Timeline of Chiang Kai-shek

This is a timeline of Chiang Kai-shek's (Jiang Jieshi) life.

1880s

Year	Date	Event
1887	31 October	Jiang Jieshi is born to Jiang Suan and Wang Caiyu in Xikou [1]
1889		Jiang Jieshi's family moves to a two-story merchant's house a hundred feet or so down Wu Ling Street [1]

1890s

Year	Date	Event
1896		Jiang Jieshi's father Jiang Suan dies and he inherits the house, bamboo grove, and rice paddies [2]

1900s

Year	Date	Event
1901	winter	Jiang Jieshi marries Mao Fumei [2]
1903		Jiang Jieshi takes the new civil service examination and fails, so he enters the Phoenix Mountain Academy, a small Confucian school in Fenghua [2]
	February	Jiang Jieshi transfers to the Golden Arrow Academy in Ningbo [3]
1906	February	Jiang Jieshi transfers to the Dragon River School in Fenghua [3]
		Jiang Jieshi cuts off his Manchu queue [4]
		Jiang Jieshi spends several months in Tokyo learning Japanese [4]
		Jiang Jieshi enters the Baoding Military Academy [4]
1907		Jiang Jieshi enters the Tokyo Shinbu Gakko, a school set up for Chinese students wishing to attend a Japanese military academy [4]
1909	November	Jiang Jieshi graduates from the Tokyo Shinbu Gakko and enters the 19th Field Artillery Regiment at Takada [5]

1910s

Year	Date	Event
1910	27 April	Mao Fumei delivers Jiang Jingguo [6]
1911	10 October	Wuchang Uprising : The New Army rebels in Wuchang and Jiang Jieshi leaves for Shanghai [7]
		Jiang Jieshi is put in charge of a "dare to die" contingent made up of Fenghua fishermen reinforced by Green Gang and Red Gang members [8]
	4 November	Jiang Jieshi's men take part in the New Army's seizure of key public buildings in Hangzhou [9]
1912	6 January	Sun Zhongshan is inaugurated as provisional President of China by the National Assembly in Nanjing [10]
	12 January	Jiang Jieshi may or may not have assassinated Tao Chengzhang, head of the Guangfuhui, and rival of Chen Qimei for the governorship of Zhejiang [10]
	12 March	Sun Zhongshan resigns and Yuan Shikai becomes president, however he only controls half of the old Manchu Army [10]
	25 August	The Tongmenghui and four other parties form the Nationalist Party, also known as the Kuomintang (KMT), with Song Jiaoren as its leader [11]
1913	March	The KMT wins control of the National Assembly [11]
	22 March	Song Jiaoren is assassinated [11]
	August	Jiang Jieshi and Chen Qimei flee to Japan and Sun Zhongshan goes to Yokohama [12]
	December	Jiang Jieshi meets Sun Zhongshan for the first time [12]
1914	spring	Sun Zhongshan sends Jiang Jieshi to Shanghai to pull together the revolutionary underground but he fails and returns to Japan [13]
		Sun Zhongshan sends Jiang Jieshi to recruit warlords in Manchuria but he fails and returns to Japan [14]
1915	18 January	The Twenty-One Demands are handed to Yuan Shikai and a revised "Thirteen Demands" are eventually agreed upon [14]
		Jiang Jieshi and Chen Qimei return to Shanghai [14]
	10 November	The defense commissioner in Chinese Shanghai, Zheng Ruzheng, is assassinated on the orders of Jiang and Chen [14]
		An attack on the police headquarters by Jiang Jieshi's "dare to die" teams fails and he falls ill [14]
1916	February	Jiang Jieshi and Chen Qimei try to rebuild the Chinese Revolutionary Army in Shanghai [15]
	18 May	Chen Qimei is assassinated [15]
	6 June	Yuan Shikai dies and Sun Zhongshan returns to Shanghai [15]
1918		The KMT flees to Guangzhou and launches the Constitutional Protection Movement with the support of Chen Jiongming and warlords in Guangdong and Yunnan [16]
	March	Jiang Jieshi joins Chen Jiongming's army as senior operations officer for an attack on the warlord of Fujian [16]
		Sun Zhongshan goes into exile in Shanghai due to warlord demand for more authority [16]
	July	Jiang Jieshi takes a key town in Fujian [16]
1919	May	Jiang Jieshi returns to Shanghai [17]
	4 May	May Fourth Movement : Mass demonstrations spread all over China in response to the Treaty of Versailles [18]
		Jiang Jieshi adopts Jiang Weiguo, son of Dai Jitao [19]
		Moscow announces that it will relinquish special rights in Manchuria and cancel all the "unequal" tsarist treaties with China [17]

