invade or not. Many Japanese politicians were worried about a Nationalist China so they voted to invade, while others were against it because they did not believe that Japan should interfere with foreign conflict. 

In the end, it was voted 56-23 that the Japanese would invade. On 6 August, 1915, the first Japanese troops landed in Nationalist-controlled Shanghai and pushed them out of the city by 9 August.  

Japanese operations in Manchuria []

After the victory at Shanghai, the Japanese 5th Army marched for Manchuria, pushing through with weak resistance by the Kuomingtang forces. On 7 December, 1915, Japanese forces captured Qiqihar from the Nationalists and formed the Manchukuo Central Command (満州国中央司令部). From there, Sgt. Hiroshi Yanagizawa led a small detachment of 500 troops from Qiqhar to attack Mukden. They were able to capture the city within two days and they became known as the Mukden Regiment. 

The following January, additional Japanese forces from Shanghai managed to route the Nationalists from lower Manchuria, effectively cutting off any supplies and aid for the Republic of China's 1st Manchurian Army, who were still entrenched at Jixi against a combined Chinese Republican and Manchurian rebel force. Despite these victories, the Japanese suffered defeats in southern China, specifically in an attempted push into Changsha, which ended with over 1000 Japanese casualties. 

Battle of Guisui[]

Main Article: Mongolia Campaign
Two days after the successful invasion of Shanghai by the Japanese, the Nationalist Army's 5th light infantry division decided to camp out in the city of Guisui (now Hohhot) in Inner Mongolia. The Japanese anticipated the move into Guisui but decided not to attack immediately. Instead the Japanese troops move into Zhangyuan in the nearby Chahar province.

Siege of Ulaanbaatar[]

Following the successful Japanese invasion Guisui, the Nationalist troops under the command of Deng Xiaoping were ordered to reinforce the city of Ulaanbaatar from the Japanese threat. When the Japanese Mukden Regiment reached the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar in the early morning hours of August 14, they were met with fierce resistance from the Republic of China Ulaanbaatar Garrison, suffering as many as 450 casualties within two hours. With casualties mounting, Sgt. Hiroshi Yanagizawa ordered the Mukden Regiment to retreat. However, the DPC's Phoenix Squadron was unwilling to give up. They continued to siege Ulaanbaatar while the Japanese Mukden Regiment retreated and  regrouped with the Manchukuo Central Command in Qiqihar on August 16. 

After two weeks of fighting, the Phoenix Squadron was forced to retreat to nearby Guisui to recover, allowing the Nationalists in Ulaanbaatar to recover. 

Invasion of Tannu Tuva and Russian Intervention[]

Alexander Kolchak

Alexander Kolchak, General of the United Front.

Two weeks after the unsuccessful siege at Ulaanbaatar, the Japanese Mukden Regiment, now reinforced with extra men from the Manchukuo Central Command began another march towards Ulaanbaatar from Qiqihar. At the same time, the Japanese Mongolia Expedition Force had won a decisive victory at Zhangyuan and were marching for Taolin to complete the occupation of Chahar. This forced the Nationalist troops to retreat further north into Outer Mongolia. Captain Nie Rongzhen, the only surviving officer of the Battle of Zhangyuan, led his battered unit into Outer Mongolia, where they were taken in by the Ulaanbaatar Garrison, commanded by General Yondonwangchug.

Although still in the midst of a civil war, Russia watched the Chinese Civil War cautiously, as none of the Russian belligerents wanted a sudden invasion of Russian lands. The Russian Greens already had clashes with Chinese Nationalist forces two years prior near the border with Korea. To prevent this, General Alexander Kolchak was put in charge of defending the Russian lands from any foreign invasions by the Green Movement. However, instead of defending, he had his eyes set on Tannu Tuva, on which he wished to annex into the Russian Republic. Eventually, he formed an alliance of Reds and Greens and decided to launch an invasion of Tannu Tuva, which happened to be at the same time General Yondonwangchug and the newly promoted Lt. Gen. Nie Rongzhen decided to push into Tannu Tuva as a safe zone from the Japanese. This upset led to clashes between Chinese Nationalist and Russian forces in the Tuvan capital, eventually leading to Russia's declaration of war against the Republic of China and entrance into the Chinese Civil War. 

The move by Kolchak was highly criticized by leading members of the Green Movement, who feared that the annexation of Tannu Tuva would only lead to further fighting in the Russian Far East, thereby allowing the Reds to build strengthen themselves against the Greens after defeating the Whites. 

