how did communists take control of China?

Answer 1

Okay. Early 20th century China saw the nail in the coffin of the imperial government. They then had an ongoing war between the Japanese, the nationalists and the communists. The communists and the nationalists cooperated at first to kick out the Japanese, but then once the Japanese were defeated in most of China, the Nationalists took over and the Communists worked against then.

The Communists focused on hiding in the countryside and building support among the peasants. Eventually they had enough support to take over the cities.

There are several great stories that help tell the tale. One is the Last Emperor. Another is the novel Wild Swans. Finally, Farewell My Concubine also shows the rapidity with which early 20th century Chinese saw their world change. If you joined with the nationalists to fight the Japanese, you were later branded counter-revolutionary by the communists for cooperating with the nationalists.

Answer 2

In WW2 the communists pretended to help the Nationalists in fighting the japanese. In reality they only stockpiled weapons. After the A-bomb on Japan, the USSR attacked the Japanese in China, and occupied most of the country. All that land and all the ex-japanese weapons were later given to the communists. At the same time the US cut off all aid to the nationalists- as it turns out the US foreign policy on China was controlled by a soviet agent (meaning Joe Mc Carthy was right, but Hollywood and the Dems will never allow that story to come out)
In the end it was the nationalists alone and abandoned against the communists who had the full support of Stalin/ USSR's tanks, weapons and aircraft. Pretty much like the end of South Vietnam (the real story, not the Hollywood make believe tales)