During the Northern Expedition in China, the Chinese Communist Party joined the party of the Nationalist Party of China (Kuomintang) for a time (1923–1927), creating the First United Front, but one of the Communists' ideas behind doing so was the possibility of eventually gaining a majority in the Nationalist Party and shaping its policies. Eventually, the situation degraded, the Nationalists expelled the Communists from their party, and the Chinese Civil War began. The war was paused for a time (1936–1945) to allow for a Second United Front during the Chinese resistance to Japanese imperial rule. However, the civil war resumed again and remained active until 1950, after the Communists had won.