Kolchak's Attack on Ulaanbaatar []

In response to the Nationalist advances on Tuva, Kolchak organized a United Front against the KMT and sought to take control of the Outer Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar. This was met with uncertainty by many of the Bolshevik delegates, who only considered Mongolia after the establishment of the Russian Republic. Kolchak responded to this by having the Bolsheviks purged, leading to greater tension in the United Front. Eventually Kolchak's Siberian Guards forced the Bolsheviks to retreat back into Tannu Tuva and the former's significantly weaker force marched towards Ulaanbaatar.  Upon the United Front's arrival on Ulaanbaatar, Kolchak's troops were harassed for 3 days by KMT troops under Nie Rongzhen. This forced Kolchak to retreat and reorganize back to Tannu Tuva. This allowed the battered Ulaanbaatar Banner to recover, but they weren't able to receive supplies and fresh troops due to Japanese troops occupying much of southern Mongolia. Kolchak would later lead another unsuccessful attack into Mongolia from the Russian-held areas of Tannu Tuva. Defeated, Kolchak would be replaced by Field Marshal Sergey Kamenev. 

War in Northern China []

Kamenev's Campaign and the end of the Mongolian War[]

Following the departure of Alexander Kolchak, Sergey Kamenev took over and resupplied the existing troops and added around 300 more troops. He embarked on a campaign in Mongolia on 17 May 1916. Kamenev's tactic involved attack and retreat, which proved highly successful. Following his numerous successes in Northern Mongolia, Kamenev led his remaining troops on an attack on the significantly weakened Ulaanbaatar. This proved to be a smart move and Kamenev was able to seize Ulaanbaatar from KMT control and occupy the city, effectively dooming the rest of the KMT in Mongolia. 

With the loss of Ulaanbaatar, Lt. Gen. Nie Rongzhen lead a last ditch attempt to break through Japanese forces in Southern Mongolia at the Battle of Zamyn-Üüd, in which the Japanese forces decisively crushed Nie's forces and captured him. Kamenev, with his success, decided to push farther south into Mongolia. This, however, turned out to be a fatal mistake. Upon the arrival of his troops in China proper, his troops were forced back across the Mongolian border by KMT forces in Manchuria. 

Unable to push into Manchuria, Kamenev ordered his troops to secure the Mongolian border and moved back to Ulaanbaatar, where he was stationed for the rest of the war. By early October 1916, the KMT only had significant control in the southern regions of the Khovd, with the Japanese closing in from the east, Russian troops in the north, and Mongolian rebels all over the area, the remaining KMT troops under Khorloogiin Choibalsan attempted to cut a line into Russian troops blocking the border into China proper to allow reinforcements from Alxa to retake Mongolia. The attack failed and ended with the death of Choibalsan on 14 December. On 2 March 1917, KMT forces in Mongolia surrendered to the Japanese and Russian Armies. 

The Battle of Qiqihar and Xilinhot []

With the loss of Mongolia, the KMT decided to focus their efforts on Northern China, specifically the Japanese controlled regions, whom Chiang saw as more urgent than the Republicans. On 7 May, 1917, KMT troops under Yondonwangchug attacked Qiqihar, which was the headquarters of the Manchukuo Central Command. This attacked left the Nationalist-controlled city of Xilinhot exposed, with only about 1400 troops were left to defend the lifeline city into western China. Republicans in Chifeng exploited this weakness and marched 5000 troops into Xilinhot. Xilinhot was quickly brought under Republican control, cutting off the western KMT forces from any supplies or new troops from the east. 

Ilkhanate and Alxa Campaign[]

The sudden supply cut worried the western KMT, who were already running low on supplies from numerous raids by local resistance groups. At the same time the Ilkhanate, an unrecognized Kyrgyz-Uyghur Khanate in what is now modern-day Xinjiang and eastern Kazahkstan, rose up against the KMT forces, with an intent to create a new Islamic Caliphate. The Persian Empire took interest in the Ilkhanate's ambitions and offered to send in officers to train the Ilkhanate's troops. This development and the involvement of the Persian Empire alarmed the Russians, who sent Alexander Kolchak back in with a new force from Sochi. 