1920s

Year	Date	Event
1920	spring	Jiang Jieshi contracts typhoid [19]
	30 September	Sun Zhongshan appoints Jiang Jieshi as chief of staff of the Second Guangdong Army [19]
	October	Guangdong–Guangxi War : Chen Jiongming and the Second Guangdong Army enter Guangzhou [20]
	12 November	Jiang Jieshi returns to Shanghai to brief Sun Zhongshan and then leaves for Zhejiang [21]
1921	April	Guangdong–Guangxi War : A Beiyang government backed Old Guangxi Clique army attacks Guangdong but is defeated by Xu Chongzhi and the KMT occupy Guangxi [21]
	4 May	Sun Zhongshan becomes president again [21]
	10 May	Jiang Jieshi arrives in Guangzhou [21]
	4 June	Jiang Jieshi's mother dies [21]
1922		Chen Jiongming attacks the KMT and Sun Zhongshan escapes to Pazhou [22]
	29 June	Jiang Jieshi joins Sun Zhongshan at Pazhou [22]
	9 August	Jiang and Sun leave for Xianggang and Shanghai [22]
1923		Sun Zhongshan returns to Guangzhou and appoints Jiang Jieshi as Xu Chongzhi's chief of staff [23]
	August	Jiang Jieshi leaves for the Soviet Union [24]
	15 December	Jiang Jieshi returns to Shanghai [25]
1924	12 January	Jiang Jieshi returns to Guangzhou [26]
	June	Sun Zhongshan and Jiang Jieshi preside over the opening of the Huangpu Military Academy [26]
1925	12 March	Sun Zhongshan dies [27]
	30 May	May Thirtieth Movement : The Shanghai Municipal Police fire on striking workers, causing widespread anti-foreign demonstrations and riots [28]
	23 June	Canton–Hong Kong strike : Huangpu Military Academy cadets are among those killed by British troops firing on anti-imperialist protesters [28]
	1 July	The Nationalist government is formed in Guangzhou with Wang Jingwei as chairman of the new ruling political council [29]
		The National Revolutionary Army is formed [29]
	20 August	Liao Zhongkai is assassinated and Jiang Jieshi enters the KMT's top triumvirate consisting of himself, Wang Jingwei, and Xu Chongzhi [30]
	20 September	Xu Chongzhi is forced to leave for Shanghai due to charges of corruption [31]
	October	Jiang Jingguo is approved for study at the University of the Toilers of the East in Moscow [32]
		Chen Jiongming is defeated [32]
	November	Disaffected KMT veterans including Dai Jitao vote to expel the communists from the party [32]
1926	January	Jiang Jieshi is voted onto the Central Executive Committee [33]
	18 March	Jiang Jieshi is alerted to a plot by the Chinese Communist Party Central Executive Committee and the Russians to oust him [34]
	20 March	Canton Coup : Jiang Jieshi places Guangzhou under martial law and arrests 50 communists [35]
		Wang Jingwei is ousted and leaves for France [36]
	June	Tang Shengzhi defects to the KMT [37]
	9 July	Jiang Jieshi becomes Supreme Commander [36]
	11 July	Northern Expedition : The NRA takes Changsha [37]
	October	Northern Expedition : The NRA defeats warlord forces in Hubei and occupy Wuhan [37]
