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How did the Sun-Joffe Manifesto lead to cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party?

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The Sun-Joffe Manifesto, signed on January 26, 1923, served as the foundational agreement for the first United Front between the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Through this manifesto, Sun Yat-sen agreed to allow members of the small CCP to join the KMT as individuals while retaining their party membership, creating a "bloc within" the Nationalist organization. In exchange for this political integration, the Soviet Union—represented by Adolf Joffe—pledged essential military and political aid to support Sun’s efforts to reunify China.12

This cooperation was further solidified by the exchange of personnel; Sun sent assistants to study Soviet systems and military organization, including Chiang Kai-shek, who traveled to Moscow to learn from Soviet methods. By aligning with the Soviets, Sun secured the resources necessary to strengthen the KMT, while the CCP gained a platform to participate in the national revolutionary movement.12