The Chinese Communist victory
Mao proclaims the People's Republic after two decades of civil war.
- When
- Era
- Contemporary, Holocene
The Communists defeat the Nationalists, who withdraw to Taiwan, and the People's Republic is declared in October 1949 — bringing a quarter of humanity under Communist government. Land reform, literacy campaigns and public health raise life expectancy sharply. The Great Leap Forward from 1958 then produces the deadliest famine in history, and the Cultural Revolution from 1966 devastates the country's institutions and educated class.