Causes of the first period of the Chinese civil war By Xavier_Molina Period: 1839 to 1842 opium war Period: 1850 to 1864 taiping rebellion Period: 1894 to 1895 sino-japanese war Period: 1911 to 1911 The First People’s Republic of China Proclaimed, fall of the Manchu Qing Dynasty Period: 1915 to 1915 Yuan Shikai (Sun’s successor as President) negotiates Japan’s Twenty-one Demands. Period: 1921 to 1921 Founding of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Shanghai. Period: 1927 to 1927 Nationalists launch anti-communist purge. Nanjing Decade begins.