From 1911 to 1945, China experienced a revolution, a struggle against warlords, a civil war between the Nationalists led by Chiang Kai-Shek and the Communists led by Mao Zedong, and invasion by the Japanese. After the defeat of the Japanese in World War II in 1945, a full-blown civil war erupted again in 1946. The Nationalists were backed by the United States and the Communists had support from the Soviet Union. By 1949, Chiang and the Nationalists, despite having more soldiers than the Communists, were defeated and forced to evacuate the Chinese mainland for the island of Taiwan.
Historians point to a number of factors for the nationalists defeat. Chiang’s Kuomintang government was filled with incompetent and corrupt officials. The people especially hated the tax collectors, who were commonly called “blood-sucking devils.” Chiang himself held dictatorial powers, but his orders were often ignored. He had little success in rallying Chinese nationalism to win an unpopular war against the Communists.
