The outcome of the Chinese Civil War in 1949 was the establishment of the People's Republic of China by the Communist Party led by Mao Zedong. The war, which had begun in the late 1920s, saw the Communists fighting against the Nationalist government, led by the Kuomintang, under Chiang Kai-shek. After a series of battles and significant social unrest, the Nationalists retreated to Taiwan. The victory solidified Communist control over mainland China and marked the beginning of significant socioeconomic transformations under Communist rule, impacting China's domestic and foreign policy for decades to come.