Who won the Chinese Civil War in 1949?

• A. The Chinese Communist Party
• B. The Kuomintang
• C. The Democratic Progressive Party
• D. The Chinese Socialist Party

Answer: (A)

The essential fact this item tests is who gained control of mainland China and established a government in 1949. The winning side was the Chinese Communist Party, which, after years of fighting and shifting alliances, secured the final victories in 1948–1949 and proclaimed the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949, marking CCP rule over the mainland. The Kuomintang, defeated on the mainland, retreated to Taiwan and continued ruling there as the Republic of China. The Democratic Progressive Party is a later Taiwanese party formed during Taiwan’s democratization and did not win the 1949 mainland civil war. The Chinese Socialist Party was a minor historical party and did not achieve national control.