On October 1, 1949, Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong came into power declaring the country “The People’s Republic Of China.” The Chinese revolution was one of the bloodiest wars seen within China’s many civil wars.

This evolutionary war had originally started in 1927, but with a constant invasion from foreign powers —mainly Japan— Chinese civil war was a lesser focus than the invaders. But once WW II came to an end in 1945, many Japanese troops in Chinese and Korean territory were withdrawn, giving the Chinese people the chance to focus on their own affairs.

During this war the northern part of China was more communist, and the south was more nationalist. Although the PRC did not hold any major cities such as Beijing or Shanghai, they did have more military support than the Nationalists. The Soviet Union aided the PRC heavily. What’s more, Manchuria had many weapons and supplies left by the Japanese. Funded by the Soviets, the PRC against U.S.-funded nationalists constituted another chapter to the Cold War.

China being a communist system was an issue in both the Korean War and Vietnam. Chinese troops crossed the Korean border, pushing back U.N. troops, and in Vietnam, they supplied the Viet Cong against the U.S.