HISTORY BEFORE THE RED TIDE: CHINESE HISTORY

Flag of the Republic of China, still used by Taiwan to this day

This is Part 1 out of 2 in the articles about Chinese history.

In our previous entry, we discussed about the Empire of Japan and its burning legacy. But for this entry, we would be examining its adversary: China. Having long been a hegemon of East Asia, the region of China had always been plagued by the interesting sides of history. Having endured constant civil wars, geopolitical shifts, and waging countless wars, China itself was a chessboard of politics. Yet, through the determination of its leaders, it assembled itself to become the regional power that it continued to be today. While Japan's legacy may have lingered in the modern day, China's legacy continued, even under the guise of a completely different ideology. Due to the expansive nature of Chinese history, I would divide this into two articles. This one would explain China before its fall to communism, while the next would explain Mao Zedong's rule up until the early years of present day China. With the legacy of the Rising Sun having set, the legacy of the Dragon is up next.

THE MING DYNASTY

The region of China had long since been dominated by a series of imperial dynasties, all of which held tenous power at best. Ever since the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history, the unification of China has become the ultimate goal for every dynasty that came after. Some failed, yet some succeeded to certain extents. One of the successful dynasties was the Ming Dynasty, having ruled over much of China since the 12th century. The Ming Dynasty emphasized on military expansion. Its founder, the Hongwu Emperor, spearheaded the development of the empire's army and navy. His efforts would bear fruition, as the Ming empire possesses an army of over one million troops, and its navy was the largest that the world has ever seen at the time. The Hongwu Emperor was careful in teaching his heirs, giving them the Huang-Ming Zuxun as an instruction book on how to properly manage the country his way. His delicate method of nationbuilding was shattered by his successor, the Jianwen Emperor, after he became too ambitious and attempted to curtail his predecessor's power. This move sparked a popular uprising that installed the Prince of Yan into the throne as the Yongle Emperor in the early 15th century. Under his reign, his home city of Yan was made into a secondary capital and renamed into Beijing. The Forbidden City was established as a palace for members of the imperial government. The Ming empire's reach also began to carve into Inner Asia, expanding its power and influence.

Extent of the Ming dynasty

The governmental structure of the Ming dynasty followed closely from one of its predecessors, the Song dynasty. Civil service was improved and perfected under the Ming rule, and if one wished to enter the bureaucratic government, they now have to pass an imperial examination. The title of "prime minister" was abolished during this period, vesting all power to the emperor. Only a specially appointed Grand Secretariat, or a Neige, could rule alongside the emperor. This made the Ming dynasty one of the most autocratic dynasties in all of Chinese history. The reign of the Yongle Emperor gave more 

and more trust towards the noble eunuchs regarding political affairs.

Yet such long-term glory was not forever lasting. The neighboring Northern Yuan dynasty had managed to capture the incumbent Ming emperor, Emperor Yingzhong, in the late 1440s, causing an empire-wide crisis. The once glorious navy had fallen into disrepair, and forced labor was utilized to finish their additions to the Great Wall. The coasts of the empire was subjected to constant raids from eager Japanese pirates, causing severe repercussions to trading activities. Ever since then, the Ming dynasty experienced a steady decline, and in this period of weakness, a new group emerged in the far eastern steppes.

FORMATION OF THE QING DYNASTY

In the early 17th century, located in what is now Manchuria, lies the Manchus, descendants of the ancient Jurchen tribe that had lived in northeastern China. The Manchu people existed in a feudal, tribal society, relatively isolated from mainland affairs and so far avoiding attention from the Ming dynasty. One of the chieftains of these Jurchen tribes was a man named Nurhaci. Nurhaci had proclaimed himself as a vassal to the Ming Dynasty and acted as the empire's representative in Manchuria. Having grown to adore Chinese literature and other artworks, such as the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Nurhaci was partially influenced by the culture of the Han people that lived in a majority of mainland China. In the 1580s, he kickstarted an ambitious campaign to unite all the competing Jurchen tribes under his banner. By 1616, he had accomplished his mission and established the Later Jin dynasty, claiming the title of Khan.

Nurhaci, leader of the Later Jin dynasty and laid the foundations for the Qing dynasty

This supposed Ming representative had secured a dynasty for himself, and not long after in 1618, he openly denounced the Ming dynasty. Essentially, this was a declaration of war from the Later Jin to the Ming dynasty. During the ensuing conflict, Nurhaci would launch a heavily successful campaign against the aging dynasty, capturing several important cities. Most notably was the city of Mukden, which itself was turned into the capital for Nurhaci's growing empire. He was also allied with the Khorchin peoples, who served as expert cavalry archers throughout the war.

When Nurhaci passed away in 1626, the throne was passed onto one of his sons, Hong Taiji. Under his leadership, the Ming dynasty managed to inflict several losses onto the Later Jin dynasty, yet they were mostly successful due to the Ming having obtained cannons from Portugal. To counter the Ming's use of artillery, Hong Taiji formed his own artillery corps, mimicking the designs of the Portuguese cannons that the Ming possessed. Throughout the 1630s, the Later Jin dynasty would grow exponentially in power after their allies, the Mongols from Inner Mongolia, was incorporated into the empire as a seperate banner under Manchu authority. It was also around this time that Hong Taiji received numerous recommendations from his nobility to elevate his status from khan to emperor. There were calls to rename the Jin dynasty into the Qing dynasty. Hong Taiji would ultimately approve of the plan, and established the Qing dynasty in 1636, officially becoming the new dynasty's first emperor. Ironically, Taiji would model his government from his adversary, the Ming dynasty. Under Nurhaci's reign, the Han Chinese population of the empire was mostly subjected to inequality. Animosity to the Han grew after they revolted in 1623, agitating Nurhaci, who employed aggressive and often violent policies against the Han. Taiji, however, recognized the need to gain the support of the Han Chinese. Numerous captured Ming statesmen and military generals were pardoned by Taiji, who sought to build up support from the Han and incorporated Han Chinese as first-class citizens in the Manchu-led Qing dynasty.

FROM MING TO QING

In 1643, Hong Taiji suddenly passed away. The Qing's council of nobles appointed Taiji's five-year old son into the throne under the title of the Shunzhi Emperor. Taiji's half-brother, Dorgon, acted as the emperor's regent and was the de facto head of state for the Qing empire. Meanwhile, the Ming dynasty was in shambles; internal conflicts and constant peasant uprisings proved meddlesome, and instability caused the Ming's grip over mainland China to weaken as the balance of power tipped favorably to the Qing. In April of 1644, the Ming capital of Beijing would fall to the hands of a coalition of rebel forces, led by the elusive Li Zicheng, himself a former government member of the Ming empire. With the capture of Beijing, came the death of the last Ming emperor, the Chongzhen Emperor, who chose to commit suicide than to kneel to Li's rebel army. The death of the Chongzhen Emperor marked the official end of the Ming dynasty.

Yet the conflict still raged on. Li Zicheng's forces continued to march towards the remaining Ming army under the command of Wu Sangui, based in Shanhai Pass. Wu and his army was placed between a rock and a hard place; on one hand, a rebel arny twice his army's size was rapidly advancing towards his position, yet on the other hand, Wu's enemies in the Qing dynasty was just to the east. Facing impending defeat, Wu reluctantly allied with Dorgon, and the two former enemies would establish a seemingly impossible alliance. United by their opposition to Li, the allies would inflict a devastating defeat onto his rebel forces in the resulting battle at Shanhai Pass. Li was forced to retreat, and Beijing was soon recaptured by the allied force. Wu would shift his allegiance to the Qing, and now with the imperial capital in their hands, the Qing dynasty would proclaim the Shunzhi Emperor as the "Son of Heaven", thus granting the Mandate of Heaven to the Qing dynasty and legitimize their status as China's new rightful rulers.

The mainland would still be riddled with occasional resistance from Ming loyalists and peasant rebels. But Qing control over China would be secured through a series of cunning political maneuvers. During the reign of the Ming, the military was not treated with respect from the government. The Qing gained the support of much of the Ming military by promising to respect and acknowldege their skills in combat. Moreover, the Han Chinese troops of the Qing dynasty would be turned into the main vanguard force, supplied with advanced weaponry like artillery and muskets. The Qing dynasty officially became a multi-ethnic empire, consisting of Han Chinese, Manchus, and Mongols who had roughly equal representation. Intermarriage between ethnic groups was legalized by the Qing government to promote ethnic harmony within the empire. Early Qing statesmen were Han Chinese as well, and their skilled expertise in nationbuilding helped stabilize the Qing dynasty's rule.

The reign of the Shunzhi Emperor was dominated by the regency of Dorgon. Dorgon was insecure about his political position in the new Qing state. As a result, Manchu princes whom he believed could become potential rivals were dealt with prematurely. Many of these princes would either be imprisoned or demoted from power. His rule was highly unpopular amongst the traditional-oriented Manchu princes, who protested against keeping the state structure of the Ming dynasty intact. Beijing, having been the Ming capital, was turned into the Qing capital, and many former Ming statesmen were pardoned and installed in several positions of power. It was not just the Manchus that were disappointed of Dorgon's actions; in 1645 he implemented a rather controversial law which required all adult Han Chinese to cut their hair short to resemble the hairstyle of Manchu men. It was a humiliating policy for the Han, as it directly challenged their Confucian beliefs and painfully reminded them that the Qing were in control. A Han Chinese uprising occured in response, resulting in the deaths of a hundred thousand Han people.

