Editing Second Sino-Japanese War (section)

===Chinese Communist Party===
In 1930, the [[Central Plains War]] broke out across China, involving regional commanders who had fought in alliance with the Kuomintang during the Northern Expedition, and the Nanjing government under Chiang. The [[Chinese Communist Party]] (CCP) previously fought openly against the Nanjing government after the [[Shanghai massacre of 1927]], and they continued to expand during this protracted civil war. The Kuomintang government in Nanjing decided to focus their efforts on suppressing the Chinese Communists through the [[Encirclement Campaigns]], following the policy of "first internal pacification, then external resistance" ({{lang-zh|c=攘外必先安內|links=no}}).

After the defeat of the [[Chinese Soviet Republic]] by the Nationalists, the Communists retreated on the [[Long March]] to [[Yan'an Soviet|Yan'an]].<ref name=":022" />{{Rp|page=34}} The Nationalist government ordered local warlords to continue the campaign against the Communists rather than focus on the Japanese threat.<ref name=":022" />{{Rp|page=34}} A December 1936 coup by two Nationalist Generals, the [[Xi'an Incident]], forced Chiang Kai-shek to accept a United Front with the Communists to oppose Japan.<ref name=":022" />{{Rp|page=34}}