Jiang Jieshi
Jiang Jieshi has another name which was Kai-shek. Jiang Jieshi was in control of the Nationalist forces in China and he had a civil war with Mao Zedong.
After graduation from a military academy in Japan, where he had met Sun Yat-sen (or Sun Yixian), Jieshi become a supporter of the Chinese revolution, and joined Sun’s organization, Jieshi returned to China to participate in the revolt. He eventually became a trusted associate of Sun, who appointed him founding commandant in a Military Academy in 1918, when Jieshi also joined the Nationalist Party.
He succeeded Sun in 1925 as leader of the KMT upon Sun’s early death. In 1926-1927 he unified much of the country, defeating warlords and breaking with the Communist Party, whose members he purged from the KMT. He formed a Nationalist government in Nanjing in 1928, with himself as a military dictator, yet many democratic and modernizing reforms were undertaken. He continued to eliminate the communists, despite Japan’s increasing encroachments and domestic calls for stiff resistance to the Japanese. Finally, after the Xi’an Incident in 1936*, he was forced to enter into an uneasy alliance with the communists in order to fight the Japanese. He led the Republic of China during the Second World War, and was elected President of the Republic of China in 1948, but was forced to retreat with many members of his government and army to Taiwan in 1949.
His early exposure to communism on a visit to the Soviet Union in 1923, he strongly believed that communism was hostile to Chinese culture and would prove disastrous for the Chinese nation. His refusal to resist Japanese aggression until he had suppressed the communists was because of strategy and not a rivalry with Mao Zedong.
When forced by domestic or American pressure to forge an alliance with the Communists, he did so with great reluctance and reserve, and never fully committed himself or his resources to that union.
*During the Chinese Civil War between the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) and the rebel Chinese Communist Party and just before the Second Sino-Japanese War. On 12 December 1936, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the KMT was arrested and kidnapped by Zhang Xueliang, then Japan-occupied Manchukuo. The incident led the Nationalists and the Communists to make peace so that the two could form a united front against the increasing threat posed by Japan.
Citations:
"Historical Events." Xi'an Incident. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2013.
"Jiang Jieshi." : J: By Person: Stories: Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2013.
After graduation from a military academy in Japan, where he had met Sun Yat-sen (or Sun Yixian), Jieshi become a supporter of the Chinese revolution, and joined Sun’s organization, Jieshi returned to China to participate in the revolt. He eventually became a trusted associate of Sun, who appointed him founding commandant in a Military Academy in 1918, when Jieshi also joined the Nationalist Party.
He succeeded Sun in 1925 as leader of the KMT upon Sun’s early death. In 1926-1927 he unified much of the country, defeating warlords and breaking with the Communist Party, whose members he purged from the KMT. He formed a Nationalist government in Nanjing in 1928, with himself as a military dictator, yet many democratic and modernizing reforms were undertaken. He continued to eliminate the communists, despite Japan’s increasing encroachments and domestic calls for stiff resistance to the Japanese. Finally, after the Xi’an Incident in 1936*, he was forced to enter into an uneasy alliance with the communists in order to fight the Japanese. He led the Republic of China during the Second World War, and was elected President of the Republic of China in 1948, but was forced to retreat with many members of his government and army to Taiwan in 1949.
His early exposure to communism on a visit to the Soviet Union in 1923, he strongly believed that communism was hostile to Chinese culture and would prove disastrous for the Chinese nation. His refusal to resist Japanese aggression until he had suppressed the communists was because of strategy and not a rivalry with Mao Zedong.
When forced by domestic or American pressure to forge an alliance with the Communists, he did so with great reluctance and reserve, and never fully committed himself or his resources to that union.
*During the Chinese Civil War between the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) and the rebel Chinese Communist Party and just before the Second Sino-Japanese War. On 12 December 1936, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the KMT was arrested and kidnapped by Zhang Xueliang, then Japan-occupied Manchukuo. The incident led the Nationalists and the Communists to make peace so that the two could form a united front against the increasing threat posed by Japan.
Citations:
"Historical Events." Xi'an Incident. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2013.
"Jiang Jieshi." : J: By Person: Stories: Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2013.