Northern Expedition

The Northern Expedition (北伐) was a military campaign led by Kuomintang and Communist Party of China from 1926 to 1927 ,which was intended to speed the Chinese revolution against feudalism and imperialism plaguing China after the Xinhai Revolution and ending the rule of local warlords. It should not be confused with the Northern Expeditions during the era of Three Kingdoms.

Related Topics:
Kuomintang - Communist Party of China - 1926 - 1927 - Chinese - Feudalism - Imperialism - Xinhai Revolution - Warlord - Northern Expeditions - Three Kingdoms

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The Northern Expedition began from KMT's power base in Guangdong province.In 1926 the May 30th Movement announced the chains fo strike and protest against western imperialism and its warlord agents in China. At the same time, the alliance between KMT and CPC was in question for the occurrence of Zhongshan Warship Incident in Mar 1926 and the following events made Chiang Kai-shek the paramount military leader of KMT in effect.Although Chiang doubted Sun Yat-sen's policy of alliance with Soviet Union and CPC, he still needed aid from Soviet Union, so he could not break up the alliance at that time. Above all, Chiang need a stage to indicate his role of paramount leader and military talent. On the other hand, the Soviet Union and CPC cherished the alliance more than Chiang, they did need a stage to show their friendship to KMT. Thus all three parties agreed to launch the Northern Expedition to solve their own problems.

Related Topics:
Guangdong - Chiang Kai-shek - Sun Yat-sen - Soviet Union

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The main target of this expedition consist of three notorious and powerful warlords of China:Zhang Zuolin who governed Manchuria, Wu Peifu in Central Plain of China and Sun Chuanfang in eastern coast of China. Advised by the famous Russian general Vasily Blyukher using the name General Galen, the HQ of expedition decided to use all its power defeat these warlords one by one, first Wu, then Sun ,last Zhang. On July 9 1926, Chinag gave his lecture to 100,000 soldiers of the National Revolutionary Army,which was set up by the students trained in Whampoa Military Academy and equipped with Russian arsenal in the opening ceremony,which was the official commencement of Northern Expedition. NRA were far better organized than the warlord armies which they faced,for they had good military advisors, better weapon and commissars from CPC to inspire the soldiers. In addition, the NRA was regarded as a progressive force on behalf of ordinary people persecuted by warlords, for which it received warm welcome and strong suppor from peasants and workers. It was no surprise the NRA could march from Zhu River area to Yangtze River in less than half a year and annihilate the main force of Wu and Sun, and strengthen its force from 100,000 to 250,000.

Related Topics:
Manchuria - Central Plain - Vasily Blyukher - July 9 - 1926 - National Revolutionary Army - Whampoa Military Academy - Yangtze River

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Today, the Northern Expedition is viewed positively both in Mainland China and on Taiwan because it ended a period of disorder and started the formation of an effective Chinese central government. However it did not fully solve the warlord problem, as many warlords still held large armies that didn't necessarily obey central orders. The irony is when old warlords such as Wu and Sun were brought down.New warlords such as Chiang ,Li Zongren and his Guangxi Clique, Yan Xishan and his Shanxi Clique,Feng Yu-hsiang and his Northwestern Clique ,Tang Shengzi and his Hunan Clique quickly took over power, And the wars between these new warlords claimed more lives than ever in the 1930's . This would prove to be a major headache for the KMT all the way through WW2 and the following civil war.

Related Topics:
Mainland China - Taiwan - Li Zongren - Guangxi - Yan Xishan - Shanxi - Feng Yu-hsiang - Hunan

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However,Chiang did get the greatest benefit from the expedition, for the victory won him prominence in the political stage. Furthermore, Chiang made the military command superior to KMT party leadership, which resulted in his dictatorship later. Moreover, even before the objectives of the Northern Expedition had been achieved the first cooperation between KMT and CCP fell apart in the Wu Han incident, where CCP members and parts of the KMT political wing broke ties with Chiang, but with the military firming in his grasp, they proved no match for Chiang and as a result all of the CCP members of the KMT were expelled. This would also prove to be the beginning of a 20 year long KMT/CCP civil war that only had a partial ending by the KMT withdrawal to Taiwan in 1949

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