The Second KMT-CPC Cooperation
The second KMT-CPC cooperation was gradually established against the background of national war against the Japanese occupation.
On August 1, 1935, the CPC delegation to the Comintern drafted An Appeal to All Fellow Countrymen for Resistance Against Japan and for National Salvation in the name of the Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic and the CPC Central Committee. This document was later publicly promulgated and became commonly known as the August 1st Declaration. It called upon all Chinese people to unite and stop the civil war, resist the Japanese, save the nation, establish a national defense government, and organize a united army to fight the Japanese.
At an enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau held at Wayaobu, Shaanxi Province, in December 1935, the CPC Central Committee defined the principles of a national united front.
It sent an open letter to the KMT in August 1936 and issued an internal directive in September on the subject of forcing Chiang Kai-shek to resist Japan, both of which advocated renewed cooperation between the two parties.
After the Xi'an Incident in December 1936, the CPC quickly agreed to seek a peaceful settlement of the incident and dispatched Zhou Enlai and others to join the negotiations in Xi'an. The peaceful settlement created the conditions for the second KMT-CPC cooperation.
The KMT and the CPC held six negotiations from February to late September 1937, and the KMT finally agreed to re-designate the Red Army as the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army, and announced recognition of the CPC-led Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region Government.
On September 22, the KMT Central News Agency released the CPC Central Committee's Announcement on Kuomintang-Communist Cooperation. On September 23, Chiang Kai-shek made a statement and talked about the need for unity to resist the aggressors, which represented de facto recognition of the legality of the CPC. These two pieces of news signified the start of the second KMT-CPC cooperation.
Over the course of six months of discussions between the parties, the CPC position had evolved from opposing Chiang and resisting Japan, through forcing Chiang to resist Japan, to allying with Chiang in the resistance.
The period from September 1937 to January 1939 witnessed the most fruitful cooperation between the KMT and the CPC. During this period, the KMT was eager to resist the enemy, the two parties maintained good relations, and there was a new sense of unity and resistance nationwide.
From July 1939 to September 1943, the KMT policies switched from resisting the Japanese to targeting the Communists. The KMT conducted three anti-Communist onslaughts. The CPC made justified counterattacks, to its advantage and with restraint, in an effort to maintain the cooperation.
From September 1943 to August 1945, the two parties were engaged in a fierce struggle concerning the issue of establishing a coalition government.
From August 1945 to February 1947, the cooperation gradually broke down. The CPC firmly opposed the KMT policies that risked civil war. It advocated building a new China that would be, in the words of Mao Zedong, "independent, free, democratic, united, prosperous and strong." But the KMT was determined to follow a course of civil war. It openly broke the truce agreement and caused the collapse of the second KMT-CPC cooperation.
第二次国共合作
第二次国共合作是在抗战背景下逐步形成的。1935年8月1日，中共驻共产国际代表团以中华苏维埃共和国临时中央政府和中共中央的名义发表了《为抗日救国告全体同胞书》（即《八一宣言》），号召全国人民团结起来，停止内战，抗日救国，组织国防政府和抗日联军。12月，中共中央在瓦窑堡会议上确定了抗日民族统一战线的策略方针。
1936年8、9月间，中共中央发出致国民党书和《关于逼蒋抗日问题的指示》，倡导两党重新合作。12月，西安事变爆发，中国共产党迅速确定了和平解决事变的方针，并派周恩来等人赴西安谈判。经过艰苦努力，事变和平解决，为国共第二次合作创造了前提条件。
1937年2月至9月下旬，国共两党代表先后举行了6次谈判，国民党终于同意中国工农红军改编为国民革命军第八路军，并宣布承认陕甘宁边区政府。9月22日，国民党中央通讯社发表《中共中央为公布国共合作宣言》；23日，蒋介石发表谈话，指出团结御侮的必要，实际上承认了中国共产党的合法地位。从“反蒋抗日”、“逼蒋抗日”到“联蒋抗日”，经过半年多艰难曲折的谈判，以中共中央《宣言》和蒋介石谈话的发表为标志，国共两党第二次合作正式形成。
1937年9月至1939年1月，是第二次国共合作的高潮时期。这一时期，国民党对抗战是比较努力的，国共两党关系也比较好，全国出现了一个团结抗战的新局面。1939年7月至1943年9月，国民党政策由重点对外转向对内，先后发动了三次反共高潮。中国共产党进行了有理、有利、有节的斗争，维护了合作。
1943年9月至1945年8月，国共两党围绕联合政府问题展开激烈斗争。1945年8月至1947年2月，是第二次国共合作逐渐破裂的时期。中国共产党坚决反对国民党内战政策，主张建立一个独立、自由、民主、统一、富强的新中国。但国民党反动派一心想打内战，公然撕毁停战协定，第二次国共合作遂宣告彻底破裂。