	18 December	Northern Expedition : He Yingqin's First Corps capture Fujian and move into Zhejiang [38]
		Northern Expedition : Jiang Jieshi gains control of China from Guangxi in the south, to Sichuan in the west, to the Changjiang at Wuhan in the north, and northern Fujian in the east [39]
1927	1 March	The Wuhan Central Executive Committee places Jiang Jieshi under a new military council and issues a secret order for his arrest [40]
	22 March	Northern Expedition : Bai Chongxi's forces enter Shanghai [41]
	23 March	Northern Expedition : Zheng Qian's forces enter Nanjing [41]
	24 March	Northern Expedition : Jiang Jieshi reaches Nanjing [41]
	26 March	Jiang Jieshi returns to Shanghai [41]
	6 April	Wang Jingwei arrives in Shanghai and refuses leadership of the KMT, leaving for Wuhan [41]
		Jiang Jieshi institutes martial law and leaves for Nanjing [42]
		Joseph Stalin declares that KMT is of no more use and that Jiang Jieshi should be eliminated [42]
	12 April	Shanghai massacre : Communists are killed or arrested in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Guilin, Ningbo, and Xiamen [43]
	19 June	Feng Yuxiang joins the KMT [44]
	24 July	Northern Expedition : Sun Chuanfang defeats NRA forces and takes Xuzhou [44]
	12 August	Jiang Jieshi resigns and leaves for Shanghai [45]
	16 August	NRA forces retake Xuzhou and Sun Chuanfang flees across the Yellow River [46]
	1 December	Jiang Jieshi marries Song Meiling in Shanghai [47]
1928		Jiang Jieshi returns to power and Wang Jingwei resigns, leaving for France [48]
	2 May	Jinan incident : The Japanese army bomb Jinan, killing hundreds [46]
	5 May	Jinan incident : The Japanese arrest Nanjing's representative Cai Gongshi, cut out his tongue, gouge out his eyes, and then shoot him as well as ten of his staff members [46]
	11 May	Jinan incident : The Japanese army attacks the NRA, killing 11,000 soldiers and civilians in Jinan [49]
	4 June	Huanggutun incident : Zhang Zuolin's train is bombed and he dies a few days later [50]
	19 June	Northern Expedition : Zhang Zuolin's son, Zhang Xueliang, cables Jiang Jieshi expressing his loyalty to the Chinese nation [50]
	10 October	Jiang Jieshi becomes the director of the State Council, in effect the president [51]
	29 December	Chinese reunification (1928) : Zhang Xueliang replaces the flags of the Beiyang government with the flag of the Republic of China [51]
1929	28 March	Jinan incident : The Japanese army withdraws from Shandong [49]
	April	Sino-Soviet conflict (1929) : Zhang Xueliang seizes the Soviet consulate in Harbin [52]
	July	Sino-Soviet conflict (1929) : Zhang Xueliang seizes the Chinese Eastern Railway [52]
	12 October	Sino-Soviet conflict (1929) : Soviet troops defeat Zhang Xueliang's forces [52]
	December	Sino-Soviet conflict (1929) : Soviet rights to the Chinese Eastern Railway is restored [53]

