The civil war re-started soon after the war against the Japanese was over. Mao had carefully cultivated support in the areas he controlled, whereas, the Guomintang, lead by Chiang Kai-shek, had a different view on how China should be ruled.

Chiang did not believe in democracy. He supported the view that society was best served by one supreme leader supported by the military. He was called the “Generalissimo” and, like other dictators, he had his secret police to enforce law and order – the Blueshirts. Their job was to hunt down communists and to develop a spying system that would allow them to infiltrate the communists. The Blueshirts tended to brutalise society into obedience. In this sense, Chiang tried to enforce his authority by force – something that Hitler and Mussolini tried to do. Chiang’s attempt to win the support of the people in his territory was minimal.