Origin of the China-Taiwan Conflict: Chinese Civil War 1945-1949 (Documentary)

Get Nebula with 40% off annual subscription with my link: https://go.nebula.tv/realtimehistory
Watch Red Atoms on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/redatoms

With the Japanese surrender in September 1945, the Second World War comes to an end. But for China there won't be peace right away because the nationalists under Chiang Kai-Shek and the communists under Mao Zedong still haven't resolved their struggle and so the Chinese Civil War will flare up once again.

Chapters:
00:00 Japanese Surrender
03:44 Opposing Forces
07:33 KMT Offensives
12:18 CCP vs KMT Strategy
14.45 CCP Counterattack
19:19 Civilian Experience
23:23 CCP Huaihai Campaign
26:30 Final CCP Offensives
29:31 KMT Escape to Taiwan
31:59 Why did the Communists Win?
36:07 The United States and Taiwan

» SUPPORT US
  / realtimehistory  
https://nebula.tv/realtimehistory

» THANK YOU TO OUR CO-PRODUCERS
Rose Flaglor, Reed Spilmann, Jim Frame, Erik Ritter, Cardboard, Ken Brownfield, David Garfinkle, Raymond Martin, Konstantin Bredyuk, Lisa Anderson, Brad Durbin, Jeremy K Jones, Murray Godfrey, John Ozment, Stephen Parker, Mavrides, Kristina Colburn, Stefan Jackowski, Cardboard, William Kincade, William Wallace, Daniel L Garza, Chris Daley, Malcolm Swan, Christoph Wolf, Simen Røste, Jim F Barlow, Taylor Allen, Adam Smith, James Giliberto, Albert B. Knapp MD, Tobias Wildenblanck, Richard L Benkin, Marco Kuhnert, Matt Barnes, Ramon Rijkhoek, Jan, Scott Deederly, gsporie, Kekoa, Bruce G. Hearns, Hans Broberg, Fogeltje

» SOURCES
Boorman, Howard L. & Scott A. Boorman, “Chinese Communist Insurgent Warfare, 1935-49", Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 81, No. 2, (1966)
Hsü, Immanuel C. Y., The Rise of Modern China, (Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2000)
Hsuing, James C. & Steven I. Levine, China’s Bitter Victory: The War with Japan 1937-1945, (Armonk, NY : M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 1992)
Jowett, Philip, Chinese Civil War Armies 1911-49, (Oxford : Osprey Publishing, 1997)
Kania, Elsa B, & Ian Burns McCaslin, The PLA’s Evolving Outlook on Urban Warfare: Learning, Training, and Implications for Taiwan, (Washington D.C. : Institute for the Study of War, 2022)
Lew, Christopher R., The Third Chinese Revolutionary Civil War, 1945-49: An analysis of Communist strategy and leadership, (London : Routledge, 2009)
Li, Xiaobing, A History of the Modern Chinese Army, (Lexington, KY : The University Press of Kentucky, 2007)
Lynch, Michael, The Chinese Civil War 1945-1949, (Oxford : Osprey Publishing, 2010)
Mitter, Rana, China’s War with Japan, 1937-1945: The Struggle for Survival, (London : Allen Lane, 2013)
Moise, Edwin E., Modern China: A History, (Harlow : Longman Group Limited, 1986)
Westad, Odd Arne, Decisive Encounters: The Chinese Civil War, 1946-1950, (Stanford, CA : Stanford University Press, 2003)



»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Written by: Mark Newton
Director: Toni Steller
Editing: Toni Steller
Motion Design: Toni Steller
Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: http://above-zero.com
Research by: Mark Newton
Fact checking: Florian Wittig, Jesse Alexander
Executive Producer: Florian Wittig

Channel Design: Simon Buckmaster

Contains licensed material by getty images, AP and Reuters
Maps: MapTiler/OpenStreetMap Contributors & GEOlayers3
Music Library: Epidemic Sound

All photos and film in our documentaries are authentic historical footage. We do not use generative AI to create new assets. However, we may use AI tools to upscale or clean up certain assets without distorting or compromising the original image.

All rights reserved - Real Time History GmbH 2025