"Causes of the first period of the Chinese civil war" By Mariana RC 1850 The Taiping Rebellion spred through southern China 1900 China was ruled by the imperial Manchu Dynasty (Qing Dynasty) 1911 Ruling Dynasty was overthrown in a revolution (Double Tenth) 1912 Sun's party reformed as the GMD (Guomindang) Feb 12, 1912 Pu Yi abdicated 1916 Yuan proclaim himself Emperor 1919 The May Fourth Movement began 1920 Warlord Era 1921 The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) was officially set up 1922 Communists and nationalists come together in an alliance