1930s

Year	Date	Event
1930	June	Central Plains War : Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi, Feng Yuxiang, Zhang Fakui, and Yan Xishan form an anti-Jiang coalition [54]
	autumn	Encirclement Campaigns : NRA troops fail to defeat communist forces in the Jinggang Mountains [55]
	November	Central Plains War : The anti-Jiang coalition is defeated [54]
1931	April	Encirclement Campaigns : He Yingqin's forces fail to suppress communist forces in Jiangxi [55]
		Wang Jingwei sets up an anti-Jiang government in Guangzhou [55]
	1 July	Encirclement Campaigns : The NRA defeat the Chinese Red Army [55]
	18 September	Mukden Incident : The Kwantung Army sets off an explosion on a rail line outside Shenyang and fires artillery into a nearby Chinese garrison before occupying the city [55]
		Japanese invasion of Manchuria : Japan invades Manchuria [56]
	15 December	Jiang resigns [57]
1932	January	Jiang meets with Wang Jingwei and returns as the KMT's military leader while Wang becomes head of government [58]
	28 January	January 28 Incident : Japan invades Shanghai and forces Chinese troops to withdraw [58]
	March	Jiang resumes his position as chairman of the Military Council and chief of the General Staff [58]
	April	Encirclement Campaigns : NRA troops force Zhang Guotao to flee to Sichuan [59]
1933	1 January	Defense of the Great Wall : Japan occupies Shanhai Pass [59]
	1 March	Battle of Rehe : Japan takes Rehe [60]
	May	Encirclement Campaigns : NRA forces start blockading communist areas [59]
	31 May	Tanggu Truce : The Republic of China agrees to a local armistice declaring the northern part of Hebei a demilitarized zone, essentially ceding it to Japan [59]
1934	16 October	Long March : The Chinese Red Army escapes from Jiangxi [61]
1935	January	Long March : The Chinese Red Army reaches Zunyi and joines Zhang Guotao's army; Mao Zedong is elected the CCP's senior military as well as political authority [62]
	September	Jiang announces that China will never surrender its sovereignty or Manchuria [63]
	October	Long March : The Chinese Red Army arrive at Baoan [64]
	November	Wang Jingwei is wounded in an assassination attempt and Jiang takes over as president of the Executive Yuan [65]
		NRA forces retreat from Chahar [64]
1936	February	Zhang Xueliang meets with CCP representatives in Xi'an to discuss the formation of an anti-Japan anti-Jiang government [66]
	6 April	Zhang Xueliang meets with Zhou Enlai [67]
	May	Zhou Enlai meets with ROC representatives to discuss a united front [68]
	31 October	Jiang celebrates his birthday in Luoyang [69]
	12 December	Xi'an Incident : Zhang Xueliang kidnaps Jiang [70]
	26 December	Xi'an Incident : Jiang offers some verbal concessions and is released [71]
1937	19 April	Jiang Jingguo arrives in Shanghai [64]
	7 July	Marco Polo Bridge Incident : Japanese troops performing maneuvers around Beijing receive fire from the NRA and de-escalation fails, ending in Japanese shelling of Chinese troops [72]
	12 July	Battle of Beiping–Tianjin : Japanese troops arrive in Tianjin [72]
	22 July	Battle of Beiping–Tianjin : The Japanese order Chinese forces to withdraw from the area, but they attack instead [73]
	7 August	Jiang convenes the Military Council and declares all-out resistance as the national policy [73]
	13 August	Battle of Shanghai : The NRA attempts to drive Japanese forces from Shanghai but fail [74]
	5 November	Battle of Shanghai : Japanese forces land on the beaches of Hangzhou Bay and advance toward Suzhou River [75]
	8 November	Battle of Shanghai : Jiang gives the orders to withdraw [75]
	7 December	Battle of Nanjing : Jiang and Song Meiling leave Nanjing for Lushan [76]
	12 December	Battle of Nanjing : Tang Shengzhi gives the order to break out of Japanese encirclement [76]
1938	24 March	Battle of Taierzhuang : Japanese forces fall into an ambush at a railway spur line at Taierzhuang [77]
	5 June	1938 Yellow River flood : Soldiers blow open the dikes on the south banks of the Yellow River, flooding Henan, Anhui, and Jiangsu [78]
	24 October	Battle of Wuhan : Jiang gives the order to withdraw from Wuhan [79]
	November	Jiang arrives in Chongqing [80]
		The Burma Road is constructed by 200,000 laborers and engineers [81]
1939	27 September	Battle of Changsha (1939) : A Japanese attack on Changsha is defeated and withdraws with heavy casualties [82]
	winter	1939–40 Winter Offensive : NRA forces attack Japanese positions but ultimately end in operational failure [82]

