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Following their defeat in theChinese Civil War, the remnants of theNationalist government of theRepublic of China (ROC), alongside many refugees, retreated to theisland of Taiwan (Formosa) beginning on December 7, 1949. The exodus is sometimes called theGreat Retreat (Chinese:大撤退) inTaiwan. The NationalistKuomintang party (KMT), its officers, and approximately 2 millionROC troops took part in the retreat, in addition to many civilians and refugees, fleeing the advance of thePeople's Liberation Army (PLA) of theChinese Communist Party (CCP). The CCP, who now effectively controlled most ofmainland China, spent the subsequent years purging any remnant Nationalist agents inwestern andsouthern China, solidifying the rule of the newly establishedPeople's Republic of China (PRC).

ROC troops mostly fled to Taiwan from provinces in southern China, in particularSichuan Province, where thelast stand of theROC's main army took place. The flight to Taiwan took place over four months afterMao Zedong hadproclaimed the founding of the PRC in Beijing on October 1, 1949.^[1] The island of Taiwan remained part of Japan during the occupation until Japan severed its territorial claims in theTreaty of San Francisco, which came into effect in 1952. In addition, some of the ROC troops inYunnan also fled toBurma, where the insurgency lasted until1961.

After the retreat, the leadership of the ROC, particularlyGeneralissimo and PresidentChiang Kai-shek, planned to make the retreat only temporary, hoping to regroup, fortify, and reconquer the mainland.^[1] This plan, which never came into fruition, was known as "Project National Glory" and constituted the national priority of the ROC on Taiwan. The ROC did not abandon the policy of using force for reunification until directexchanges between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait began in the 1990s.

In 1895, theQing dynasty was defeated by theEmpire of Japan in theFirst Sino-Japanese War, forcing the Qing dynasty tocede Taiwan andPenghu to the Japanese Empire, which began its50-year long colonial rule. AsWorld War II ended, theRepublic of China, whoousted the Qing dynasty in 1911, regained control of Taiwan in 1945 after thesurrender of Japan and placed it undermilitary occupation.

The civil war between the Nationalist Party of China (Kuomintang, or KMT for short) underChiang Kai-shek and theChinese Communist Party (CCP) underMao Zedong traced back to KMT'sShanghai Massacre in 1927, which triggered Communist insurgencies such as theNanchang Uprising and theAutumn Harvest Uprising, as well as the formation of theChinese Red Army. Thefirst major conflict occurred in the middle of theNorthern Expedition when both parties were supposed to work together to topple theBeiyang government and subduevarious warlords in northern China (1926–28), effectively ending theFirst United Front. The KMT then conducted a series ofencirclement campaigns against the Communist-controlled regions, eventually succeeding in thefifth one and forced the surviving Red Army on astrenuous retreat north towards the barrenShaanbei region. Chiang's insistence on purging the Communists continued despite increasing Japanese threat after theJinan incident in 1928 (which first showcased the sheer arrogant brutality of the Japanese), theMukden Incident in 1931 (which started theJapanese invasion of Manchuria) and theShanghai Incident in 1932 (in which the Japanese openly displayed the ambition to conquerEast Asia), leading to theXi'an Incident in 1936 when disgruntled officers led byZhang Xueliang kidnapped Chiang and forced him to agree to aSecond United Front with the Communists against the Japanese. This animosity however continued through theSecond Sino-Japanese War (1932–45), during which vast portions of China fell under the occupation of the invading Japanese Empire. This peaked in theNew Fourth Army Incident in early 1941, in which an 80,000-strong KMT forceambushed a 9,000-men Communist division and killed most of the latter's officers and soldiers, citing that "the Communists attacked first", effectively ending any trust and further cooperation between the KMT and the CCP.^{[citation needed]}

The civil war between KMT and CCP forces, which took ade jure hiatus during the Japanese invasion, entered its final stage in 1945 following the Japanese surrender. Both sides sought to defeat the other and control all of China, and this need to eliminate the other party was seen as necessary by both Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek, but for completely different reasons. For Mao, the elimination of the "old society" dominated by clans of wealthyoligarchs would forever end thefeudal system in China, encouraging and preparing the country forsocialism andcommunism, which he deemed to be the future for humanity; for Chiang, other warlords and political opponents were simply a great threat to his personal dominance within thecentral government, as evident in Chiang's long-held political philosophy of "[one] must quell the domestic before resisting the foreign" (攘外必先安內). While Chiang relied heavily on foreign assistance from theUnited States under PresidentHarry Truman and theChina Lobby, Mao had support from theSoviet Union underJoseph Stalin, as well as popular support from the impoverished rural population of China.^[2] The ideological unity of the CCP, and the experience acquired inguerilla warfare fighting the Japanese, prepared them for thepeople's war against the Kuomintang. Though Chiang's forces were well equipped by the US, they lacked effective leadership, political unity and sufficient ideological willpower among their ranks.^{[citation needed]}

