The Communists
Communist propaganda poster
- The Communist Party was created in 1921 by radical Beijing University students and faculty
- It immediately attracted followers because it promised equal land for all people
- The Communists' goal was a classless society
- They followed Marxist values and ideals from Russia
- The Communists were able to grow in popularity because there was no central Chinese authority at the time
Failed Alliance
Chiang Kai-Shek
- In 1923 the Communists and Nationalists aligned with each other
- They had different political views, but they both wanted to stop western influence and the warlords
- Sun-Yat Sen died in 1925 and the general Chiang Kai-Shek took over
- Kai-Shek did not like the Communists like Yat-Sen, but pretended to like it
Shanghai Massacre
Communist being executed with a bayonet
- Chiang Kai-Shek broke the alliance with the Communists by ordering the Shanghai Massacre
- Nationalists massacred Communists on April 27, 1927
- 5,000 people were executed by the Communists
- Innocent people were killed as well as the Communists
- The Communists then retreated to the Jiangxi Province
- Kai-Shek then establishes Nationalist capital in Nanjing
- The Communist/Nationalist struggle then began