Chiang Kai-shek

Lore & Background

Chiang was born in Zhejiang to a merchant family and received a military education in China and Japan. He joined Sun Yat-sen's Tongmenghui in 1908 and later served as commandant of the Whampoa Military Academy. After Sun's death, Chiang wrested control of the party and army from Wang Jingwei in the Canton Coup, then led the Northern Expedition from 1926 to 1928, largely unifying China under a Nationalist government based in Nanjing. He broke the First United Front by purging Chinese Communist Party members in the Shanghai Massacre, triggering the Chinese Civil War.

During the Nanjing decade, Chiang prioritized suppressing Communists over confronting Japan after the invasion of Manchuria. The Xi'an Incident in 1936 forced him to form a Second United Front with the CCP against Japan. From 1937 to 1945, he led China in the Second Sino-Japanese War from the wartime capital of Chongqing, resulting in a victory for the National Revolutionary Army. In 1943, he attended the Cairo Conference to discuss Japan's surrender terms, including the retrocession of Taiwan. After World War II, the civil war resumed, and in 1949 Chiang's KMT was defeated by Mao's CCP and retreated to Taiwan, where he imposed martial law and White Terror until 1987 and 1992, respectively.

Reader's Guide

Chiang Kai-shek remains a deeply controversial figure. Supporters credit him with unifying China, ending the century of humiliation, leading resistance against Japan, fostering economic development, and preserving Chinese culture in contrast to Mao's Cultural Revolution. He is also credited with safeguarding the Forbidden City's treasures during the wars, now housed at the Taipei Palace Museum. Critics fault him for early appeasement of Japan, the deliberate flooding of the Yellow River, cronyism and corruption linked to the Four Big Families, and authoritarian rule on both mainland China and Taiwan. He presided over land reform, economic growth, and the Taiwan Strait crises in 1954–1955 and 1958, and Taiwan pursued an ultimately unsuccessful nuclear weapons program. Chiang was considered the legitimate leader of China by the United Nations until 1971, when the ROC's seat in the Security Council was transferred to the People's Republic of China.

Did You Know?

• Chiang's milk name was Chiang Jui-yuan, meaning 'auspicious beginning'.
• He survived choking on chopsticks at age three and near-drowning in a water jar at age five.
• Chiang was known as 'the Generalissimo' after 1926 when he became commander in chief of the Nationalist armies.
• He was re-elected five times by the same Eternal Parliament as President of the ROC, serving for 25 years until his death.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"Jay Taylor (2000). The Generalissimo's son: Chiang Ching-kuo and the revolutions in China and Taiwan. Harvard University Press. p. 59. ISBN 0674002873. Retrieved on 2010-06-28." — Chiang Kai-shek "Jonathan Fenby (2005). Chiang Kai Shek: China's Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost. Carroll & Graf Publishers. p. 205. ISBN 0786714840. Retrieved on 2010-06-28." — Chiang Kai-shek "I deeply wish that my son could come back. However...I would rather have no offspring than sacrifice our nation's interests." — Chiang Kai-shek "Jay Taylor (2000). The Generalissimo's son: Chiang Ching-kuo and the revolutions in China and Taiwan. Harvard University Press. p. 103. ISBN 0674002873. Retrieved on 2010-06-28." — Chiang Kai-shek