In 1650, Dorgon died unexpectedly. His reign as the regent had ended, and time had come for the Shunzhi Emperor to personally lead the dynasty. However, he was barely 13 at the time of Dorgon's death, and he still required adult supervision to run an empire. The emperor's adult guardian was now the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, who proved to be a professional player at the intricate chessboard of politics. Two months into the rule of the Shunzhi Emperor, the posthumous titles that were granted to Dorgon were stripped off of him, and his body was mutilated shortly after. While Dorgon had initially gained the respectable title of "Emperor Yi" due to his leadership, he had centralized too much of the government to the point where his biggest threat ended up being the imperial court. All traces of Dorgon's influence in the Qing state were eliminated. Family members, friends, associates and those loyal to him were all purged by the new Qing government. The reign of the Shunzhi Emperor would come to an abrupt end in 1661, when he died from smallpox at the age of 24. He was then succeeded by his son, who claimed the title of the Kangxi Emperor. The emperor would usher in a new era of prosperity to not just the Qing state, but to all of China.

Flag of the Qing dynasty

China under Qing rule

THE QING'S GOLDEN AGE

The beginning of the Kangxi Emperor's reign was one of worry. When he ascended to the throne, the emperor was only seven years of age. To prevent a figure like Dorgon from rising to power again, the Shunzhi Emperor hastily appointed four regents before his death, all of whom were not closely related to his son or the imperial family. However, one of the regents, a military commander named Oboi, began to gradually monopolize power off of the Kangxi Emperor. But in 1669, clever thinking on the now 15-year old emperor's part managed to get Oboi imprisoned and stripped of his titles. With his reign properly starting, he kickstarted the High Qing period, which was the zenith of Qing China's power. During the High Qing period, the empire's population doubled in size, and the empire focused itself on trading and commerce. Due to the frequent trading activities of the Qing, Chinese artstyles eventually made their way into European markets, where it would become a relatively popular artstyle used by several European artists. The Kangxi Emperor improved the country's literacy and education, compiling works of Chinese literature, encyclopedias and dictionaries for every citizen to read. Most notable of these works was the Kangxi Dictionary, regarded as the most complete Chinese dictionary book up until the 20th century.

The emperor's grip on power would soon be put into the test. There was trouble brewing in southern China. Three provinces, ruled by former Ming generals, revolted and caused the Revolt of the Three Feudatories. The war lasted eight years, but the Kangxi Emperor was able to organize effective counter-attacks against the revolting provinces. In 1681, the revolt was silenced, and Qing China regained a now wartorn southern China. Nevertheless, military and territorial expansion continued, with much emphasis on westward and northward expansions. The Qing engaged in a series of wars against the Dzungar Khanate in Outer Mongolia, eventually killing its khan Galdan and incorporating Mongolia, Xinjiang and Tibet into the Qing empire, effectively achieving much of the Kangxi Emperor's desired territorial gains. In 1683, Qing China also gained the island of Taiwan, and started a campaign against Russia to the north. Qing victories forced Russia to cede territories in the Far East, and the resulting Treaty of Nerchinsk became China's first treaty with any European power.

After the death of the Kangxi Emperor in 1722, his son, Prince Yong, ascended to the throne under the title of the Yongzheng Emperor. Unlike the benevolent rule of his father, however, the Yongzheng Emperor was more aggressive in his policies. He cracked down on what he believed to he unorthodox sects of Confucianism and outlawed foreign religions such as Christianity. In the face of economic crises, his response was enforcing and increasing the payment of the land tax. Despite this harsh measure, the additional money would be funneled to improve vital infrastructure such as irrigation systems, schools, and road networks across the country. He also reformed the government by establishing a Grand Council, consisting of the emperor's top advisors and acting as a cabinet for the emperor. These reforms were well-received in the north, but not much as in the south, which was a relatively new addition to the Qing empire.

Overall, the Yongzheng Emperor was much more brutal during his reign but he was effective in ruling and nationbuilding which bore great results nonetheless. What could be considered a blunder was his military campaigns in Mongolia, where the Qing empire continued to encounter local resistance from the surviving tribes in Mongolia. While these campaigns were successful in improving Qing China's military prowess and securing the emperor's control over the military, it massively drained the treasury of the empire. The Yongzheng Emperor's rule would meet an untimely end in 1735, when he passed away, making him the shortest reigning Qing monarch.

His son, Prince Bao, would ascend to the throne under the title of the Qianlong Emperor. Under his rule, he continued the military campaigns in the west to consolidate Qing China's holdings in Mongolia and Xinjiang and cracking down on revolts in southern China. The Qianlong Emperor would also order the creation of the Complete Library of the Four Treasuries, by far the largest compilation of books in Chinese history. The creation of such a large feat in literature coincided with the Qianlong Emperor's policy of literary inquisition, silencing intellectual writings and silently removing opposition to him or the government. Despite the apparent success of his reign, corruption became a major problem for his government. During his later years, a Qing statesmen named Heshen abused his status as the Emperor's favorite by committing the worst acts of corruption in Qing history, becoming the most corrupt government official. When the Qianlong Emperor died in around 1796, his son, the Jiaqing Emperor, immediately purged Heshen of his riches and forced the corrupt statesmen into suicide. Due to the meddlings of Heshen and other corrupt officials, it soon started the White Lotus Rebellion, a popular rebellion led by the Buddhist-majority White Lotus Society as a direct response to the rampant corruption of the Qing government. Concurrently with the White Lotus Rebellion, numerous other rebellions sprung up from the dissatisfied populace, who criticized the government for its corruption that caused road networks and waterways to be poorly maintained and for being unable to solve local famine crises. For eight years, Qing China suffered rebellions, but by 1804, the White Lotus Rebellion would be put down and some semblance of order was restored.

EARLY MODERN AGE

Qing China's position as East Asia's hegemon was achieved through the establishment of the tributary system, which was carried on from the Ming. The tributary system facilitated trading and foreign relations with other Asian nations. In theory, the tributary system established a loose chain of political hegemony over East and Southeast Asia for the Qing. A seperate government ministry was formed, called the Lifan Yuan, which was responsible for establishing relations with Mongol and Tibetan tribes in the west and with the Tsardom of Russia in the east. Yet China's power would soon be challenged by a foreign competitor; Europe. It was during the 18th century when European countries began engaging in trading activities in Southeast Asia. Trading missions soon became missions of territorial conquest, and marked the beginning of colonial expansion. Two European companies seemed to rival the Qing; the British and the Dutch East India Company. The British EIC had already established a foothold in the Indian subcontinent, while the Dutch VOC had established trading posts in the island of Java and quickly took over the Spice Islands from the Portuguese in modern-day Indonesia. In response to European activities, Qing China created the Canton System: to limit European trade within China, the Qing government decided to restrict all maritime activities into the port city of Canton, now called Guangzhou. Private Chinese merchant companies were granted special privileges, akin to that of the EIC and the VOC.

The problem for European companies in China was that demand was relatively low. There was no incentive for Chinese merchants to buy from the Europeans. Silver was the main form of currency between Chinese and European traders. But, the Europeans were known to get crafty in business. There was a growing demand in China for a valuable resource that could be used for either medicinal uses or as an addictive substance: opium. Opium was slowly becoming more popular in its usage in China, and seeing an opportunity for large sums of profit, the British EIC based in India began the mass production of opium. The current Qing Emperor, the Daoguang Emperor, issued an order to confiscate all stocks of opium from the country, worried about opium's negative effects onto its users and ending the opium trade. The British were pissed due to the lack of compensation from the Qing government, and in 1839, Britain sent a military expedition into China and started the First Opium War.

British and Chinese troops clash in the First Opium War

The war would prove to the Qing how outdated their military was to humiliating extents. The Qing Navy was outclassed and outgunned by the battleships of the Royal Navy. On the ground, British troops held much powerful guns and artillery, able to outmaneuver the Qing forces. The war continued until 1842, when a peace treaty was signed in the city of Nanjing. Several port cities were ceded to European control, including Canton and the island of Hong Kong, the latter turning into a British holding. It was the first of the "unequal treaties" that would be imposed upon China by the European powers. The war also showed the Qing government that it was outdated, and that its supposed hegemony over East Asia seemed to be only in paper. The power of the Qing dynasty would be rocked once more by a former civil service candidate, Hong Xiuquan. Hong was influenced by Christian teachings, and claimed that he received visions that explained he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ sent to reform China to the right path.

To any ordinary person, Hong may have been too high on opium. But his friend, Feng Yunshan, took advantage of Hong's ramblings, using it as a tool to sow revolution. Within the impoversihed province of Guizhou, where social unrest was spreading and famine was a common occurence, many would gladly follow a banner that opposed the Qing government. In 1851, Hong would lead this uprising, which would come to be known as the Taiping Rebellion. He established the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, reinforcing the idea that he was a descendant of Christ and installed several rules based on Christian teachings to his subjects. The Taiping Rebellion soon became the single greatest threat to Qing stability. The rebellion would also encourage other, independent uprisings such as that of the Muslim-led Panthay Rebellion and Dungan Revolts, and others that shooked Qing China to its core. But another threat would arise in 1856. China's recent enemy, Britain, striked again. While trying to locate pirates, Qing forces allegedly went aboard a British flagship. The incident was enough to be a casus belli for the British leadership to renegotiate the Treaty of Nanjing, gain several more territory and increase its influence in the country. In the same year, the Second Opium War would break out. Unlike the First, Britain would be supported by a fellow imperialist state, France, greatly diminishing Qing hopes of victory. The incumbent emperor, the Xianfeng Emperor, was forced to agree to the Treaty of Tientsin proposed by the Anglo-French forces. The treaty was extremely humiliating for the Qing. One of its clauses required all Chinese government documents to be changed into English, a heavy blow to Qing China's cultural integrity.

