2. • By the end of WWII, Chinese Communists had
gained control of Northern China
• The Communists led by Mao Zedong were now
fighting a civil war against the Nationalists
headed by Jiang Jieshi
• Mao’s forces swept to victory and set up the
People’s Republic of China
• The defeated Nationalists followed Jiang Jieshi,
and fled to the island of Taiwan
3. How the Communists Won
• Mao Zedong’s Communists were triumphant
for several reasons
1. Mao had won the support of China’s huge
peasant population. Peasants had long
suffered from brutal landlords and crushing
taxes. The Communists redistributed land to
poor peasants and ended oppression by
landlords
4. 2. Support for the Communists grew, while the
Nationalist lost popularity. Nationalist policies
had lead to widespread economic hardship.
Many people resented corruption in Jiang’s
government because of their support for the
Western Imperialist Powers (United States)
3. Widespread support for the Communists in the
countryside helped them capture rail lines and
surround Nationalist held cities. One after
another, these cities fell
5. 4.Mao’s People Liberation Army emerged
victorious. After their victory against the
Nationalist, the Communist conquered Tibet in
1950. Tibet’s most revered religious leader the
Dalai Lama was forced to flee the country
