Key Battles & Events
What event in 1927 marked the violent split between the KMT and the CCP?
Shanghai Massacre
Who was the leader of the Chinese Communist Party during the civil war?
Mao Zedong
What type of warfare did Mao Zedong use to fight against the stronger KMT forces?
Guerrilla warfare
Which country gave major military and financial aid to the KMT?
The United States
What was the CCP’s most successful reform policy to win peasant support?
Land Reform – Redistributing land to peasants.
What was the name of the CCP’s year-long retreat from KMT attacks, covering thousands of kilometers?
The Long March
Which Nationalist leader fled to Taiwan after losing the civil war?
Chiang Kai-shek
What KMT military campaign tried to encircle and destroy CCP forces in the 1930s?
Encirclement Campaign
Which country secretly supplied weapons and training to the CCP?
The Soviet Union
What economic crisis weakened the KMT’s support during the war?
Hyperinflation & economic mismanagement.
This flood was deliberately caused by the KMT in 1938 to slow the Japanese invasion.
Yellow River Flood
Who was the last emperor of China, later used as a puppet ruler by the Japanese?
Puyi
What was the name of the temporary alliance between the CCP and KMT to fight Japan?
Second United Front
What U.S. initiative attempted to broker peace between the CCP and KMT but failed?
The Marshall Mission
What was the name of the student-led protest in 1919 that helped inspire Communist ideas?
May Fourth Movement
What was the final event that led to the CCP declaring victory in 1949?
Fall of Nanjing & Chiang Kai-shek fleeing to Taiwan.
Which KMT leader first tried to modernize China and created the "Three Principles of the People"?
Sun Yat-sen
What was Chiang Kai-shek’s key military weakness in the civil war?
Corruption, weak morale, and poor strategy
Why did many Chinese peasants see the KMT as weak despite U.S. support?
They failed to fix the economy and stop corruption.
How did foot binding represent old social traditions that the CCP wanted to eliminate?
It symbolized oppression and inequality for women.
The battle where Communist forces decisively defeated the KMT in 1948-49, shifting the war’s momentum.
Huaihai Campaign
Which Communist leader was known for diplomacy and played a key role in CCP negotiations?
Zhou Enlai
What secret Soviet-backed strategy helped the CCP gain control of Manchuria after WWII?
Using Japanese weapons left behind to strengthen the PLA
How did the CCP use Japanese-occupied areas to their advantage after WWII?
They seized weapons and territory left behind.
Why did many urban business elites support the KMT while rural peasants supported the CCP?
The KMT protected business interests, while the CCP focused on land reforms.