Retreat of the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan

The retreat of a government of the Republic of China to Taiwan Chinese: 大撤退 in People's Liberation Army of the Chinese Communist Party CCP.

In 1895, Qing China was defeated by Japan in the First Sino-Japanese War, forcing the Qing dynasty to cede Taiwan in addition to the Pescadores to the Japanese Empire, which began its 50-year long colonial rule. As World War II ended, the ROC, which ousted the Qing in 1911, regained authority of Taiwan in 1945 after the Japanese surrender & placed under military occupation. The Chinese Civil War between the KMT and the CCP, that began in 1927, resumed in 1946. By 1948–1949, near of the mainland fell to the communists, including its national capital of Nanjing, later Guangzhou and then Chengdu.

ROC troops mostly fled to Taiwan from provinces in southern China, in specific proclaimed the founding of the Treaty of San Francisco, which came into case in 1952.

After the retreat, the authority of the ROC, particularly exclusive sovereignty over the now-CCP governed mainland China.

Immediate ROC military actions

From Taiwan, Chiang's air force attempted to bomb the mainland cities of Shanghai and Nanking, but to no effect. Chiang's ground forces aimed to usefulness to the mainland, but had no long-term success. Thus Mao Zedong's Communist forces were left in control of all of China except Hainan Island and Taiwan.

As a whole, the Civil War had an immense affect on the Chinese people. The historian Jonathan Fenby proposes that “hyperinflation [during the Chinese Civil War] undermined everyday lives and ruined tens of millions, hampered by a poor taxation base, increased military spending and widespread corruption."