Representatives of the Nationalists (KMT), Communists (CCP), and other parties met in Chongqing to negotiate a postwar political settlement. The conference adopted agreements on government reorganization, military affairs, and steps toward a constitution. These deals raised hopes for coalition politics but proved difficult to enforce as mistrust and fighting continued.
The United States sent General George C. Marshall to mediate between the KMT and CCP. By January 10, 1946, the two sides agreed to an immediate cease-fire tied to political talks and plans for a coalition government. The truce reduced open combat briefly but did not resolve control of territory and armies.
As Soviet occupation forces withdrew from Manchuria in spring 1946, both the KMT and CCP raced to seize key cities, railways, and industrial areas. This competition quickly turned into major clashes, especially around strategic hubs in the Northeast. The Manchurian front became a central arena for the renewed civil war.
In April–May 1946, large forces fought for control of Siping, a key rail junction in Manchuria. The Nationalists captured the city, but the battle exposed how hard it would be for either side to secure the Northeast quickly. Heavy losses and shifting lines helped doom broader cease-fire efforts.
By summer 1946, the cease-fire arrangements broke down and sustained fighting spread beyond Manchuria into North China and other regions. Both sides increasingly treated negotiations as secondary to military victory. From this point, the conflict moved toward a decisive struggle for national control.
The National Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution of the Republic of China on December 25, 1946. The National Government later promulgated it, aiming to formalize a constitutional order during wartime conditions. In practice, the civil war limited its ability to stabilize politics or unify armed forces.
On March 19, 1947, Nationalist forces took Yan'an, the symbolic center of the CCP’s wartime base area in Shaanxi. The CCP leadership withdrew rather than defend the city at all costs, preserving forces for mobile warfare. The fall of Yan'an was a psychological blow but did not end the CCP’s capacity to fight.
From September to November 1948, the Liaoshen Campaign ended with Communist control of Northeast China (Manchuria). Losing major cities and armies in the Northeast badly weakened the Nationalists’ strategic position. The CCP gained manpower, equipment, and an industrial base that strengthened later offensives.
In September 1948, Communist forces captured Jinan, a key city in Shandong, after a concentrated assault. The battle showed that the PLA could take defended cities, not just fight guerrilla-style. This victory helped set the stage for larger late-1948 campaigns that shifted the war decisively.
Between November 1948 and January 1949, the Huaihai Campaign destroyed or captured large Nationalist forces around key rail corridors and cities. The outcome left the Communists dominant north of the Yangtze River. It also undermined Nationalist morale and made holding the capital region increasingly difficult.
From late November 1948 to January 1949, Communist forces won the Pingjin Campaign, taking Tianjin and securing the surrender of Beiping (later Beijing). This eliminated Nationalist control across the North China Plain. It also positioned the Communists to focus on the Yangtze line and southern China.
In April–June 1949, the PLA launched the Yangtze River Crossing campaign, breaking the Nationalists’ main defensive line. Nanjing—the Nationalist capital—fell in April, signaling the collapse of KMT control in much of mainland China. The campaign accelerated a chain of city captures further south and east.
From September 21 to 30, 1949, the first plenary session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) met in Beiping. It adopted key founding documents (including the "Common Program"), selected national symbols, and prepared the creation of a new central government. This provided a formal political framework for the CCP’s victory.
On October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China in Tiananmen Square. This announcement marked the CCP’s establishment of a new national government on the mainland. The remaining Nationalist-controlled areas continued to fall over the following months.
By December 1949, the Nationalist leadership withdrew to Taiwan as Communist forces consolidated control over most of mainland China. The civil war’s main phase ended with two rival governments claiming legitimacy: the PRC on the mainland and the ROC in Taiwan. This outcome reshaped East Asian politics for decades.
Resumption and Final Phase of the Chinese Civil War (1946–1949)