Editing Chinese Communist Party (section)

===Chinese Civil War and Second Sino-Japanese War===
{{Further|Chinese Civil War|Outline of the Chinese Civil War|Chinese Soviet Republic|Long March|Second Sino-Japanese War|Chinese Communist Revolution}}
[[File:中國工農紅軍軍旗.svg|thumb|upright=0.8|Flag of the [[Chinese Red Army|Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army]]]]

The CCP continued supporting the Wuhan KMT government,{{sfn|Carter|1976|p=62}} but on 15 July 1927 the Wuhan government expelled all communists from the KMT.{{sfn|Carter|1976|p=63}} The CCP reacted by founding the [[Chinese Red Army|Workers' and Peasants' Red Army of China]], better known as the "Red Army", to battle the KMT. A battalion led by General [[Zhu De]] was ordered to take the city of [[Nanchang]] on 1 August 1927 in what became known as the [[Nanchang uprising]].

Initially successful, Zhu and his troops were forced to retreat after five days, marching south to [[Shantou]], and from there being driven into the wilderness of [[Fujian]].{{sfn|Carter|1976|p=63}} [[Mao Zedong]] was appointed commander-in-chief of the Red Army, and led four regiments against Changsha in the [[Autumn Harvest Uprising]], hoping to spark peasant uprisings across Hunan.{{sfn|Carter|1976|p=64}} His plan was to attack the KMT-held city from three directions on 9 September, but the Fourth Regiment deserted to the KMT cause, attacking the Third Regiment. Mao's army made it to Changsha but could not take it; by 15 September, he accepted defeat, with 1,000 survivors marching east to the [[Jinggang Mountains]] of [[Jiangxi]].{{sfn|Carter|1976|p=64}}{{sfn|Schram|1966|pp=122–125}}{{sfn|Feigon|2002|pp=46–47}}

The near destruction of the CCP's urban organizational apparatus led to institutional changes within the party.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=72}} The party adopted [[democratic centralism]], a way to organize revolutionary parties, and established a politburo to function as the standing committee of the central committee.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=72}} The result was increased centralization of power within the party.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=72}} At every level of the party this was duplicated, with standing committees now in effective control.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=72}} After being expelled from the party, Chen Duxiu went on to lead China's [[Trotskyism|Trotskyist]] movement. [[Li Lisan]] was able to assume ''de facto'' control of the party organization by 1929–1930.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=72}}

The 1929 [[Gutian Congress]] was important in establishing the principle of party control over the military, which continues to be a core principle of the party's ideology.<ref name=":Duan">{{Cite book |last=Duan |first=Lei |title=China under Xi Jinping: A New Assessment |publisher=[[Leiden University Press]] |year=2024 |isbn=978-90-8728-441-1 |editor-last=Fang |editor-first=Qiang |pages= |chapter=Towards a More Joint Strategy: Assessing Chinese Military Reforms and Militia Reconstruction |editor-last2=Li |editor-first2=Xiaobing}}</ref>{{Rp|page=280}}

Li's leadership was a failure, leaving the CCP on the brink of destruction.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=72}} The Comintern became involved, and by late 1930, his powers had been taken away.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=72}} By 1935, Mao had become a member of [[Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party|Politburo Standing Committee of the CCP]] and the party's informal military leader, with [[Zhou Enlai]] and [[Zhang Wentian]], the formal head of the party, serving as his informal deputies.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=72}} The conflict with the KMT led to the reorganization of the Red Army, with power now centralized in the leadership through the creation of CCP political departments charged with supervising the army.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=72}}

The [[Xi'an Incident]] of December 1936 paused the conflict between the CCP and the KMT.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=370}} Under pressure from Marshal [[Zhang Xueliang]] and the CCP, Chiang Kai-shek finally agreed to a [[Second United Front]] focused on repelling the Japanese invaders.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=354}} While the front formally existed until 1945, all collaboration between the two parties had effectively ended by 1940.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=354}} Despite their formal alliance, the CCP used the opportunity to expand and carve out independent bases of operations to prepare for the coming war with the KMT.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=355}} In 1939, the KMT began to restrict CCP expansion within China.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=355}} This led to frequent clashes between CCP and KMT forces{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=355}} which subsided rapidly on the realization on both sides that civil war amidst a foreign invasion was not an option.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=355}} By 1943, the CCP was again actively expanding its territory at the expense of the KMT.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=355}}

[[File:Three Campaigns of Chinese Civil War.png|thumb|upright=1.2|Map showing the [[Liaoshen Campaign|Liaoshen]], [[Huaihai campaign|Huaihai]], and [[Pingjin campaign|Pingjin Campaigns]] that decisively turned the war in favour of the CCP.]]

Mao Zedong became the [[Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party|Chairman of the CCP]] in 1945. After the [[Japanese surrender]] in 1945, the war between the CCP and the KMT began again in earnest.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=95}} The 1945–1949 period had four stages; the first was from August 1945 (when the Japanese surrendered) to June 1946 (when the peace talks between the CCP and the KMT ended).{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=95}} By 1945, the KMT had three times more soldiers under its command than the CCP and initially appeared to be prevailing.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=95}} With the cooperation of the US and Japan, the KMT was able to retake major parts of the country.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=95}} However, KMT rule over the reconquered territories proved unpopular because of its endemic [[political corruption]].{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=95}}

Notwithstanding its numerical superiority, the KMT failed to reconquer the rural territories which made up the CCP's stronghold.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=95}} Around the same time, the CCP launched an invasion of [[Manchuria]], where they were assisted by the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=95}} The second stage, lasting from July 1946 to June 1947, saw the KMT extend its control over major cities such as [[Yan'an]], the CCP headquarters, for much of the war.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=95}} The KMT's successes were hollow; the CCP had tactically withdrawn from the cities, and instead undermined KMT rule there by instigating protests among students and intellectuals. The KMT responded to these demonstrations with heavy-handed repression.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=96}} In the meantime, the KMT was struggling with factional infighting and Chiang Kai-shek's autocratic control over the party, which weakened its ability to respond to attacks.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=96}}

The third stage, lasting from July 1947 to August 1948, saw a limited counteroffensive by the CCP.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=96}} The objective was clearing "Central China, strengthening North China, and recovering Northeast China."{{sfn|Leung|1996|p=96}} This operation, coupled with military desertions from the KMT, resulted in the KMT losing 2 million of its 3 million troops by the spring of 1948, and saw a significant decline in support for KMT rule.{{sfn|Leung|1992|p=96}} The CCP was consequently able to cut off KMT garrisons in Manchuria and retake several territories.{{sfn|Leung|1996|p=96}}

The last stage, lasting from September 1948 to December 1949, saw the communists go on the offensive and the collapse of KMT rule in mainland China as a whole.{{sfn|Leung|1996|p=96}} Mao's [[Proclamation of the People's Republic of China|proclamation of the founding of the People's Republic of China]] on 1 October 1949 marked the end of the second phase of the Chinese Civil War (or the [[Chinese Communist Revolution]], as it is called by the CCP).{{sfn|Leung|1996|p=96}}