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The original "White Terror" took place in 1815 following the return of
King Louis XVIII to power; people suspected of having
ties with the governments of the French Revolution or of Napoleon sufferred arrest and execution. The term was originally intended as a reflection
of "Reign of Terror", the most radical period of the Revolution.
More generally, the term is used, mainly by leftists to
describe a right-wing counterrevolution.
In reference to China, the "White Terror" was an attempted suppression of Communists and Communist sympathizers by Chiang Kai-Shek's Kuomintang (KMT). Beginning in 1927, the White Terror spread through many major Chinese cities, most notably Shanghai.
A direct cause for the failure of the First United Front, Chiang's "Bloody Double Cross" saw his armies turn against their former Communist
allies. Death Squads patrolled the cities, on order to shoot anyone suspectd of Communist leanings.
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