Even though a treaty had been signed, it only delayed the advance of the Anglo-French forces. In 1860, they managed to reach Beijing, forcing the emperor to flee and install his half-brother Prince Gong as a proxy ruler of the country. While there, Anglo-French forces looted and burned the Imperial Gardens. Prince Gong, on behalf of the emperor, signed the Convention of Beijing, effectively ending the Second Opium War and humiliating Qing China once again.

Taiping Rebellion; rebel-held territories are represented in the shade of red

REFORMS TO STABILIZE

The military disasters of the Opium Wars caused radical reformations and changes to the state apparatus of Qing China. In 1861, shortly after the death of the Xianfeng Emperor in his lodgings at Rehe, the five-year old Tongzhi Emperor ascended to the throne. Chinese military officers, and many in the Qing government, realized the need to strengthen and partially modernize China to properly fend off against foreign imperialists. These military officers then rallied together and started the Tongzhi Reformation, an attempt to restore and preserve traditional values while adopting Western military technology. The Tongzhi Reformation was orchestrated mainly by the emperor's mother, Empress Dowager Cixi. With the help of Prince Gong and other important individuals like Zeng Guofan, younger military officers were sponsored by the state to spearhead the formation of a multitude of institutional reforms. To better Westernize, Qing China launched the Self-Strengthening Movement, radically reforming government institutions and establishing new ones like the Zongli Yamen, which was essentially Qing China's foreign ministry; the Imperial Maritime Customs Service, which was the government's tax collection agency; and creating the heavily modernized Beiyang Army and Navy.

A little explanation on the Empress Dowager Cixi, for she would become a very important figure for the rest of Qing history. She was originally the concubine of the Xianfeng Emperor, but rose to prominence in state affairs after the Tongzhi Emperor ascended to the throne. A triumvirate consisting of Cixi, another empress dowager named Ci'an, and Prince Gong conspired to eliminate many of the Tongzhi Emperor's regents, causing a power vacuum that only they could fill in. Both Cixi and Ci'an ruled together as regents to the emperor, and held de facto control over the entire Qing state as a result. In 1875, the young emperor died, and his replacement was Cixi's nephew. This was a direct violation of the traditional dynastic law, but nonetheless, her nephew ascended the throne under the title of the Guangxu Emperor, yet again making Cixi as the regent. Her companion Ci'an would pass away in 1881, leaving only her as the regent of Qing China and vesting much political power to herself.

Empress Dowager Cixi, the woman steering modern Qing politics

Tensions with the European powers remained high. Of particular concern was France, which had established a colony (French Indochina) in modern-day Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. French colonial activities have occured ever since 1858 when France expanded their influence in Indochina during the Cochinchina Campaigns. By 1883, French Indochina's borders had reached China, therefore threatening the Qing state. A war broke out between France and China, a conflict that would be known as the Sino-French War that properly put China's new military skill to the test. After French forces led a surprise attack onto a Chinese fleet, the Qing empire declared war on France and now openly engaged in combat with them. The Chinese managed to achieve successes, defeating the French in Tonkin and preventing the French from landing in Taiwan. The war ended prematurely in 1885 after China's new enemy, Japan, threatened to intervene on the side of France. This worried the Qing state, which was forced to acknowledge French claims in Indochina to prevent a war with Japan.

If you have read the previous entry prior to reading this one, then the situation between China and Japan should be well-known. A brief summary was that China and Japan had been fighting over control and influence over Korea, using several of the country's internal situations against each other in an elaborate game of chess with Korea as the chessboard. Around the same time as the Sino-French War, the Japanese-supported Gadaedang Party instigated the Gapsin Coup, overthrowing the Chinese-leaning government in Korea and, for a brief period, instituted reforms within the country based on Japan's reform models. China moved its troops to overthrow the coup government, and since then tensions rose between Qing China and the Japanese Empire. Situations died down after both sides signed the Convention of Tientsin, agreeing to withdraw their respective armies from Korea and excluding it from their plans, for now. Later in 1894, Japan began the First Sino-Japanese War, and after a string of Chinese defeats at the hands of the much more modernized Japanese and after the loss of important ports like Weihaiwei, Qing China would sue for peace and end the war in another humiliation for China. The Liaodong Peninsula was ceded to Japan, but the European powers of France, Germany, and Russia, having circled over China like vultures, intervened and forced the Japanese to withdraw from the peninsula, which was soon turned into a playground for the European imperialists. But Taiwan and the Penghu Islands remained in Japanese hands, while Korea was effectively in Japan's sphere, albeit loosely.

Meanwhile, the Guangxu Emperor began his self-rule, free from Cixi's regency and forcing her to go into semi-retirement from state affairs. Around the same time, European powers once again plunged their teeth into China to satisfy their infinite appetite. Germany had occupied the Jiaozhou Bay in the Shandong Peninsula, establishing a colony there that served as the main port for the German East Asia Squadron; Russia had taken the Liaodong Peninsula for themselves; and Britain leased more territory from China to expand their holding in Hong Kong. No longer wanting his country to be harassed by European powers, the Guangxu Emperor initiated the Hundred Days' Reform in 1898. The reforms were more radical than before, now calling for the reorganization of the bureaucracy and appoint reform-minded officials into positions of power. Cixi had been involved in these reforms, but she soon opposed it as she was against the idea of making reforms without the consultation of the bureaucracy. She feared that it would only lead to more weakness, and with the Japanese and the Europeans outside their doorstep, China should be more careful in playing its cards. Cixi now assumed direct control of state affairs, arresting and executing those who supported the reforms; the emperor was then placed under house arrest.

Growing instability in China made conditions perfect for another uprising. This next rebellion was perpetrated by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists, also known as the Boxers for their exceptional prowess in boxing and martial arts. In 1899, the Boxers launched the Boxer Rebellion, which aimed to forcefully remove the European powers from China and eliminate other footmarks of imperialist control in the country. During the turn of the century, in 1900, the Boxers proclaimed their support for the Qing government while murdering Christians and European missionaries. The Boxers then moved to Beijing, where they stormed the Foreign Legations of Europe and Japan. This caused the formation of the Eight-Nation Alliance, a coalition of European and Japanese armies formed to combat the Boxers and the Qing government for harming their diplomats. The resulting Boxer Rebellion lasted for no more than two years, and Cixi was forced to flee into the province of Xi'an. The Eight-Nation Alliance was triumphant and imposed harsh restrictions onto the Qing government detailed in the Boxer Protocol. This marked the beginning of the end for Qing China.

QING COLLAPSE AND THE REPUBLICAN ERA

The continued disasters that China suffered ever since the First Sino-Japanese War was too much for China to handle. There were calls for the rulers of China to be the Han Chinese rather than the Manchus, and there were further calls for reform and the occasional revolution. Empress Cixi, who initially opposed radical changes, relented and allowed the growth of the Late Qing Reforms. The reforms changed many aspects of Qing China' economics, education, military and politics as a last-ditch effort to keep the dynasty in power and prevent China from collapsing. The reforms also abolished the imperial examination system in 1905, drafted a proper constitution for Qing China in 1906, established provincial elections in 1909 and were in the process of implementing a national parliament system in 1910. But conservative Manchus that continued to be a majority in the Imperial Court opposed the reforms. Cixi had died prior in 1908, and she was unable to stop these new developments. Echoing that of the Hundred Days' Reform, the reformers were arrested and executed, with many fleeing from China and establishing revolutionary groups abroad. The most effective of these groups was led by a rising figure in Chinese revolutionary circles; Sun Yat-sen.

Prior to the decline of the Qing, Sun Yat-sen had established himself as a key figure to the anti-Qing cause abroad. He appealed to Chinese people living outside of China, like in the United States and Japan. Sun established his base of operations in Tokyo, where he established a revolutionary organization known as the Tongmenghui in 1905. Sun would have an overwhelming amount of supporters during his time in Japan, most of which came from native Chinese citizens. He would also ally with several of the exiled reformers that fled after the crackdown on the Hundred Days' Reform and contacted dissatisfied military leaders in China. Sun's working campaign slogan focused on a principle that he called the "Three Principles of the People", which to Sun's mind, consisted of nationalism, democracy, and the people's livelihood; the latter two were direct demands for political reform. The Tongmenghui continued to influence Chinese politics even if they operated abroad, showing the extent of their reach into China. The dominoes are in place, and it only took a single push for it to come crashing down.

Sun Yat-sen, founder of the Republic of China

After the Boxer Protocol was put into effect, the European powers began to invest in the construction of railway networks across China to increase their influence in the country. Eventually, Chinese provincial governments were allowed by the Qing government to construct their own railways. Financial struggles within the Qing government persuaded the imperial court to seek the help of Sheng Xuanhuai, a successful tycoon, in 1910. By the Qing's blessings, he served as the Minister of Transportation and ordered the nationalization of all railway lines and began to rely on the securing of foreign loans to hopefully get China out from the shackles of economic depression. This policy was not well received, and soon strikes and rebellions occured throughout northern China to protest against the minister's policy. Eventually, the revolting railway workers and discontented civillians as a whole formed numerous revolutionary groups to uphold the Railway Protection Movement, a series of protests by the local populace that demanded the Qing government give back local railway companies. The Literary Society and the Progressive Association were supported by the Tongmenghui, although Sun Yat-sen himself was not directly involved as he was busy touring the United States and collecting funds from sympathizers across the country. Along with several local units of the New Army, the revolutionaries convened and planned out their uprising, aimed to capture the city of Wuchang. The aforementioned New Army was initially deployed to quell the growing rebellion, yet loyalty to the Qing was almost nonexistent at this point. The revolt was launched on October 10th, 1911, kickstarting the Wuchang Uprising.

