Editing Kuomintang (section)

=== Anti-communism ===
{{See also|Anti-communism in China#Republic of China (1912–1949)}}
Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Kuomintang, also known as the Chinese Nationalist Party, led by Chiang Kai-shek, was ruling China and strongly opposed the Chinese Communist Party as it was funded and militarily backed by the [[COMINTERN]] ([[Soviet Union]]) and pursuing a [[communist revolution]] to overthrow the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] . On 12 April 1927, Chiang Kai-shek purged the communists in what was known as the [[Shanghai massacre]] which led to the [[Chinese Civil War]].<ref>Wilbur, Nationalist Revolution 114</ref> The Chinese Nationalist government then led 5 military campaigns in order to wipe out [[Chinese Soviet Republic]], a Soviet-puppet state established by the Chinese Communist Party. Initially, the Kuomintang was successful, eventually forcing the Chinese Communist Party to escape on a [[long march]] until a [[Second Sino-Japanese War|full-scale invasion of China by Japan]] forced both the Nationalists and the Communists into an [[Second United Front|alliance]]. After the war, the two parties were thrown back into a civil war. The Kuomintang were defeated in the mainland and escaped in exile to Taiwan while the rest of mainland China became Communist in 1949.