The term '''Republic of China''' refers to an era of Chinese history that extended from 1912 until 1949. It was preceded by the [[Qing dynasty]] and followed by the [[People's Republic of China|People's Republic]]. The Nationalist Party, or KMT ruled from 1927 until 1949. Much of the country was occupied by Japan from 1937 until 1945. The Nationalists were defeated by the Communists in the Chinese Civil War (1946-1949).
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The term '''Republic of China''' refers to an era of Chinese history that extended from 1912 until 1949. It was preceded by the [[Qing dynasty]] and followed by the [[People's Republic of China|People's Republic]]. The country was divided among rival warlord cliques in the 1920s, but reunited by the Nationalist Party, or KMT, in 1928. Much of the country was occupied by Japan from 1937 until 1945. The Nationalists were defeated by the Communists in the Chinese Civil War (1946-1949). In this era, modern ideas about culture and gender relations flourished in urban areas. But modernization was reigned in by war and by the Communist victory, which led to a resurgence of the puritanical values of countryside.