At the same time, KMT troops in the Alxa League, desperate for supplies, attacked a merchant caravan and took its supplies. Raids on merchant caravans and villages in western China by KMT troops became common due to the capture of Xilinhot by Russian troops. Civilians, already somewhat distrusting of the KMT soldiers only grew to despise them even more after these raids. It went to the point where certain villages rose up against the KMT troops, especially in the Alxa League, where the highest concentration of KMT troops were stationed. The insurrections were brutally put down by KMT forces. Eventually, it led to a mutiny where several dozen KMT troops burned down their own barracks and killed the rest of their garrison before escaping to the Japanese controlled regions of China. 

Back in the Ilkhanate, 4000 militants lead by General Hoja Niyaz Haji attacked and seized the KMT-held city of Kashgar. Numerous militants were inspired by Haji's victory and followed suit, attacking other KMT cities with mix results. Sabit Damulla Adbulbaki led a failed attack on Ürümqi two weeks after Haji's attack. On 5 December, 1917, Haji teamed up with Abdulbaki and started a Jihad on KMT control in Xinjiang. The KMT responded fiercely, pulling troops from Inner Mongolia and Tibet, as well Qinghai and Gansui, into Xinjiang to combat the Islamic militants. 

Commander Yang Hucheng was put in charge of the KMT forces in Xinjiang. His tactics proved superior to that of both Haji and Abdulbaki to the point where 80% of the Ilkhanate's gains where retaken by Yang's forces. Abdulbaki was killed during the Second Battle of Ürümqi by Yang himself. Haji managed to survive a subsequent battle 30 km north of Ürümqi by retreating before Yang arrived, leaving his troops behind. Haji and his remaining officers retreated to Ghulja and met with Elihan Tore, who was a prominent Kazakh independence leader. Haji convinced Tore to militarize and force the KMT out. 

While Haji and Tore were building up their army, the Japanese slowly began encroaching into the Alxa League. Japanese and Chinese Republican troops eventually swept over the Alxa League in less than a week due to the poor defense of the region by KMT troops. Despite this, the Western element of the KMT continued to fight until their decisive defeat by Chinese Republic forces in Dalainhob. 

Southern Chinese Insurgencies and Tibetan Campaign[]

The victories of the Japanese and Republicans in the north inspired anti-KMT rebels to attack KMT forces in Southern China. At this point, the southern portions of China were still largely under KMT control due to the failed attempts by Japan to break through at Changsha early in the war. This large area in southern China allowed the KMT to continue fighting as they relocated most of their equipment there and also it had a direct path to Nanjing, which was still under KMT rule. Ma Fuxiang, returning from a decisive victory over Japanese troops 3 km outside Nanjing, sought to make it harder for both the Japanese and the Chinese Republicans to seize supplies from the KMT. After three days of deliberation, the military council unanimously voted on an invasion of the previously independent Tibet. 

Nationalist Invasion of Tibet []

Main Article: First Battle of Tibet (Eastern Manifest Destiny) Ma Fuxiang ordered three regiments, composed of Ma Clique, Tibetan 17th Banner, and White Sun Brigade forces, to march for Tibet and issue an ultimatum for the Dalai Lama to abdicate and allow the KMT government to assume power of the new "Tibet Province". Upon the regiments' arrive into Lhasa, the troops were met with general uneasiness and distrust from the ethnic Tibetans that lived there. Ultimately, the request and ultimatum failed to have the Dalai Lama abdicate from his seat. This angered Ma Fuxiang, so he ordered the regiments to forcefully remove the Dalai Lama and his officials. This caused discourse amongst the troops and some believed that the Dalai Lama should be kept in power while others believed in his removal for the benefit of China. This discourse eventually amounted to a mutiny among the three regiments. However, Ma's loyalists crushed the 17th Banner and forced the White Sun Brigade on a retreat in the subsequent battle. Unable to defend themselves any further, the Tibetans surrendered to the Chinese Nationalists. 

Second Assault on Changsha[]

On June 12, Japanese troops under Lt. Nishio Toshizō assembled for a second attack on the heavily fortified city of Changsha. Toshizō himself had requested this attack force, despite being unsure. Despite, Nishio's forces marched for Changsha from Wuhan. Upon reaching the city, Nishio's troops fell under heavy machine gun fire from the Nationalists, stopping them short of the city entrance. Unable to pass through, Nishio ordered his forces to dig in while he requested reinforcements.  At the same time, Chinese Republican forces east of Changsha were pinned down by Nationalist 17th Infantry Battalion.


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