The 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 https://patreon.com/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