The Chinese Soviet Republic

The Chinese Soviet Republic (CSR) was an East Asian unrecognized proto-state within the territory of China's Jiangxi (Kiangsi) province and the predecessor to the People's Republic of China. The state was proclaimed on 7 November 1931 by future Chinese Communist Party leader Mao Zedong and General Zhu De in the early stages of the Chinese Civil War. The CSR had its own flag, constitution, military forces, currency, postal system, and government bureaucracy. Its capital city was Wuhan, which is shared with the Kuomintang (Nationalist) government until 1940 when it relocated to Shanghai. The CSR was founded as a result of the failed Chiang Kai-shek's Northern Expedition against the Communist Party of China, and it was created in order to give a "Chinese" face to the Chinese Communist Party's foreign policy. In the aftermath of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the CSR would be absorbed into the People's Republic of China after the defeat of the Kuomintang and the subsequent establishment of the PRC.

During the 1920s, the Chinese Communists were still largely confined to the countryside, but they continued their struggle against the Kuomintang through a series of guerrilla campaigns. By 1930, the Communists controlled most of the northern provinces of China, and they had already captured several cities in the south. In the spring of that year, Chiang Kai-shek launched his Northern Expedition to crush the Communists. This campaign became known as the Long March for its long-distance, and it ended up taking Chiang's troops over 1,000 miles (1,600 km) across the country.

In the meantime, Mao Zedong began planning a counterattack against Chiang's Northern Expedition. He decided to take advantage of the chaos caused by the Long March, which allowed him to move his troops from the north to the south without being detected. On 7 November 1931, Mao and Zhu De marched out of the village of Huangpi in southern Hunan Province and into the city of Wuhan. They then declared the founding of the Chinese Soviet Republic (CSR), with Mao as the first president and Zhu De as the first prime minister. The new state was modeled on the Soviet Union, and its name was meant to evoke both communism and socialism. It had its own flag, constitution, currency, postal system, and government bureaucracy. Its capital city was Wuhan, which is shared with the Kuomintang (Nationalist) government until 1940 when it relocated to Shanghai.

Mao hoped that the creation of the CSR would help unite the various factions of the Chinese Communist Party, but he soon realized that this would not be possible. Many Communists remained loyal to Chiang Kai-shek, and many others refused to recognize the legitimacy of the CSR because it did not include all of China. These divisions eventually led to the outbreak of the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communists.

Despite these problems, the CSR managed to survive for almost three years. In the summer of 1933, the Communists launched another offensive against the Kuomintang, and they quickly recaptured the provincial capitals of Changsha, Nanchang, Nanjing, and Shanghai. After the Communists took control of these cities, they established the Provisional Government of the Republic of China, which included a number of Communists and non-Communists. However, the Kuomintang quickly regained control of them once again, and the Provisional Government was forced to relocate to Chongqing.

After the Kuomintang defeated the Communists in the Battle of Shanghai in 1940, the CSR was abolished and its territory was absorbed into the PRC. As part of the deal, Chiang Kai-shek agreed to grant amnesty to any Communists who surrendered. However, Mao Zedong and other leaders of the Communist Party chose to remain in hiding rather than face trial. Eventually, they escaped to Manchuria where they formed the short-lived First United Front Army. In 1949, they returned to the mainland and helped found the People's Republic of China.