The Second KMT-CPC Cooperation

The second KMT-CPC cooperation was gradually established against the background of national war against the Japanese occupation.

On August 1, 1935, the CPC delegation to the Comintern drafted An Appeal to All Fellow Countrymen for Resistance Against Japan and for National Salvation in the name of the Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic and the CPC Central Committee. This document was later publicly promulgated and became commonly known as the August 1st Declaration. It called upon all Chinese people to unite and stop the civil war, resist the Japanese, save the nation, establish a national defense government, and organize a united army to fight the Japanese.

At an enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau held at Wayaobu, Shaanxi Province, in December 1935, the CPC Central Committee defined the principles of a national united front.

It sent an open letter to the KMT in August 1936 and issued an internal directive in September on the subject of forcing Chiang Kai-shek to resist Japan, both of which advocated renewed cooperation between the two parties.

After the Xi'an Incident in December 1936, the CPC quickly agreed to seek a peaceful settlement of the incident and dispatched Zhou Enlai and others to join the negotiations in Xi'an. The peaceful settlement created the conditions for the second KMT-CPC cooperation.

The KMT and the CPC held six negotiations from February to late September 1937, and the KMT finally agreed to re-designate the Red Army as the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army, and announced recognition of the CPC-led Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region Government.

On September 22, the KMT Central News Agency released the CPC Central Committee's Announcement on Kuomintang-Communist Cooperation. On September 23, Chiang Kai-shek made a statement and talked about the need for unity to resist the aggressors, which represented de facto recognition of the legality of the CPC. These two pieces of news signified the start of the second KMT-CPC cooperation.

Over the course of six months of discussions between the parties, the CPC position had evolved from opposing Chiang and resisting Japan, through forcing Chiang to resist Japan, to allying with Chiang in the resistance. 

The period from September 1937 to January 1939 witnessed the most fruitful cooperation between the KMT and the CPC. During this period, the KMT was eager to resist the enemy, the two parties maintained good relations, and there was a new sense of unity and resistance nationwide.

From July 1939 to September 1943, the KMT policies switched from resisting the Japanese to targeting the Communists. The KMT conducted three anti-Communist onslaughts. The CPC made justified counterattacks, to its advantage and with restraint, in an effort to maintain the cooperation.

From September 1943 to August 1945, the two parties were engaged in a fierce struggle concerning the issue of establishing a coalition government.

From August 1945 to February 1947, the cooperation gradually broke down. The CPC firmly opposed the KMT policies that risked civil war. It advocated building a new China that would be, in the words of Mao Zedong, "independent, free, democratic, united, prosperous and strong." But the KMT was determined to follow a course of civil war. It openly broke the truce agreement and caused the collapse of the second KMT-CPC cooperation.

第二次國共合作

第二次國共合作是在抗戰背景下逐步形成的。1935年8月1日，中共駐共產國際代表團以中華蘇維埃共和國臨時中央政府和中共中央的名義發表了《為抗日救國告全體同胞書》（即《八一宣言》），號召全國人民團結起來，停止內戰，抗日救國，組織國防政府和抗日聯軍。12月，中共中央在瓦窯堡會議上確定了抗日民族統一戰線的策略方針。

1936年8、9月間，中共中央發出致國民黨書和《關于逼蔣抗日問題的指示》，倡導兩黨重新合作。12月，西安事變爆發，中國共產黨迅速確定了和平解決事變的方針，并派周恩來等人赴西安談判。經過艱苦努力，事變和平解決，為國共第二次合作創造了前提條件。

1937年2月至9月下旬，國共兩黨代表先后舉行了6次談判，國民黨終于同意中國工農紅軍改編為國民革命軍第八路軍，并宣布承認陜甘寧邊區政府。9月22日，國民黨中央通訊社發表《中共中央為公布國共合作宣言》；23日，蔣介石發表談話，指出團結御侮的必要，實際上承認了中國共產黨的合法地位。從“反蔣抗日”、“逼蔣抗日”到“聯蔣抗日”，經過半年多艱難曲折的談判，以中共中央《宣言》和蔣介石談話的發表為標志，國共兩黨第二次合作正式形成。

1937年9月至1939年1月，是第二次國共合作的高潮時期。這一時期，國民黨對抗戰是比較努力的，國共兩黨關系也比較好，全國出現了一個團結抗戰的新局面。1939年7月至1943年9月，國民黨政策由重點對外轉向對內，先后發動了三次反共高潮。中國共產黨進行了有理、有利、有節的斗爭，維護了合作。

1943年9月至1945年8月，國共兩黨圍繞聯合政府問題展開激烈斗爭。1945年8月至1947年2月，是第二次國共合作逐漸破裂的時期。中國共產黨堅決反對國民黨內戰政策，主張建立一個獨立、自由、民主、統一、富強的新中國。但國民黨反動派一心想打內戰，公然撕毀停戰協定，第二次國共合作遂宣告徹底破裂。