Chiang Kai-shek (October 31, 1887 – April 5, 1975)

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Chiang Kai-shek - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chiang Kai-shek (October 31, 1887 – April 5, 1975) was the Chinese military and political leader who assumed the leadership of the Kuomintang (KMT) after the death of Sun Yat-sen in 1925. He led the national government of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 to his death in 1975.
Chiang commanded the Northern Expedition to unify China against the warlords and emerged victorious in 1928 as the overall leader of the Republic of China. Chiang led China in the Second Sino-Japanese War, during which Chiang's stature within China weakened, but his international prominence grew. During the Chinese Civil War (1927–1949), Chiang attempted to eradicate the Chinese Communists, but ultimately failed, forcing his KMT government to escape to Taiwan, where he continued serving as the President of the Republic of China and Director-General of the KMT for the remainder of his life.



Wartime leader of China

After Japan's invasion of Manchuria in 1931, Chiang resigned as Chairman of the National Government. He returned shortly, adopting a slogan "first internal pacification, then external resistance", which meant that the government would first attempt to defeat the Communists before engaging the Japanese directly. But Japan's advance on Shanghai and bombardment of Nanjing in 1932 disrupted Chiang Kai-shek's offensives against Communists. Even though on the surface Chiang seemed more preoccupied with eradicating the communists first, Chiang was preparing to fight an eventual showdown with Japan. During the period from 1931 to the beginning of full-scale war in 1937, the central government under Chiang worked assiduously to expand and modernize its armed forces, build fortifications and communication lines around the country, and develop a viable military industry capable of supporting the war effort. All these war preparations required temporary peace with Japan, which was precisely what Chiang sought in his policy. Any premature act of war before the country was ready would likely spell disaster for China. However, this policy of avoiding a frontal war was widely unpopular.