Nanchang Uprising

The Nanchang Uprising of August 1927 was the point at which conflict between the Chinese Communist Party and the Nationalist Party of China (Kuomintang) became an outright rebellion. This began the Chinese Civil War. It was initiated by the Communists in response to the massacre of their party comrades in Shanghai by the Kuomintang four months before.

The Kuomintang (KMT) left wing established a "Revolutionary Committee" at Nanchang to plant the spark that was expected to ignite a widespread peasant uprising. Deng Yanda, Song Qingling and Zhang Fakui (listed nominally, who later crushed the uprising) were among the political leaders.

Military forces in Nanchang under the leadership of He Long and Zhou Enlai rebelled in an attempt to seize control of the city after the end of the first Kuomintang-Communist alliance. Other important leaders in this event were Zhu De, Ye Ting, and Liu Bocheng.

Communist forces successfully occupied Nanchang and escaped from the siege of Kuomintang forces by 5 August, withdrawing to the Jinggang Mountains of western Jiangxi. 1 August 1927 was later regarded as the anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the first action fought against the Kuomintang and the National Revolutionary Army (NRA).