1945-08-28 - 1945-10-10

Chongqing negotiations

Chongqing1945-08-28 to 10-10 · Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong negotiate a postwar settlement

Other events in this phase

Failed Coalition11
  1. Chongqing negotiationsCurrent record
  2. Double Tenth Agreement
  3. Marshall Mission to China
  4. Cease-fire order and Political Consultative Conference
  5. Political Consultative Conference
  6. Executive Headquarters at Peiping
  7. KMT-CCP army reorganization agreement
See all 11

Nature of the negotiation

The Chongqing talks were the central public negotiation over postwar authority and military integration immediately after Japan's surrender. Chiang Kai-shek sought to preserve National Government authority, while Mao Zedong sought political recognition for Communist-held areas and forces.

The talks were a diplomatic attempt to avert civil war, but military competition in Manchuria, North China, and Central China was already proceeding in parallel. The famous photograph therefore marks not reconciliation alone but a transition in which negotiation and troop movement advanced together.

Media

Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek in Chongqing, September 1945Visual recordMao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek in Chongqing, September 1945Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek during the Chongqing talks, a visual anchor for the failed postwar settlement.

Source Trail

SourceUK National Archives · The Chinese Civil WarOpen sourceDiplomatic HistoryOffice of the Historian · Chinese Revolution of 1949Open sourceVisual RecordWikimedia Commons · 1945 Mao and Chiang photo file recordOpen source