The ensuing revolt was widely successful, with the rebels capturing the city within a single day. The rebels proclaimed the creation of a military government in the province of Hubei, based in the now occupied city of Wuchang. The success of the Wuchang Uprising caused several more rebellions, revolts, and uprisings. The numerous rebellions made up what would be known as the Xinhai Revolution, or the fabled 1911 Revolution. The main revolutionary force in Wuchang garnered support from local Tongmenghui supporters in China. On October 12th, the major cities of Hankou and Hanyang were captured by the revolutionaries. With the rebellions growing out of control and with many army units also mutinying, the imperial court decided to deploy their best military general, Yuan Shikai, into the frontlines. Yuan had participated in numerous battles before, including the protection of Korea from peasant rebellions and the Japanese, earning him a respectable position among the Qing leadership. He was an excellent military general, and with his powerful Beiyang Army soon proved to be a powerful opponent to the revolutionaries. On October 27th, Yuan began a campaign that drove out the revolutionaries from Hankou and Hanyang, pushing back the revolutionaries to Wuchang once more.

Yet these successes were overshadowed by political instability in the Qing government. In November, Yuan Shikai was appointed as the Prime Minister of the imperial cabinet under times of extreme distress. There were desperate changes undertaken by the Qing government, which attempted to transform the country from an outdated autocracy to a constitutional monarchy. But the changes were too little too late. By then,15 different provinces out of the 24 in total had declared independence from Qing China. The Qing army under Yuan Shikai was steadily advancing into Wuchang after having been stalled by the rebels for forty days during the Battle of Yangxi. The revolutionaries, with their capital in danger, moved the capital to Nanjing. A lack of foreign aid caused both sides to slow down their operations, and Yuan himself would open up for negotiations with the rebels. The "North-South Conference" would ultimately lead to Yuan acknowledging the republic created by the revolutionaries. On January 1st, based on the voting of the independent provinces, Sun Yat-sen, who had just returned to China, was elected as the first Provisional President of the Republic of China. On February 12th, Yuan Shikai would forcefully cause the abdication of the Qing emperor, Emperor Puyi. He would be the final emperor of Qing China and imperial China as a whole. With Puyi's abdication, over 2,000 years of imperial rule in China has ended, and the Qing empire's glory was snuffed out, giving birth to a new republic.

Emblem of the Tongmenghui

City of Nanjing during the Xinhai Revolution; the flag of the republican cause line the streets

Map of the Revolution

YUAN SHIKAI'S RULE

While the new Provisional Government had been established in Nanjing and encompassed much of southern China, Yuan Shikai still held authority in Beijing, and he still retained the title as leader of the Beiyang Army, possibly the strongest army in all of China at the time. Fearing that if a compromise to the situation could not be reached, Sun believed that the Republic of China would face military intervention by Yuan and the Beiyang Army. A solution was reached, albeit begrudgingly: Yuan agreed to give power peacefully to the Republic of China under the condition that he become its president. Sun ultimately agreed to Yuan's terms, and on March 10th, Yuan was appointed as the second Provisional President. However, he refused to move to Nanjing in fears that the revolutionaries may attempt an assassination on him, making Beijing the centre of the government.

At first, Sun saw his republic grow according to his vision, yet he understood that appointing a military leader as the next president was not a favorable long-term solution. While revolutionary ideas were strong and political parties were established in the national assembly, the revolutionaries themselves did not have an organized army. As such, Yuan Shikai's authority over the republic became dictatorial, and he began to overrule the constitution and rewrite it based on his desires. This was met with clear disapproval from many political parties. One of these parties was the Kuomintang, also known as the KMT, or the Nationalist Party, established in August 1912. The Kuomintang was an amalgamation of various nationalist organizations, including the Tongmenghui. It was founded by one of Sun's associates, Song Jiaoren. Song became the main campaigner for the KMT, and through his skills as an able speaker and a campaigner, the KMT won a majority of the seats in the national elections between 1912 to 1913. What made the KMT popular was due to its position as an opposition party to the Republican Party, which was the party that represented Yuan. The KMT openly criticized Yuan's abuse of power, but such openness eventually leads to major problems.

This major problem came in the form of assassination. In March 1913, Song was killed. Investigations led the trail to Zhao Bingjun, who was currently the Premier of the Republic. This led many to believe that Yuan had orchestrated Song's assassination. While there was no substantial evidence to prove Yuan was guilty, there was also not much to prove he was not. Prior to Song's death, Yuan had organized the assassinations of several of his political opponents and pro-revolutionists. Distrust and animosity grew towards Yuan, and it culminated when he secured millions of foreign loans to finance the Beiyang Army, without consulting the parliament beforehand. The KMT now openly demanded for the removal of Yuan from power, a stance that was also shared by Sun Yat-sen. Meanwhile, the Progressive Party, composed of hard-line supporters of Yuan, accused the KMT of planning an armed insurrection. Seeing the writing on the wall, Yuan chose for military action to dispose of the KMT.

The initial flag of the Republic of China, called the "Five Races Under One Union", each color representing the ethnic groups in China

Yuan Shikai, second president of the Republic of China

Before he could do so, in July 1913, seven provinces in southern China rebelled against Yuan, beginning the Second Revolution. It is important to note that it was not only Yuan's abuse of power that caused the Second Revolution. Former military generals part of the Revolutionary Army had lost their jobs after the army was disbanded following the 1911 Revolution. This caused them to feel underappreciated, and thus they became unsatisfied with the new government under Yuan. There was also the argument that Yuan's presidency should have been illegal. He acquired the position purely as an opportunist who only helped to dissolve the Qing dynasty but never participated in revolutionary activities. The final straw came with Yuan silencing the KMT by assassinations, a move that was seen as very cowardly. All these factors provided the perfect conditions for the revolution. However, the revolution was a total failure. The Beiyang Army was far more superior than the rebels, and they were able to push the revolutionaries out of their symbolic capital in Nanjing in early September. A continued string of defeats eventually led to the rebellion's collapse, and Sun, along with many other lead revolutionaries, was forced to seek refuge in Japan.

As Yuan consolidated his control over China, he would soon have to face yet another rebellion: the Bai Lang Rebellion. This rebellion was not as easily defeated as the prior KMT rebellion, lasting from mid-1913 to early 1914. It was instigated by a mixture of anti-Yuan rebels, various bandit groups and members of the Gelaohui, previously having been an anti-Qing organization. Much of central China would be devastated by the ensuing conflict, but the rebellion would ultimately be put down by the Beiyang Army, assisted by Muslim and Tibetan militias.

Concurrently with the Bai Lang Rebellion, Yuan Shikai ordered the dissolving of the KMT as a legal political force in the parliament. Due to a majority of the parliament's members being members of the KMT, the parliament was unable to convene anymore as their numbers were not sufficient for the quorum. In January of 1914, Yuan would order the suspension of the parliament, and ask for major revisions to be made in the constitution of the Republic of China. The revision had essentially granted him unlimited power: Yuan now had the capability to declare war and appoint officials without the consent of the legislative body. A new legislature was created, known as the National Council, which had the power to impeach him, yet it was redundant due to Yuan's ability to dismiss these claims. In response to the growing discord in the republic, Yuan explained that the Chinese people have already grown accustomed to an autocracy, and that these changes should not have been cause for concern.

On the other side of the board, Sun Yat-sen attempted to restore the revolutionary movement, having been put back to square one since the failure of the Second Revolution. Sun believed that the early revolutionary cause collapsed due to the lack of cohesiveness and discipline among its members. As such, Sun established a new political party called the Chinese Revolutionary Party. Its members were subject to strict rules, which was met with protest from some of its members who felt that they were too authoritarian. Nevertheless, they thrived with their new aim to prevent the republic from reverting to monarchist rule. Along with the Revolutionary Party, the Progressive Party also joined the opposition. Despite having supported Yuan in the past, the party's opinion towards him turned negative after his sabotaging of the parliament. Local governors of various provinces also disapproved of Yuan's actions, fearing that he would reinstall imperial order to China, nullifying the 1911 Revolution. Many officers of the Beiyang Army even felt resentment towards their leader, who had so far distanced himself away from the military to focus on his monarchist agenda.

World War I broke out in 1914, and Japan joined the Allies, seizing the German possessions in Shandong. A year later, Japan issued their Twenty-One Demands to China, which included the transfer of railway networks and mining districts to Japanese control, as well as demanding the appointment of Japanese diplomats into positions of interest in the Chinese government, effectively placing China as a Japanese protectorate. While Yuan did not accept all of the terms for obvious reasons, he did accept some, including allowing Japan to retain control over the Shandong Province and recognizing Japan's imperialist designs over Manchuria. Yuan's decision led to most of China universally opposing him.

National Protection War

In 1915, Yuan would complete his monarchist ambitions. Supported by his son, Yuan Keding, he would declare himself as the Emperor of China, and abolished the republic. In its place, was the Empire of China. This declaration caused widespread rebellion across the country, leading to several provinces breaking away and denouncing Yuan. Most notable of these provinces was the Yunnan clique, which had declared its independence from China and formed the National Protection Army. Yunnan's independence influenced other provinces to do the same, starting the National Protection War. The war was extremely one-sided, as Yuan faced opposition from every side. The Beiyang Army purposefully lacked in their performance during the war due to their clear dissatisfaction to Yuan. Several of his lieutenants have abandoned him, and virtually his own government opposed him as well. In the face of clear defeat, Yuan abdicated the throne on March 22nd, 1916, becoming the first and last monarch of his dynasty and truly hammering the final nail in the coffin for the continuation of imperial rule in China. Later that year, Yuan would die from uremia. Li Yuanhong assumed the presidency and appointed Duan Qirui, a distinguished Beiyang Army general, as his premier. While Yuan's dictatorial reign ended with death, he did leave China in a crumbling state.