1940s

Year	Date	Event
1940	January	Wang Jingwei defects to the Japanese and sets up the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China in Nanjing [81]
	August	Hundred Regiments Offensive : The Eighth Route Army attacks Japanese occupied areas in Shanxi and Hebei [83]
	December	Hundred Regiments Offensive : The communist offensive is reversed and Japanese retaliation reduces the population of communist base areas by 19 million [84]
1941	7 January	New Fourth Army incident : The New Fourth Army moves south into ROC territory and clash with NRA forces [85]
	30 January	Battle of South Henan : NRA and Japanese forces clash in South Henan [86]
	8 December	Attack on Pearl Harbor : Jiang receives news of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor [87]
	24 December	Battle of Changsha (1942) : Japanese forces attack Changsha [88]
1942	15 January	Battle of Changsha (1942) : Japanese forces withdraw from Changsha and suffer heavy losses from a Chinese encirclement maneuver [88]
	18 February	Jiang meets Gandhi outside Kolkata [89]
	27 February	Jiang visits Lashio [90]
	19 March	Battle of Toungoo : Japanese forces attack NRA troops at Toungoo [91]
	30 March	Battle of Toungoo : NRA troops withdraw [91]
	18 April	Doolittle Raid : American bombers crash land in China [92]
	19 April	Battle of Yenangyaung : NRA forces assist British troops from escaping a Japanese encirclement [93]
	20 April	Battle of Yenangyaung : Japanese forces destroy the Sixth Army's Temporary 55th Division [93]
	29 April	The Japanese seize Lashio [93]
	April	Battle of West Hubei : Japanese forces enter Hubei and Hunan to loot and collect supplies [94]
	5 May	Joseph Stilwell abandons his soldiers and escapes to India [95]
	15 May	Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign : Japanese forces devastate Zhejiang and Jiangxi in reprisal for the Doolittle Raid, killing hundreds of thousands [92]
	2 June	Joseph Stilwell flies back to Chongqing [96]
	10 October	Jiang announces that Washington and London have agreed to drop "extraterritoriality" [97]
1943	2 November	Battle of Changde : Japanese forces capture Changde [98]
	21 November	Cairo Conference : Jiang arrives in Cairo [99]
	1 December	The Cairo Declaration is formally announced, promising to return all territories Japan had stolen from China [100]
	20 December	Battle of Changde : Japanese forces are forced to withdraw from Changde [98]
1944	19 April	Operation Ichigo : Japanese forces begin their largest land operation and cross the Yellow River into Henan [101]
	25 May	Battle of Central Henan : Jiang gives the orders to withdraw [102]
	26 June	Battle of Changsha (1944) : Zhang Deneng gives the orders to abandon Changsha [103]
	22 June	Defense of Hengyang : Japanese forces lay siege to Hengyang [104]
	3 August	Siege of Myitkyina : Allied forces take Myitkyina [105]
	8 August	Defense of Hengyang : Japanese forces take Hengyang [106]
	24 November	Battle of Guilin–Liuzhou : Japanese forces take Guilin and Liuzhou [107]
1945	9 April	Battle of West Hunan : Japanese forces advance into western Hunan [108]
	7 June	Battle of West Hunan : Japanese forces are routed [108]
	15 August	Victory over Japan Day : Jiang Jieshi receives news of Japan's surrender and he broadcasts a victory speech throughout all of China [109]
	29 August	Chongqing Negotiations : Mao and Jiang start negotiations [110]
	16 December	Jiang visits Beijing [111]
1946	13 January	Jiang and Mao agree to cease-fire following the convening of the Political Consultative Assembly [112]

1970s

Year	Date	Event
1975	5 April	Jiang Jieshi dies [113]

