China was not in a safe place for many years. Before 1927, China was supposedly a republic. However, the nation itself was divided. In the west, Tibet and East Turkestan are free from Chinese domination. Closer to home, the warlords held on to precious cities near the east coast. Only the unifying influence of the nationalists ended the warlord streak. Alas, Chiang Kai-Shek was at war with the Communist Party of China. By the 1920's, he was winning, yet the whole nation was up for grabs. He could not give away power because if he left office, the republic would most likely collapse and fragment. For years, however, Nationalist victories made it possible to actually drive out the Communists. Even after Mao's Long March, the CPC was finally being beaten. BY the 1930's, Communist forces were driven from the east, and now hid in central China. The Nationalists knew they were strong. It had been nearly a decade of The German State co-operating with the Chinese. Also, Chiang began to get minor support from the Americans as well. By 1936, now Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek would fly to X'ian, to announce his final offensive against the Communists by driving west. Right as he was about to go, a terrible storm impeded his flight. Alas, discarding his speech, he simply gave the go ahead, and Nationalist forces surrounded Mao's final holdout in western China in September 7, 1936. As Nationalist Panzer I tanks burst through the lines, Mao escaped. However, the Communists were effectively routed and displaced, for now. Now, with everything in place, Chiang's China could fully focus towards the troubling situation with japan