WARLORD ERA

The power vacuum and political chaos caused by Yuan's death was devastating for the unity of the Republic. It had practically dissolved following his death. The military splintered into multiple small military factions that pledged their allegiance to local warlords that were now scattered across mainland China. Remnants of the army were now tenously controlled by these warlords, who treated them as a private army. These armies can number from the hundreds of thousands to the millions. Throughout the Warlord Era, many of them managed to control the capital of Beijing for a time, before being overthrown by another warlord. This process continued almost indefinitely, and no warlord would support the other. There was still a government in Beijing, yet it held no power and was simply a front for the current ruling warlord to conduct transaction and trade with foreign powers. This was due to the fact that much of the world still recognized the government of Beijing. Foreign countries shifted the gameplay of the Warlord Era dramatically, with countries like Japan able to increase their influence freely. The warlords were either former statesmen of the Qing dynasty, provincial governors that have lost faith in the republican government, or simply bandits and misfits fueled by greed. Due to the constant plundering of loot and riches from the countryside, the ordinary people suffered under the warlords. Inflation was high, poverty was on the rise, and the armies of a warlord could easily stamp out local dissent.

What I have described was the Warlord Era in the countryside, like in southern China. In northern China, the warlords were more powerful. After Yuan's death, the Beiyang Army also dissolved into various competing cliques. There were three major cliques operating in northern China: the Zhili clique led by former general Feng Guozhang, the Anhui clique led by Duan Qirui, who was also the Premier of the government at Beijing, and the Fengtian clique led by Zhang Zhuolin. On the diplomatic front, the government at Beijing debated regarding China's participation in World War I. So far, Germany had put their best efforts to keep the fractured country out of the war by continuing profitable trade through their legation building, but Duan Qirui felt the need to join the war. He saw an opportunity to secure Allied support over his Anhui clique, securing loans to build up his army and consolidate his control over Beijing and northern China. The current president, Li Yuanhong, disagreed with Duan's choice, and after they both argued, Li ultimately decided to dismiss Duan. This sparked outrage by the supporters of Duan, causing many provincial military leaders to pledge their allegiance to him. With everybody wanting to behead Li, he hastily contacted fellow military leader, Zhang Xun. Zhang had no plans to alleviate the situation, and instead aimed to restore the Qing dynasty by restoring former emperor Puyi back to the throne. In early July 1917, Zhang proclaimed the Manchu Restoration and the revival of the Qing, forcing Li to step down as president. Li politely refused. This sparked a war over Beijing as Duan's Anhui clique army fought Zhang's army of monarchists and pro-restorationists.

Around just two weeks later, Zhang was defeated by the numerically and technologically superior Anhui clique. Feng Guozhang, who if you recalled was the leader of the rival Zhili clique, ascended to presidency but he kept Duan as the premier. With two warlords effectively controlling the government, it made the Zhili and Anhui cliques as the most powerful warlord cliques in China so far. But Duan was certainly more powerful, ruling as a dictator in Beijing. The parliament was yet again dissolved and he pulled China into the war on the side of the Allies. Assets of Germany and Austria-Hungary were seized, its expats and citizens detained. China did not send any soldiers, but the Chinese Labor Corps was created. It was a force of hundreds of thousands of Chinese workers who have volunteered to be in service of the Allies in various fronts. The Labor Corps was dispersed to the Western Front, the African theatre, and the Middle East to aid Allied soldiers.

Duan's dissolving of the parliament caused tensions to swell in China yet again. Sun Yat-sen, still an active player in Chinese politics, had went into hiding in southern China. Sparked by Duan's disregard for the constitution, he rallied his supporters and many of the southern Chinese warlords under his banner to repel Duan's government in Beijing. Sun established a rival government in the city of Guangzhou and formed the Constitutional Protection Army. A total of six provinces have so far joined the Guangzhou government, thus beginning the Constitutional Protection War. Ironically however, the Guangzhou government did not abide under the constitution. Instead, it was a military government, with Sun as its head with the rather fancy title of Generalissimo.

The war continued through 1918, when neither side seemed able to break through the other. There were disagreements within the Guangzhou government as many expressed their negative opinions towards Sun's absolute power as Generalissimo. To balance his power, a Governing Committee consisting of seven members was formed, acting as Sun's cabinet. Similarly, Duan's Beijing government was divided on how to end the war. Several leaders of the Anhui and Zhili clique surprisingly opted for diplomacy to end the war, believing that negotiating with the southern provinces would result in the peaceful unification of China. In October, Duan was forced to resign by his own government, concerned about his dealings with Japan to fund the war and squash dissent. Negotiations between the northern and southern provinces soon began in February 1919, when they convened in Shanghai to discuss a possible end to the war. Talks were hampered due to the controversial topic of Duan using Japanese loans to fund the war, and the rapid growth of the May Fourth Movement completely stopped peace talks. The war would indefinitely divide northern and southern China for a decade.

Concurrently with the drama in the diplomatic front, was the May Fourth Movement. Sparked by student protests in Beijing on May 4th, 1919, the movement caused Chinese nationalism to see a steep incline, rekindling the hopes of a unified China under republican rule. It developed into the New Culture Movement, which continued until the 1920s. There was much emphasis on straying away from traditional cultures to ones strengthened by more progressive, modern ones. It soon grew out of youth circles and eventually encompassed much of China, with multiple famed scholars also joining and supporting the movement.

Meanwhile in the government, Duan reclaimed the presidency from Xu Sichang. The transfer of power was the most peaceful and civilized one in Warlord Era-China. To secure his position again, Duan tried to gain an ally in Cao Kun, currently loyal to Feng Guozhang and his Zhili clique. Duan promised Cao that he would secure the vice presidency for him, but opposition from the government prevented Duan from doing so after it was discovered that Cao had spent an incredible sum of money on a prostitute. A solution was reached to give an individual from southern China the vice presidency, but animosity between the north and south lingered, making the vice presidency vacant. Nevertheless, Duan continued strengthening his rule by waging a military campaign to occupy Outer Mongolia, causing tensions with the nearby Fengtian clique of Zhang Zhuolin based in Manchuria. The Zhili clique opposed the actions of Duan and the Anhui clique, but suddenly in December, Feng Guozhang passed away and sent the clique into disarray without a leader. The new leader of the Zhili clique was now the simp Cao Kun, who aligned himself with Zhang. Both of them denounced Duan's actions, but he dismissed them. This caused an all-out war between the Anhui and Zhili clique. However, Duan's age had deteriorated his military skill, and the Anhui clique was defeated within just a few days. Duan was forced to retire from politics and the military, and the Zhili clique now ascended to power.

Duan Qirui, colored photo

The Fengtian clique was allowed to rule over the government alongside the Zhili clique. To create a mutual understanding between the two, a politician named Jin Yunpeng, who maintained equally positive relations with the two cliques, was appointed as the premier, while Xu Sichang was elected as president after Duan had previously ousted him from power. Overtime, relations between the two power-hungry cliques would deteriorate. The Fengtian clique was worried about a particular person of interest: Wu Peifu. He was a member of the Zhili clique and was one of its leaders following Feng's death. Wu was aggressively anti-Japanese, which threatened to destabilize the Fengtian clique's supporters in Japan. In an attempt to undermine the Zhili, Premier Jin was removed from power and was replaced with a more favorable one for the Fengtian's plan: Liang Shiyi. But in a counter-argument, Liang was accused of being pro-Japanese. With both sides now in hostilities, Zhang and his Fengtian clique gained the help of the retired Duan Qirui and also the help of Sun Yat-sen, who had continued to rule over southern China. Consequently, the First Zhili-Fengtian War in 1922 resulted in the Fengtian clique being pushed out of northern China and forced to seclude itself in Manchuria, granting full power to the Zhili clique.

While this conflict was riddling northern China with unnecessary drama, what happened to southern China during all of this? Well, shortly after the Constitutional Protection War ended in 1919, Sun retreated to southern China and consolidated his control over the region. He reestablished the Kuomintang and acted as the president over most of southern China in 1921. Recognition in the international stage was limited, yet he continued to try and unify with the north. But unfortunately, no country was willing to partner with the KMT. At least, no Western democracies. Around the same time, there was a new power in the north: the Soviet Union. It had achieved unity in Russia by crushing out the White armies, and had successfully flourished after its revolution. Sun admired this success, and proceeded to establish talks with the Soviet Union. While the Soviets were more supportive of the small Chinese Communist Party (CCP) also operating in China, they ultimately agreed to support the KMT as well in an effort to undermine the Western powers.

A couple of years later in 1922, the KMT alliance of warlords that have peacefully coexisted in harmony dissolved violently due to the interference of the Zhili clique, forcing the KMT into full retreat southwards and forcing Sun to escape to Shanghai. Sun now desperately needed Soviet assistance if he ever wished to unite China under republican rule, and in 1923, the Soviets fully pledged their desire to help unify China. Through the influence of Soviet diplomats and agents, the KMT and the CCP – though ideologically different – allied with each other, forming the First United Front. The Soviets urged members from both sides to join one another. The CCP was incredibly small during the early 1920s, numbering barely 2,000 while the KMT had over 150,000 members by 1925. In an effort to unify the chain of command in the KMT government, one of its best military generals, Chiang Kai-shek, was sent to Moscow to study military strategy, returning in late 1923 with great military knowledge. The city of Guangzhou continued to become the KMT's capital city, from which the KMT and the CCP can lead operations. Thus, the Nationalist Government was officially formed in July 1st, 1925, shortly after Sun passed away from cancer. Leadership was then assumed by the able Chiang Kai-shek.

