The First United Front of the Chinese Nationalist Party and the Communist Party of China (CPC) was formed in 1924 as an alliance to end warlordism. Together, they formed the National Revolutionary Army and set out on the Northern Expedition in 1926. The next year, Nationalist Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek purged the Communists while the expedition was still half complete. This inaugurated a period of civil war between the two parties until the Second United Front in 1936 was formed to prepare for the coming Second Sino-Japanese War. Chinese Civil War(1911-1951)