The conflicts between the KMT and CCP resumed in 1946. As the tide of war turned with the Communist victory in Manchuria, Chiang concluded in late 1948 that he needed to move to Taiwan; by end 1948 he had started shipments of China's important cultural artefacts and financial reserves to Taiwan.^[3] By 1948–1949, most of the northern mainland fell to the communists after the three decisive campaigns ofLiaoshen,Pingjin andHuaihai. In January 1949, Chiang Kai-shek stepped down as leader of the KMT and was replaced by his vice-president,Li Zongren. Li and Mao entered into negotiations for peace, but Nationalist hardliners rejected Mao's demands.^{[citation needed]} When Li sought an additional delay in mid-April 1949, the Chinese Red Army — now called thePeople's Liberation Army —crossed the Yangtze River and captured the Nationalist capitalNanjing and the major city ofShanghai, laterGuangzhou, followed byChongqing and thenChengdu. Maoproclaimed the establishment ofa new republic inBeijing on October 1, while Chiang fled to theisland of Formosa (Taiwan), where approximately 300,000 soldiers had already beenairlifted.

Future Chinese Cultural University founderChang Chi-yun was the first to propose moving to Taiwan in 1948. Throughout four months beginning in August 1948, the ROC leaders relocated theRepublic of China Air Force to Taiwan, taking over 80 flights and three ships.^[1] Chen Chin-chang writes in his bookChiang Kai-shek's Retreat to Taiwan (蔣中正遷台記) that an average of 50 or 60 planes flew daily between Taiwan and China transporting fuel and ammunition between August 1949 and December 1949.^[4]

Chiang also sent the26 naval vessels of the Nationalist army to Taiwan. The final Communist assault against Nationalist forces began on April 20, 1949, and continued until the end of summer. By August, the People's Liberation Army dominated almost all of mainland China; the Nationalists held onlyTaiwan and thePescadores Islands, some parts ofGuangdong,Fukien,Zhejiang and a few regions inChina's far west.^[2]

Institute of History and Philology directorFu Ssu-nien spearheaded a rush to persuade scholars to flee to Taiwan, as well as bringing books and documents.^[1] Institutions and colleges likeAcademia Sinica,National Palace Museum,National Tsing Hua University,National Chiao Tung University,Soochow University,Fu Jen Catholic University and St. Ignatius High School were re-established in Taiwan.

In total, according to current estimates, a migration of between 900,000 and 1,100,000 people must have taken place to Taiwan from the Chinese mainland between 1945 and 1955. The prior population of the island, at the end ofJapanese rule, is estimated as 6,500,000 (see alsoPopulation of Taiwan). Of these, the Japanese subpopulation of about 500,000 were mostly repatriated by 1946. The number of immigrants is not known for certain, however, since no precise census was made before or during Japanese rule. The census of 1956 counts 640,000civilian migrants from the mainland. The size of the army was secret at the time. Taiwanese documents found much later count 580,000 soldiers. American contemporary intelligence, however, put the number at only 450,000. Additionally, some army personnel were discharged before 1956 and are therefore (or for other reasons) included in both numbers, while others were drafted locally and were not immigrants. Such considerations led scholars to the above estimate. It is noted that upper estimates of up to two or three million immigrants are commonly found in older publications.^[5] Immigration on a similar scaletook place in Hong Kong at the time.

As the defeated Nationalists fled to Taiwan, they stripped China of liquid assets including gold, silver, and the country'sdollar reserves.^[6]

Chiang Kai-shek's mission to take gold from China was held secretly because, according toWu Sing-yung, the entire mission was operated by Chiang himself. Only Chiang and Wu's father, who was the head of Military Finance for the KMT government, knew about the expenditure and moving of gold to Taiwan and almost all orders by Chiang were issued verbally. Wu stated that even the finance minister had no power over the final expenditure and transfer.^[7] The written record was kept as the top military secret by Chiang in the Taipei Presidential Palace and the declassified archives only became available to the public more than 40 years after his death in April 1975. It is a widely held belief that the gold brought to Taiwan was used to lay the foundations for theTaiwanese economy and government.^[7] Some also believe that after six months of the gold operation by Chiang, theNew Taiwanese dollar was launched, which replaced the old Taiwanese dollar at a ratio of one to 40,000. It is believed that 800,000 taels of gold were used to stabilize the economy which had been suffering fromhyperinflation since 1945. However, these beliefs turned out to be mistaken. According to a memoir written by Zhou Hong-tao, a long-termaide-de-camp of Chiang, the gold was consumed very fast after being brought to Taiwan and in less than two years 80% was already consumed for the funds and provisions for the troops.^[8]

The KMT also retreated with artifacts kept mostly in theNational Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan.^[9] The National Palace Museum claims that in 1948 when China was going through its Civil War, executive directorChu Chia-hua and others (Wang Shijie, Fu Ssu-nien, Xu Hong-Bao (Chinese:徐洪宝),Li Ji, andHan Lih-wu) discussed shipping masterpieces to Taiwan for the artifacts' safety.^[10] Other institutions, such as theHenan Museum, also evacuated their collections of cultural relics to Taiwan during the war.^[11]

The plan was not fully implemented and completed due to insufficient cabin space and differing opinions on the relocation of artifacts to Taiwan.^[9][12][13]

KMT forces attempted to destroy industrial sites, but workers were able to stop them at many such locations.^[6]

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 return to the mainland, but had no long-term success. Communist forces were left in control of all of China exceptHainan Island and Taiwan.^{[citation needed]}

As a whole, the Civil War had an immense impact on theChinese people. The historianJonathan 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."^[14]

Originally, the Republic of China planned to reconquer the mainland from the People's Republic of China. After the retreat to Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek established a dictatorship over the island with other Nationalist leaders and began making plans to invade the mainland.^{[15][failed verification]} Chiang conceived atop secret plan calledProject National Glory orProject Guoguang (Chinese:國光計劃;pinyin:Gúoguāng Jìhuà;lit. 'National glory plan/project'), to accomplish this. Chiang's planned offensive involved 26 operations including land invasions andspecial operations behind enemy lines. He had asked his sonChiang Ching-kuo to draft a plan for air raids on the provinces ofFujian and Guangdong,^[15] from where many ROC soldiers and much of the population of Taiwan had origins. If it had taken place, it would have been the largestseaborne invasion in history.^[16]

The 1960s saw the "Great Leap Forward" in mainland China lead tocatastrophic famines and millions of deaths, as well as progress by the PRC towardspossible development of nuclear weapons. Thus, Chiang Kai-shek saw acrisis-opportunity to launch an attack to reclaimmainland China.

At this time, the U.S. was fighting theVietnam War. For Project National Glory to be successful Chiang Kai-shek knew he needed US military assistance. Thus he offered to help the Americans fight the Vietnam War in exchange for U.S. support conducive to taking back his lost territory. The U.S. opposed and refused Chiang's suggestions.^{[citation needed]} This did not stop him. Rather, Chiang went ahead with the preparations and continued to further his plan to take back their lost territory.^[17]

In 1965, Chiang's plans to strike were completed. His generals and admirals planned possible dates to deploy while soldiers and field officers prepared for battle, according to the government archives.

April 1, 1961: The year witnessed the advent of the Project National Glory. The office was built by theRepublic of China Armed Forces together with theMinistry of National Defense in the town ofSanxia,Taipei County (now a district inNew Taipei City). ArmyLieutenant General Zhu Yuancong took the role of governor and officially launched the project to compose a prudent plan of operations to recover the lost territories in mainland China. At the same time, the establishment ofProject Juguan^[clarify] came to light whereby military members began to work out a possible alliance with American troops to attack mainland China.

April 1964: During this year, Chiang Kai-shek arranged an ensemble of air-raid shelters and five military offices atLake Cihu (Chinese:慈湖), which served as a secret command centre. Following the establishment of Project National Glory, several sub-plans were put into place, such as the frontal area of the enemy, rear area special warfare,surprise attack, taking advantage of the counterattack, and assistance against tyranny.

However, theUnited States Armed Forces and theU.S. Department of Defense, together with theState Department, strongly opposed Project National Glory; rejecting the KMT plan to retake mainland China. Thus, every week American troops checked the inventory ofRepublic of China Marine Corpsamphibious landing vehicles used by ROC and ordered American military advisory group members to fly over the Project National Glory camp to scouting missions. These flyovers infuriated Chiang Kai-shek.

June 17, 1965: Chiang Kai-shek visited theRepublic of China Military Academy to convene with all mid-level and higher officers to devise and launch the counterattack.

June 24, 1965: At least ten soldiers died during a training drill to feign a Communist attack on major naval bases in southern Taiwan nearZuoying District when rough seas overturned five landing craft. The deaths that occurred during the happening were the first but not the last in Project National Glory.^[15][18]

August 6, 1965: APeople's Liberation Army Navytorpedo boat ambushed and drowned 200 soldiers as theZhangjiang naval warship carried out assignment Tsunami Number 1, in an attempt to transportspecial forces to the vicinity of the Eastern mainland Chinese coastal island ofDongshan to carry out anintelligence gathering operation.