Northern China also had equally as interesting political developments. After achieving victory over the Fengtian clique in 1922, the Zhili clique attempted to replace the current president, Xu Sichang, with Li Yuanhong, who if you remembered was the president during the Manchu Restoration crisis. The Zhili denounced Xu's government as being illegitimate and also called for Sun to disband the KMT and surrender his presidency over southern China. Both men refused. To get rid of Sun, Wu Peifu managed to sow discord between the KMT alliance of warlords, which led to the aforementioned collapse of the alliance and Sun's retreat to Shanghai. Eventually, Li Yuanhong was reinstalled as president, albeit as a puppet for Wu. Wu's growing power caused his companion, Cao Kun, to grow jealous towards him. Cao held personal desires to become president himself, but so far Wu had blocked any moves to challenge the current political status quo. A perfect moment revealed itself when President Li made a blunder that caused his cabinet to resign. As nearly all of the cabinet members had been appointed by or allied with Wu, this caused him to lose practically all of his power in the government. Cao Kun proceeded to gain the support of many underpaid police officers as his "militia" of sorts. The new cabinet was weak, and Cao was able to bribe most of them to elect him as president. Cao's presidential campaign was simply that of money politics, offering to grant anybody five thousand dollars if they voted for him, causing international condemnation. When he was elected as president in 1923, nobody wanted to associate with him. Not even Duan Qirui or Zhang Zuolin supported him.

By 1924, there was more concerns of conflict after a dispute broke out between two provincial governors. Controlling the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang respectively, both governors fought over the control of Shanghai as control over the city was disputed; Shanghai was legally within the borders of the Jiangsu province but was administered by the Zhejiang province. Jiangsu was controlled by the Zhili clique, while Zhejiang by the Anhui clique, which did not disband after its ousting from power several years prior and was allowed to exist so long as it pledged its neutrality. Hostilities escalated significantly, and Zhejiang authorities refused to give up control over Shanghai. With the Anhui clique being a previously neutral faction and was the one being threatened, Zhang from the Fengtian clique and Sun Yat-sen himself announced their support for the Anhui clique. It was the perfect opportunity for both the Fengtian and the KMT to destabilize the Zhili clique and dislodge them from power. Within a few weeks into the war, the province of Zhejiang fell and the Zhili clique continued their advance unchallenged. Unbeknownst to Wu or the Zhili leadership, a coup d'etat had been secretly organized by one of its generals, Feng Yuxiang. His betrayal led to President Cao effectively being put under the house arrest during the infamous Beijing Coup. Upon hearing of Feng's betrayal, Cao allocated large portions of the army in an effort to rescue the imprisoned president. This left the rear severely weakened, allowing Zhang and the Fengtian forces to defeat the Zhili during a major battle at Tianjin in October 1924. The war had effectively ended, and in the aftermath, the Zhili clique had been evicted from northern China, and power was returned to the Anhui and the Fengtian.

Warlord China during the Zhili-Anhui War

Reconstruction of the government was soon underway. Duan Qirui was elevated to power yet again, but this time, his power was extremely limited. While he was the head of state, his power rested solely on Feng Yuxiang and Zhang Zhuolin. The new president, Huang Fu, cracked down on previous supporters of Cao, arresting several parliament members that voted to elect him prior to the war. Changes were made with the constitution, and the government followed an anti-monarchist stance. The former emperor Puyi was expelled from his quarters in the Forbidden City, much to the disappointment of Zhang. Nevertheless, the Beijing government organized a meeting with their long-time nemesis, Sun Yat-sen, whose cancer had progressed significantly. The meeting discussed about favorable terms for Chinese unification that could satisfy both sides. Sun was skeptical, but he was unable to channel his thoughts as he would die from his cancer, as mentioned before.

The status quo would not last long. Soon, there was already tension between Zhang and Feng regarding who would truly rule the government. Duan merely sat on the sidelines and pleased both sides in order to reestablish some semblance of his power. Feng formed his own military faction, known as the Guominjun, which controlled northwestern China, while Zhang and the Fengtian clique controlled the northeast. The former was covertly supported by Japan, while the latter dabbled in radical politics and received Soviet support. Both men would attempt to make amends with their former enemy, Wu Peifu from the Zhili clique, currently busy licking his wounds from the war. Wu did not want to work with Feng due to his part in the Beijing Coup and instead allied with Zhang and the Fengtian clique. Following an incident where a Fengtian general defected to the Guominjun, war officially broke out, beginning the Anti-Fengtian War. The Guominjun, despite backing from the Zhili clique, was unprepared for war, and their losses were catastrophic. Feng was forced to resign and eventually fled to the safety of the Soviet Union. As the Guominjun collapsed, Duan attempted to seize power again by restoring his position as premier. Mass violence occured in the streets of Beijing during the war, in particular an incident where numerous protesters were gunned down and killed in the infamous March 18th Massacre. That, along with intricate political turmoil, caused Duan's second fall from grace. Shortly after, the Fengtian and the Zhili captured Beijing, and their troops committed countless atrocities to innocent civillians. With the Zhili back in power, they once again argued regarding the matter of succeeding as head of state. Duan Qirui was out of the question due to his negative reputation, and Cao Kun was also the same due to his treachery. As a result, weak governments were formed, some lasting just months. After decades of war and political drama, it seemed like the Anti-Fengtian War was the sole conflict that caused the fatal wound onto the northern Chinese government, and they would no longer recover. Their days were numbered, as Chiang Kai-shek and his Nationalist faction was planning their next moves to unify China.

THE NATIONALIST GOVERNMENT

Within the Kuomintang government of southern China, Chiang Kai-shek continued to consolidate his power and steered southern China to the right-wing due to the KMT's nationalist ideology. After Sun's death, Chiang rapidly militarized southern China, forming the National Revolutionary Army, or the NRA. The Kuomintang's ultimate ambition was the military conquest of northern China and unify the country under their rule, claiming to follow closely to the roots of the 1911 Revolution, which by now seemed like nothing more but a blissful dream. In the summer of 1925, taking advantage of northern China's destabilization, Chiang and his NRA launched the Northern Expedition. His power greatly increased after an attempted kidnapping on him failed, and the Canton Coup occured, thus solidifying Chiang as the KMT's undisputed leader.

Now as the commander-in-chief of the NRA and the Generalissimo of the KMT, Chiang attempted to eradicate all opposition towards him, and his main target was currently the CCP. If you recalled, the CCP was allied with the KMT under Soviet mediation. But Chiang became worried that the CCP – and communism in general – would outgrow him in the future and become a threat to the KMT. His fears were not unfounded; the Comintern had decided to shift their attitude towards the situation in China and now pledged support to the CCP only. As a result, Chiang dismissed his Soviet advisors and imposed harsh restrictions onto members of the CCP in leadership decisions. The Soviets were unwilling to lose their grip on the situation, and ordered the CCP to mediate by openly collaborating with the KMT in the ongoing Northern Expedition, which had been going smoothly. By 1927, relations between the KMT and the CCP became irrepairable, and southern China split into two major factions. The left-wing members of the KMT along with the CCP established a rival government in Wuhan, while the right-wing members of the KMT, including Chiang himself, moved to Nanjing. This sparked the Chinese Civil War, and the Nationalists and Communists now engaged in open conflict. Chiang attempted to cut down the communist stump by initiating the Shanghai Massacre in the same year, killing thousands of suspected communists.

The CCP launched numerous attempts to capture major cities like Nanchang and Changsha, yet they were ultimately unsuccessful. A peasant uprising in the Hunan province, later known as the Autumn Harvest Uprising, was another attempt by the CCP to topple the nationalists. The uprising was led by a young leading CCP member named Mao Zedong. The communists would be forced into resorting to guerilla activities after their left-wing allies in Wuhan turned against them. The Northern Expedition proved successful, and by 1928, China was unified after more than a decade after the 1911 Revolution. The country was now under Nationalist KMT control, and Chiang became the country's leader.

Before his passing, Sun Yat-sen had developed the "Three Stages of Revolution", which more or less guided his successors regarding how to properly establish control over China and rebuild the country from the Warlord Era. The first stage was "military unification", which the KMT successfully accomplished via the Northern Expedition. The second stage was "political tutelage", aiming to educate the masses about politics and democracy. The KMT accomplished this by developing a temporary, provisional constitution in 1931. The provisional constitution legally transformed China into a one-party state, with the KMT as the sole ruling political party. This may seem counterintuitive, but the KMT promised to democratize once the second stage was completed. For now though, this meant that Chiang ruled as a dictator. The KMT itself followed right-wing politics.

Map of China in 1936, courtesy of Reddit

Officers of the KMT during the Northern Expedition

Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek

Despite the authoritarian nature of the Nationalist government, there were major societal changes brought forth into Chinese society under the Nationalists. The KMT actively engaged in the modernization of the country, constructing proper railway networks, improving health care, employ methods to reduce the usage of narcotics, and support industrial and agricultural developments. Education was also vastly improved, with it being more accesible for people. Newspapers, books, journalism and literature as a whole saw massive leaps in development. No longer was money being funneled for the militarism of the warlords, and government spending was now directed towards the improvement of infrastructure. Social problems were made more aware to public consciousness, particularly regarding life in the villages and rural China. The Rural Reconstruction Movement was one of these, and it opposed the radicalization of the peasant class by the CCP, which aimed to build support by planting communist ideas into the peasantry. On the other hand, political freedom was still limited. The KMT regularly launched raids aimed on purging anti-communists, and violently silenced dissent and anti-government protests. Nonetheless, this period of economic and social growth would be coined as the Nanjing Decade, named after the Nationalist capital.