See also

• History of China–United States relations to 1948

Citations

1. Taylor 2009, p. 11.
2. Taylor 2009, p. 12.
3. Taylor 2009, p. 16.
4. Taylor 2009, p. 17.
5. Taylor 2009, p. 20.
6. Taylor 2009, p. 19.
7. Taylor 2009, p. 21.
8. Taylor 2009, p. 22.
9. Taylor 2009, p. 23.
10. Taylor 2009, p. 24.
11. Taylor 2009, p. 26.
12. Taylor 2009, p. 27.
13. Taylor 2009, p. 28.
14. Taylor 2009, p. 29.
15. Taylor 2009, p. 30.
16. Taylor 2009, p. 32.
17. Taylor 2009, p. 34.
18. Taylor 2009, p. 33.
19. Taylor 2009, p. 35.
20. Taylor 2009, p. 36.
21. Taylor 2009, p. 37.
22. Taylor 2009, p. 41.
23. Taylor 2009, p. 42.
24. Taylor 2009, p. 43.
25. Taylor 2009, p. 44.
26. Taylor 2009, p. 45.
27. Taylor 2009, p. 48.
28. Taylor 2009, p. 49.
29. Taylor 2009, p. 50.
30. Taylor 2009, p. 51.
31. Taylor 2009, p. 52.
32. Taylor 2009, p. 53.
33. Taylor 2009, p. 54.
34. Taylor 2009, p. 55.
35. Taylor 2009, p. 56.
36. Taylor 2009, p. 57.
37. Taylor 2009, p. 58.
38. Taylor 2009, p. 59.
39. Taylor 2009, p. 62.
40. Taylor 2009, p. 64.
41. Taylor 2009, p. 65.
42. Taylor 2009, p. 66.
43. Taylor 2009, p. 68.
44. Taylor 2009, p. 71.
45. Taylor 2009, p. 72.
46. Taylor 2009, p. 79.
47. Taylor 2009, p. 74.
48. Taylor 2009, p. 78.
49. Taylor 2009, p. 82.
50. Taylor 2009, p. 83.
51. Taylor 2009, p. 84.
52. Taylor 2009, p. 86.
53. Taylor 2009, p. 87.
54. Taylor 2009, p. 89.
55. Taylor 2009, p. 92.
56. Taylor 2009, p. 94.
57. Taylor 2009, p. 96.
58. Taylor 2009, p. 98.
59. Taylor 2009, p. 99.
60. Taylor 2009, p. 100.
61. Taylor 2009, p. 107.
62. Taylor 2009, p. 111.
63. Taylor 2009, p. 113.
64. Taylor 2009, p. 114.
65. Taylor 2009, p. 112.
66. Taylor 2009, p. 118.
67. Taylor 2009, p. 119.
68. Taylor 2009, p. 122.
69. Taylor 2009, p. 123.
70. Taylor 2009, p. 127.
71. Taylor 2009, p. 135.
72. Taylor 2009, p. 145.
73. Taylor 2009, p. 146.
74. Taylor 2009, p. 148.
75. Taylor 2009, p. 150.
76. Taylor 2009, p. 151.
77. Taylor 2009, p. 154.
78. Taylor 2009, p. 155.
79. Taylor 2009, p. 158.
80. Taylor 2009, p. 161.
81. Taylor 2009, p. 170.
82. Taylor 2009, p. 169.
83. Taylor 2009, p. 173.
84. Taylor 2009, p. 174.
85. Taylor 2009, p. 177.
86. Taylor 2009, p. 178.
87. Taylor 2009, p. 188.
88. Taylor 2009, p. 189.
89. Taylor 2009, p. 195.
90. Taylor 2009, p. 196.
91. Taylor 2009, p. 200.
92. Taylor 2009, p. 209.
93. Taylor 2009, p. 203.
94. Taylor 2009, p. 228.
95. Taylor 2009, p. 204.
96. Taylor 2009, p. 208.
97. Taylor 2009, p. 216.
98. Taylor 2009, p. 259.
99. Taylor 2009, p. 245.
100. Taylor 2009, p. 254.
101. Taylor 2009, p. 267.
102. Taylor 2009, p. 268.
103. Taylor 2009, p. 273.
104. Taylor 2009, p. 282.
105. Taylor 2009, p. 270.
106. Taylor 2009, p. 284.
107. Taylor 2009, p. 297.
108. Taylor 2009, p. 306.
109. Taylor 2009, p. 7.
110. Taylor 2009, p. 318.
111. Taylor 2009, p. 329.
112. Taylor 2009, p. 340.
113. Taylor 2009, p. 1.

References

• Pantsov, Alexander (2023). Victorious in Defeat: The Life and Times of Chiang Kai-Shek, China, 1887-1975. translated by Steven I. Levine. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN   0300260202.

• Taylor, Jay (2009), The Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for Modern China, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press