November 1965: Chiang Kai-shek ordered two other naval vessels, theCNS Shan Hai and theCNS Lin Huai to pick up injured soldiers from Taiwan's offshore islands ofMagong andWuqiu. The vessels were attacked by 12 PRC ships, theLin Huai sunk, and roughly 90 soldiers and sailors werekilled in action. Surprised by the heavy loss of life in thenaval battle at Magong, Chiang gave up all hope for Project National Glory.

Having said this, according to General Huang Chih-Chung, who was an army colonel at the time and part of the planning process, Chiang Kai-shek never completely gave up the desire to recapture China; "even when he died (in 1975), he was still hoping the international situation would change and that the Communists would be wiped out one day."^[15]

The failure of Chiang's Project National Glory changed the course of Chinese and Taiwanese history, forever alteringcross-strait relations. For example, the Taiwanese "shifted the focus to modernizing and defending Taiwan instead of preparing Taiwan to take back China," stated Andrew Yang, a political scientist specializing in Taiwan-Mainland China relations at the Taipei-based Council of Advanced Policy Studies.^[15] Chiang Kai-shek's son Chiang Ching-Kuo, who later succeeded him as president, focused on maintaining peace between the mainland and Taiwan. Today, political relations between Taiwan and China have changed; as General Huang said, "I hope it will develop peacefully... There's no need for war."^[15]

After being expelled from the mainland, Chiang Kai-shek and other KMT leaders realized they had to reform the party.^{[citation needed]}

Initially, the party had seen public schools as a necessary instrument of assimilation and nation-building. Private schools, seen as unwanted competition, were therefore suppressed. However, as education needs on the island began to outstrip government resources, the party reevaluated its approach. Starting in 1954, private schools were not only tolerated but backed by state funding. Simultaneously, steps were taken to secure the obedience of private schools, such as ensuring the placement of party loyalists on school boards and the passing of strict laws to control the political content of the curricula.^[19]

While the generally established view is that the KMT legallygained territorial sovereignty over Taiwan in 1945 (following thesurrender of Japan), some have opposed this view.

According to a 1955 article, "It has been charged that Chiang Kai-shek has no claim to the island because he is 'merely a fugitive quartering his army' there and besides, his is a government in exile."^[20] Moreover, theTreaty of San Francisco, which was officially signed by 48 nations on September 8, 1951, did not specify to whom Japan was ceding Taiwan and Penghu. Despite this, the ROC was viewed by the vast majority of states at the time as the legitimate representative of China, as it had succeeded the Qing Dynasty, while the PRC was at the time a mostly unrecognized state. Japan was, at the time of the signing of the Treaty of San Francisco, still technically underAmerican occupation.^[21] After full independence, Japan established full relations with the ROC and not the PRC.^[22]

According to Professor Gene Hsiao, "Since the San Francisco Peace Treaty and the separateKMT treaty with Japan did not specify to whom Japan was ceding Taiwan and the Pescadores, the U.S. position implied that legally, and insofar as the signatories of those two treaties were concerned, Taiwan became an 'ownerless' island and the KMT, by its own assent to the American policy, a foreigngovernment-in-exile."^[23]

Once it became apparent that such a plan could not be realized, the ROC's national focus shifted to themodernization andeconomic development of Taiwan. After the plan to counterattack the mainland was terminated, the Kuomintang began the process of localization under the leadership ofChiang Ching-kuo. The ROC, continues to officially claimexclusive sovereignty over the now-CCP-governedmainland China till now (Both the ROC and PRC also claim theDiaoyu/Senkaku islands administered by Japan).^[24][25] However, after Taiwan's democratization in the 1990s, PresidentLee Teng-hui claimed that the sovereignty of the Republic of China only extended to Taiwan.^[26][27] Since 2004, the Republic of China has officially stopped using maps and administrative region codes related to mainland China, the current release of "Taiwan Complete Map" only includesTaiwan Area.^[28]

• Outline of the Chinese Civil War
• Timeline of the Chinese Civil War
• Xi'an Incident
• Yan Xishan
• Chiang Ching-kuo
• Lee Teng-hui
• Conservatism in Taiwan
• Wu Sing-yung
• Two Chinas
• China and the United Nations
• United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758
• Proclamation of the People's Republic of China

• Wu, Sing-yung (2021).父親的黃金秘密 [Father's Gold Secret]. Outskirts Press.ISBN 978-1-9772-4386-7.
• Westad, Odd Arne.Restless empire: China and the world since 1750 (2012)Online free to borrow

• History of the Kuomintang
• 1949 in Taiwan
• 1949 in China
• Chinese Civil War
• Evacuations
• December 1949 in Asia

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