Chiang Kai-shek was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and military commander who was the leader of the Nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) party and commander-in-chief and Generalissimo of the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) from 1926, and leader of the Republic of China (ROC) in mainland China from 1928. After Chiang was defeated in the Chinese Civil War by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1949, he continued to lead the Republic of China on the island of Taiwan until his death in 1975. He was considered the legitimate head of China by the United Nations until 1971.
The Xi'an Incident was a major Chinese political crisis from 12 to 26 December 1936. Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Nationalist government of China, was placed under house arrest in the city of Xi'an by a Nationalist army he was there to review. Chiang's captors hoped to end the Chinese Civil War and confront Japanese imperial expansion into Chinese territory. After two weeks of intense negotiations between Chiang, his captors, and representatives of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Chiang was released with a verbal promise to end the civil war and put up a firmer resistance to Japan.
The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT) against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. The purpose of the campaign was to reunify China, which had become fragmented in the aftermath of the 1911 Revolution. The expedition was led by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, and was divided into two phases. The first phase ended in a 1927 political split between two factions of the KMT: the right-leaning Nanjing faction, led by Chiang, and the left-leaning faction in Wuhan, led by Wang Jingwei. The split was partially motivated by Chiang's Shanghai Massacre of Communists within the KMT, which marked the end of the First United Front. In an effort to mend this schism, Chiang Kai-shek stepped down as the commander of the NRA in August 1927, and went into exile in Japan.
Zhang Qun, was a Chinese politician and premier of the Republic of China and a prominent member of the Kuomintang. He served as secretary general to the President of the Republic from 1954 to 1972 and senior advisor to Presidents Chiang Kai-shek, Yen Chia-kan, Chiang Ching-kuo, and Lee Teng-hui. Under the influence of his wife, Ma Yu-ying, he became a Christian in the 1930s.
Yang Hucheng was a Chinese general during the Warlord Era of Republican China and Kuomintang general during the Chinese Civil War.
The Nationalist government, officially the National Government of the Republic of China, refers to the government of the Republic of China from 1 July 1925 to 20 May 1948, led by the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) party.
Zhang Fakui was a Chinese Nationalist general who fought against northern warlords, the Imperial Japanese Army and Chinese Communist forces in his military career. He served as commander-in-chief of the 8th Army Group and commander-in-chief of NRA ground force before retiring in Hong Kong in 1949.
The Northeastern Army, also known as the Fengtian Army, was a Chinese army that existed from 1911 to 1937. General Zhang Zuolin developed it as an independent fighting force during the Warlord Era. He used the army to control Northeastern China (Manchuria) and intervene in the national politics. During the mid-1920s the Northeastern Army was the dominant military force in China, but in 1928 it was defeated by the Kuomintang's National Revolutionary Army (NRA) during the Northern Expedition. At the end of that campaign, Zhang Zuolin was assassinated and succeeded by his son Zhang Xueliang. When Xueliang subsequently pledged loyalty to the Kuomintang, the Northeastern Army became part of the NRA and was officially rechristened the "Northeastern Border Defense Force".
The Central Plains War was a series of military campaigns in 1929 and 1930 that constituted a Chinese civil war between the Nationalist Kuomintang government in Nanjing led by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and several regional military commanders and warlords who were former allies of Chiang.
Zhang Jinghui was a Chinese general, warlord and politician during the Warlord era. He is noted for his role in the Japanese puppet regime of Manchukuo in which he served as Prime Minister for most of its existence.
Yu Xuezhong was a general in the armed forces of the Republic of China during World War II, and later a pro-Communist politician in the People's Republic of China, after Mao Zedong took power.
The Second United Front was the alliance between the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to resist the Imperial Japanese invasion of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War, which suspended the Chinese Civil War from 1937 to 1945.
The Northeast Flag Replacement refers to Zhang Xueliang's announcement on 29 December 1928 that all banners of the Beiyang government in Manchuria would be replaced with the flag of the Nationalist government, thus nominally uniting China under one government.
Ma Zhanshan was a Chinese general famous for resisting the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. Ma was placed in charge of the Northeastern Army in Heilongjiang Province during the invasion and ignored orders from the central government not to resist the Japanese. He became a national hero in China by fighting the unsuccessful but highly symbolic Jiangqiao campaign against the Kwantung Army's advance into Heilongjiang. After his defeat, he feigned defection to the Japanese and was appointed Minister of War in the new Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. He then joined and took command of the guerrilla campaign against Japanese occupation, taking with him large amounts of supplies, funds, and military intelligence. Ma Zhanshan rejoined the Northeastern Army after the guerrilla movement was largely defeated. He continued to oppose Chiang Kai-shek's policy of non-resistance and supported the Xi'an Incident that forced Chiang to form the Second United Front with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He commanded several units in the National Revolutionary Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War while covertly cooperating with the CCP. Ma avoided direct participation in the postwar Chinese Civil War and eventually defected to the Communists, dying a year later in 1950.
The Soong Sisters is a 1997 Hong Kong historical drama film based on the lives of the Soong sisters from 1911 to 1949. The three sisters married the most important historical figures – Sun Yat-sen, Chiang Kai-shek and K'ung Hsiang-hsi – in the founding of the Republic of China, making their family the focal point of every major decision made in modern Chinese history. Directed by Mabel Cheung, the film starred Maggie Cheung, Michelle Yeoh and Vivian Wu as the sisters. The screenplay was written by Mabel Cheung's husband, Alex Law, whom she frequently collaborates with.
He Zhuguo (simplified Chinese: 何柱国; traditional Chinese: 何柱國; pinyin: Hé Zhùguó; Wade–Giles: Ho2 Chu4-kuo2; 1897– September 3, 1985) was a Chinese general from Rong County, Guangxi, who served in the Fengtian Army and later the National Revolutionary Army. He was a member of the Hakka ethnicity. As a commander of a cavalry force under Zhang Xueliang, he escaped assassination by KMT radicals during the Xi'an Incident by the help of Yang Hucheng. In the People's Republic of China, he is celebrated by the Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang for his participation in the Second United Front between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party against Japanese invaders during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
The Anti-Fengtian War was the last major civil war within the Republic of China's northern Beiyang government prior to the Northern Expedition. It lasted from November 1925 to April 1926 and was waged by the Guominjun against the Fengtian clique and their Zhili clique allies. The war ended with the defeat of the Guominjun and the end of the provisional executive government. The war is also known as either Guominjun-Fengtian War, or the Third Zhili–Fengtian War.
Chang Li-sheng was a Chinese politician and diplomat who served as the Secretary General of the Kuomintang from 1954 to 1959. L.S. Chang as he was commonly known, played a key role in Republic of China (ROC)'s political, economic, financial, and foreign affairs as well as in Kuomintang affairs from the 1920s until his death in Taiwan in 1971. Throughout his political life over four decades, Chang served in numerous important posts within both the KMT and the ROC's local and central governments. He was a rare example of Chinese political virtues, noted for his integrity and honesty. He is remembered for numerous achievements and deeds, including his role in assisting Chen Cheng (1897–1965), former Taiwan provincial governor, Premier, and Vice President, to launch Taiwan's local autonomy, economic and land reforms.
The Former Residence of Chang Hsüeh-liang is a museum about Chang Hsüeh-liang in Wufeng Township, Hsinchu County, Taiwan.
The National Pacification Army (NPA), also known as the Anguojun or Ankuochun, was a warlord coalition led by Fengtian clique General Zhang Zuolin, and was the military arm of the Beiyang government of the Republic of China during its existence.
