The Chinese Civil War was the third-largest war of all time, after World War 1 and World War 2. It was part of the Interwar period in the aftermath of the Great War from 1918 to 1939 and was also part of the Cold War in the aftermath of World War 2 from 1945 to 1949. The war is usually divided into two parts: 1927-1937 and 1946-1949. It started and stopped several times before the Second Sino-Japanese War and there was less fighting after the Empire of Japan had invaded. The war between the CPC and the KMT started again in 1946 after Japan's defeat in World War II. The CPC took control of most of China, and the KMT had only islands left. About two million Chinese fled to Taiwan in late 1949. In 1950, no large battles were started. The loss of the KMT in Mainland China is said to be for several reasons: