National Revolutionary Army commander in chief Chiang Kai-shek suspected that the Communist Party of China and Soviet advisors in the Wuhan Nationalist Government used anti-imperialists and anti-foreign sentiments to instigate the Nanjing incident, and conspired to strengthen the communists and damage the right-wing faction of the Kuomintang. Therefore, the Nanjing incident led to his determination to violently purge the communists from the Kuomintang in Shanghai on 12 April 1927, formally ending their cooperation during the Northern Expedition and officially commencing the Chinese Civil War.