The KMT's intention to shift to democratic rule is often debated by historians. The KMT was able to achieve its power due to the support of local warlords. While China was rid of independent cliques, the KMT needed to constantly fund warlord cliques that were nominally under their control to prevent them from revolting and threatening the KMT's grip on power. As a result, the KMT regularly blocked or opposed reforms that could benefit and improve the living conditions of the rural peasantry. Yet even despite the KMT's efforts to preserve the loyalty of the warlords, the warlords continued to actively engage in open rebellion. The largest of these rebellions was the Great Plains War, lasting from 1929 to 1930. The rebellion was instigated by Chiang's former warlord allies, and the war could be seen as a "civil war." While the rebellion would be put down, it left heavy marks onto the integrity of the KMT. Meanwhile, the CCP continued to operate throughout rural China, establishing an insidious root network that planted communist ideals wherever possible, typically targetted towards the uneducated peasantry. Peasants became recruits for the CCP, and despite the KMT's efforts at purging communists throughout the country, their efforts would be in vain. But the biggest threat to KMT rule came in itself. The government was split into three spectrums: those loyal to Chiang, the left-wing under Wang Jingwei, and the right-wing under Hu Hanmin. The KMT also established numerous ultranationalist organizations and societies, the most notorious of which was the Blue Shirts Society. It was a fascist-leaning organization, modeled after the Italian fascists of Benito Mussolini.

In the 1930s, the unity of the KMT and all of China would be tested. It was around this time period that the KMT aligned itself with Germany, receving vital aid towards the country's industrialization. The National Revolutionary Army was trained by German officers, and it seemed like an age of Sino-German cooperation was on the horizon. In the same decade, China would suffer more internal conflicts, such as the Muslim-instigated Kumul Rebellion, a war with Tibet, and threatened by the Soviet acquisition of Xinjiang in the fear west of China. The CCP's Red Army also led a daring 'Long March' in 1934, retreating from the KMT and marching across China for countless days. It was the perfect propaganda material for the CCP, which was now a tumor that the KMT needed to get rid of. A new threat emerged in the east, however. China's arch-nemesis, the country bested it multiple times: Japan. Within the Japanese mainland itself, the government had turned increasingly militaristic and ultranationalist, fueled by a burning desire to acquire resources from its neighbors and expand its imperial territory. Its most immediate victim would naturally be China. Supported by the public and military armament, Japan would start several incidents in Chinese territory to provide a justification for the invasion.

On September 18th, 1931, a railway line operating in Mukden suffered a devastating damage. Dynamite had detonated and destroyed the railway, disrupting the trains. The Japanese military had claimed that the act was carried out by Chinese dissidents, and initiated a full-scale invasion into the Chinese province of Manchuria. The bombing was, in fact, perpetrated by the Japanese military themselves, who sought to blame the Chinese as an excuse for war. Within a matter of months, all of the province would fall under Japanese occupation, and by February 1932, their gains were consolidated. Anti-Japanese militia groups continued to operate within Manchuria, resisting Japanese occupation. Soon, Manchuria would be organized into a puppet state known as Manchukuo, led by former Qing emperor Puyi. Manchuria possessed an abundance of raw resources necessary for industrialization, and its loss to Japan greatly affected the populace. Japan continued to advance southward, pushing Chinese forces to the Great Wall and securing several northern coastline regions. The populace was now outraged by the KMT's lack of action, and in 1936, the kidnapping of Chianh Kai-shek during the Xi'an Incident forced the KMT to make amends with the CCP. Pushing aside their ideological differences once again, the KMT and the CCP formed the Second United Front against Japan. China turned to the League of Nations, demanding them reprimand Japan for their actions in Manchuria. While the League followed the request, the situation only spiralled further after Japan left the League and no action was taken to prevent this.

SECOND SINO-JAPANESE WAR

Conflict with the Empire of the Rising Sun continued as minor skirmishes along the border of Manchukuo. A peace agreement in 1933 called the Tanggu Truce ended the Manchuria situation at least formally, and several provinces were conceded to the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. Yet minor clashes continued. One such skirmish was the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, which devolved into a battle on July 7th, 1937. As the fighting became dire, tensions between China and Japan reached its limit and a state of war was effevtively in place. This began the Second Sino-Japanese War, but after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, no formal declaration of war had been declared by either of the two countries. It was more akin to that of an invasion, which it certainly was.

Swiftly, Chiang Kai-shek ordered the full mobilization of the Army and the Air Force. Between July and August, major Chinese cities near the Manchukuo border, including Beijing itself. While the KMT was determined to resist to the fullest extent, the Chinese army was relatively new and weaker than the Japanese. Eventually, it was decided to capture the Japaneaw holding in the city of Shanghai, which was poorly defended. If Shanghai could be fully liberated, KMT leadership was confident that Japan would be forced to cede its occupied territories in northern China and achieve a swift victory. Yet when the Chinese launched their attack, Japanese resistance was stiff and stronger than expected. The battle for Shanghai woild quickly usher in reinforcements for both sides, and the prospect of continuing the war became inevitable for both Chinese and Japanese leaderships. Attempting to alleviate pressure from Shanghai, the Japanese – 200,000-men strong – launched an offensive from northern China and forced the KMT to retreat. The Chinese deliberately avoided fighting the Japanese in a major battle, opting to go on the defensive. As a result, while Japan conquered large swathes of northern territory, it could not cripple Chinese defenses or morale. Meanwhile in Shanghai, the Japanese launched a devastating counterattack that pushed back the Chinese forces. Their overwhelming numbers proved deadly for the Chinese, their forces in disarray and retreating from Shanghai. The fighting had lasted three months and inflicted heavy casualties to both sides. Without encountering much armed opposition, the Japanese marched northwards towards the capital at Nanjing. After a few days of battle, the Japanese successfully captured the capital. A large chunk of the civillian population was then massacred and killed by the Japanese soldiers during the Rape of Nanjing.

So far, Japanese advances had went smoothly and the Chinese were unable to liberate even a slither of their territories. Poised for victory, Japan presented peace terms to the KMT, riddled with harsh conditions. The Chinese refused to accept the peace, and prepared itself for a war of attrition. The ruling grand strategy for China was to drain out as many Japanese soldiers as possible and keep them deadlocked in a stalemate. Japan was smaller than China in terms of geography and population. Added to the fact that Japan relied on its holding in Manchukuo to extract raw resources, Chinese leadership believed that the Japanese would weaken overtime and eventually collapse on itself if the Chinese maintained its defensive stance. On the other hand, Japan also recognized their weaknesses in China. To improve their chances of victory, the grand strategt for Japan was to conquer and occupy central China, the rural and industrial heartland of the country. With these vital regions secured, the Chinese war effort would be significantly crippled, and the IJA can confidently march through the rest of mainland China. Currently though, Japan's objectives were to connect their foothold in Shanghai with their armies in northern China. Regrouping and organizing for the offensive, small scale attacks continued to be launched by the Japanese, but they were met with stubborn Chinese resistance. Nationalism was at its height in China, as they were facing a foreign invader. The NRA, though large in manpower, did not possess sufficient modern military equipment to counter the Japanese. Anti-tank weaponry was non-existent amongst the ranks of the NRA, yet it did not discourage youth groups from voluntarily enlisting into the army. Often, they would strap explosives onto themselves and charge onto Japanese positions, blowing up themselves and their enemy. Such reason is why the Second World War was the most depressing period in modern Chinese history.

By 1938, as the Japanese advance continued forward, a large portion of Chinese troops were caught between the Japanese forces from the north and from their Shanghai foothold. The Chinese withdrew their forces, and were able to escape in time. While no heavy losses occured during the withdrawal, it did lead to the loss of the coastline; China had practically lost its northern coastline to Japanese hands during the early stages of the war. Japan continued their advance westward, but the retreating Chinese executed a contingency plan. To stop the relentless advance, Chinese soldiers set up explosives on the dams of the Yellow River and exploded them, flooding the entire region. While this indeed cut off the Japanese, it caused severe destruction to multiple villages and towns in the surrounding area, and even caused damage to Chinese forces themselves. The flooding of the Yellow River shifted Japan to move along the rich Yangtze River. The Japanese were now threatening the city of Wuhan, and had directed almost all of their existing invading armies to capture the city. It was hoped that the fall of Wuhan would force the KMT government to accept peace. The Chinese were numerically superior to the Japanese, but as said, Jaoan held the technological advantage. The Battle of Wuhan in fall 1938 would prove to be one of the most devastating battles yet. But despite the NRA and the Communists' best efforts, Wuhan fell to Japanese hands.

Chinese soldiers; notice the similarities their uniforms have with German soldiers

Second Sino-Japanese War

It was around this time that the Second United Front that had kept the KMT and the CCP as allies began to break down. The fall of Wuhan sparked arguments and disagreements between the two factions, and despite the Japanese advances in northern China, the Yangtze River, and the coastlines. Open conflict between the two culminated in the New Fourth Army incident, which effectively led to the alliance's collapse by 1940. The KMT was now attempting to halt the spread of communism while fighting Japan at the same time. Not only was China facing a foreign invader, it was also facing a civil war; truly a habit that never died. Japan took advantage of China's instability by establishing a puppet government in occupied China, headed by Wang Jingwei, a former member of the KMT's left-wing briefly mentioned. Resistance activity in occupied Japan was high, however. Japan only held nominal control over areas outside of cities and railway lines. The rural village areas were full of resistance activities, whether it be from the Nationalists or the Communists. The communists, hardened by the civil war, were more effective in guerilla warfare and rebel activities. The communists formed defense forces for local villages, constructed entire armies behind enemy lines, and formed their own governments, all while spreading communist ideals into the average peasantry.

