Changes

===Age of warlords, 1916-1927===

===Age of warlords, 1916-1927===

After Yuan's death, the Beiyang clique at first backed Prime Minister Duan Qirui. By 1919, army leadership had devolved into three rival factions: Anhui, Zhili, and Fengtian.<ref>Hsü, (1999) ch 20</ref> Zhang Zuolin, warlord of Manchuria and head of the Fengtian clique, was backed by Japan. He gained control of Beijing in 1926. The reactionary character of the Zhang government provoked a backlash in the more reform-minded South. The Nationalist Party, now backed by the Soviets, established a rival government in Guangzhou in 1925. The Nationalists founded the Whampoa Academy to train officers who would be loyal to the party, and not affiliated with and of the Beiyang cliques.

After Yuan's death, the Beiyang clique at first backed Prime Minister Duan Qirui. By 1919, army leadership had devolved into three rival factions: Anhui, Zhili, and Fengtian.<ref>Hsü, (1999) ch 20</ref> Zhang Zuolin, warlord of Manchuria and head of the Fengtian clique, was backed by Japan. He gained control of Beijing in 1926. The reactionary character of the Zhang government provoked a backlash in the more reform-minded South. The Nationalist Party, now backed by the Soviets, established a rival government in Guangzhou in 1925. The Nationalists founded the Whampoa Academy to train officers who would be loyal to the party, and not affiliated with any of the Beiyang cliques.

===KMT government 1927-1937===

===KMT government 1927-1937===