By 1939, the war had become a painful stalemate. On one hand, constant guerilla activities halted the Japanese advance considerably, but on the other hand, China was unable to launch large-scale offensives due to their limited technology. Both sides were now preparing for a war of attrition, expecting the war to be longer than expected. The main seaports of China had been stripped away, and the countey was unable to extract resources from the sea or conduct trading by sea with other countries. In the same year, World War II had begun, and the war would become part of the greater global conflict. In 1940, Germany had managed to invade and conquer France, leading to chaos in the French colony of Indochina, which would open a new front for the war in China. Japan had also joined the Tripartite Pact, formally joining the Axis and merging the war in Europe and the war in China together. Japan continued their policy of blockading China from the outside world, threatening Britain to close the Burma Road running from Myanmar to China. Then on December 7th, 1941, Japan launched the Pearl Harbor attack and was brought into war with the US and Britain, thus fully merging the Second Sino-Japanese War into World War II after China also joined the Allies. Japan, prepared for full-scale war, launched offensives to capture the European colonies in southeast Asia. The capture of British Hong Kong eliminated all the main ways that China could gain foreign resources. The only other way was through poorly maintained roads running through Xinjiang, which gave nothing but a trickle of foreign aid to the Chinese war effort. Germany chose to support Japan and abandon their ties with China, further impeding the war effort.

China was suffering an intense period of hardships. Economic problems caused by the war and the loss of its industrial and agricultural bases in central China plagued its citizens to poverty and misery. China's modernization process had not been fully implemented, especially because the government was now in the western provinces, significantly further away from the urban centres in northeastern China. Refugees flooded cities, while Japanese air raids continued to bomb the region; Chinese air superiority had been lost in early 1940 as the Japanese easily destroyed a large portion of it in dogfights. The NRA, unable to conduct offensives, eventually deteriorated over time. Universities and schools were largely empty due to the lack of equipment, facilities, and students. The KMT encouraged youth participation in the war, after all. Suddenly, public support declined and turned against the once glorious KMT government. Rampant corruption, high taxation rates, and the ostensibly authoritarian government structure caused discontent amongst the general populace. When the communists emerged as a threat again, the KMT continued violent anti-communist raids. There were calls to end the war, but the KMT and Chiang Kai-shek's leadership was unwilling to surrender or enter peace negotiations with the Japanese.

Meanwhile, the CCP continued to strengthen its hold over their zones of control in unoccupied China. It continued building its armies, gained popular support, and had gained control over large swathes of territory in northern and eastern China. Unlike the strict and harsh rule imposed by the KMT, the CCP had originally stuck to its orthodox communist roots and made good relations between party members and the people. Social reforms and economic changes brought good fortunes for the people under their control. The living conditions of the populace, particularly the peasantry, were vastly improved upon. Relations between the CCP's Red Armies and the people were also close, as soldiers were often taught to interact with the local populace. Overall, though control was held by the CCP, its people did not suffer as much as the KMT's subjects. The CCP was also seen as a reliable fighting force; while the KMT wanted to drag the war for as long as possible, the CCP actively conducted operations to capture Japanese positions through partisan activity and guerilla warfare.

On the Japanese side of things, the collaborationist government headed by Wang Jingwei was very unpopular, similarly to Manchukuo. The Japanese committed numerous war crimes on the local population, and there was no sympathy for the invaders. But this was not as much of a problem as Japan simply wanted to extract resources, and not turn Chinese public opinion to be in favor of them. The Pacific War had been raging ever since 1941, and Japan had become too overly confident in their early victories. By 1943, disasters like Midway and Coral Sea diminished Japan's attacking force. Despite its losses in the Pacific, it maintained a steady chokehold on China. In April of 1944, Japan launched Operation Ichi-Go, the largest offensive in the war with China ever since the stalemate. Japan managed to occupy several more territories westward, pushing the Chinese back, but the offensive was stopped. The IJA was exhausted, precisely how the KMT leadership believed the war would conclude. Its army was stretched from China to New Guinea, and they only had so much reserves before their manpower ran dry.

The situation became more complicated when China joined the Allies shortly after the Pearl Harbor bombing. The US began sending supplies to China to aid them in the war effort. Materials were flown from India, Chinese mechanics were sufficiently trained, and Japanese fortresses were bombed by American and Chinese airmen. Due to the closing of the Burma Road earlier in 1942, supplies were flown over an area known as "The Hump." Chiang himself would be appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of all Allied forces in China, aided by US general Joseph Stillwell, who oversaw Allied operations in Southeast Asia. But relations between Chiang and Stillwell, and thus between China and the Allies, soon deteriorated. General Stillwell was opposed to supporting the KMT government any longer due to its rampant corruption and the inability to curb the influence of the CCP. Due to China's lack of offensive capabilities, the KMT government continued to go on the defensive, relying on the fact that the US would capitulate Japan in the long run. Allied high command ultimately saw the China theatre as a way to tie down Japanese troops, and support to the KMT government continued to decline.

END OF THE WAR... AND THE KMT

On August 15th, 1945, Japan had surrendered. Two atomic bombs, coupled with the Soviet invasion of Manchukuo, forced Japan to capitulate. An official peace was signed aboard USS Missouri on September 2nd, and Japanese troops in China surrendered seven days later. The former Japanese possessions in Manchuria, Taiwan, and the Pescadores Island would be returned to Chinese authority. China emerged from the ashes of the war as a great military power, having been recognized as one of the Allied "Big Four." But its strength was all in paper. The country was in turmoil, its economy in shambles, tens of millions of lives lost, countless families torn apart, and caused two polarizing factions competing for power: the KMT and the CCP. Starvation was an immediate problem, as Japanese soldiers have burned down much of the farmlands as part of their scorched-earth policy. The Yellow River Flood and other similar incidents caused multiple people to become homeless. Several towns and cities were reduced to rubble, and much of Japanese-occupied China had turned into nothing more but a husk of debris and corpses. The Soviet invasion of Manchuria, while proponent to ending the war, inadvertenly caused the destruction of multiple industrial bases left by the Japanese. The Soviets also armed the communists, growing their power.

Under the terms of Japan's unconditional surrender, the empire was to surrender to the KMT government, but not to the CCP, which remained an active force in the formerly occupied regions. In Manchuria, where 700,000 Japanese soldiers surrendered, they began surrendering to the CCP instead. The Soviet occupation of Manchuria had left a void in which the KMT could not fill, thus the governing Chinese authority in Manchuria proved to be the CCP. The Allies were initially worried about these developments, but they ultimately believed the situation in postwar Japan was much more important than the situation in China. Both the KMT and the CCP attempted to renegotiate an end to hostilities, as both Chiang Kai-shek and the CCP's new leader, Mao Zedong, met in the city of Chongqing from August to October 1945. Mao had managed to strike a deal with the Soviets, gaining Soviet support for the CCP, thus holding much bargaining power. While negotiations continued, minor clashes between the KMT and the CCP occured. The confetence in Chongqing was concluded with the signing of the Double Tenth Agreement in January 1946, where both sides showed their desires for peaceful reconstruction, but were limited due to ideological differences.

Still, distrust continued to exist between the two sides. The KMT and the Soviets agreed to postpone the Soviet withdrawal from Manchuria in order for the NRA to secure the area and supply the region with vital materials. At this point in time, however, much of Manchuria's industrial bases have been dismantled by the Soviets, who needed materials left behind to fuel their postwar rebuilding efforts. Meanwhile, the CCP had conquered the countryside, leaving the only suitable areas open for KMT occupation was the cities. It did not help that the Soviets had given weapons obtained from the surrendered Japanese to the communists, supplying them with a large pool of weaponry while not directly supporting the communists. The KMT continued to reclaim its territories up to the city of Jinzhou. To counter the KMT advance, the CCP launched a widely successful offensive that led to the conquest of the Shandong Peninsula to communist forces. By June 1946, the temporary truce that was signed in Chongqing officially broke down, and the civil war resumed in a war-torn China.

The Chinese communists

Yet the CCP was at a major advantage. Public support for the KMT had collapsed, and the KMT was experiencing a fatal shortage of manpower and weaponry. On the other hand, the CCP possessed a large arsenal of weapons and could rely on the peasantry as valuable manpower for their homegrown armies. The KMT held control over cities, but the CCP enveloped them by controlling the vast countryside of China along with the villages and towns within it. The CCP's strategy was to wear out the KMT, and the strategy proved relatively successful; while the Nationalists were losing a million men, the communists were gaining two million. The KMT was unable to achieve any strategic success in the period between 1947 and 1949, only achieving a minor victory by capitulating the Yan'an Soviet. A series of devastating offensives on the CCP's part managed to reverse these victories. Soon the KMT was pushed back to the south, while the CCP continued to grow support and spread its influence.

By October 1949, the civil war had been lost. The CCP had conquered northern China and continued to push back the nationalists out of the mainland. On October 1st, Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China. Chiang, the remnants of the KMT and their remaining supporters fled to the island of Taiwan, where they declared a provisional government to be installed on the island. Taipei was now the capital of the KMT, and Chiang asserted that they were the legitimate government of China. To this day, China and Taiwan continued to bicker and claim that the other is an illegitimate government, though no significant military action took place. No peace was signed, so by technicality, the civil war never ended, at least formally.

CLOSING

With the KMT's government retreat to Taiwan, it opener a new chapter in Chinese history. The notions of a Republican China had lost its meaning, and Sun's dreams were never fulfilled. But while a republican government may have failed, the communists have achieved what so many others before them failed to accomplish: peace, prosperity and unity. Following the end of the civil war, there were no more major civil wars occuring in China. But China's story did not end. In the years following the Civil War, Mao Zedong and the CCP has assumed control over the country. But little did anyone know, just how ruthless and brutal the years would be under the reign of Mao Zedong.