Changes

===Nationalist China: 1925-1971===

===Nationalist China: 1925-1971===

Meanwhile, the Soviets were built up Sun's Nationalist Party, revived in 1917, and supplied it with money and weapons. A united front was formed with the Communists in 1923. The Whampoa Military Academy, established in 1924, trained a new generation of officers to put nation before clique. Soon after Sun's death in 1925, the party proclaimed an alternative "national government" in the southern city of Guangzhou. In the Northern Expedition of 1926-1928, [[Chiang Kai-shek]] led the Nationalists to a surprisingly easy victory over the far larger, but now bankrupt, forces of the Beiyang warlords. Furious with his failure to stop Chiang’s advance, the Japanese murdered Zhang. Chiang also purged the treacherous Communists and married Song Meiling, a Christian woman who would become greatly admired internationally as China’s first lady. The capital was moved to Nanjing in 1928. The warlords were finally brought to heel in 1930 when Chiang put down a brief but bloody revolt in central China.

Meanwhile, the Soviets were built up Sun's Nationalist Party, revived in 1917, and supplied it with money and weapons. A united front was formed with the Communists in 1923. The Whampoa Military Academy, established in 1924, trained a new generation of officers to put nation before clique. Soon after Sun's death in 1925, the party proclaimed an alternative "national government" in the southern city of Guangzhou. In the Northern Expedition of 1926-1928, [[Chiang Kai-shek]] led the Nationalists to a surprisingly easy victory over the far larger, but now bankrupt, forces of the Beiyang warlords. Furious with his failure to stop Chiang’s advance, the Japanese murdered Zhang, who was still China's internationally recognized head of state at the time. Chiang also purged the treacherous Communists and married Song Meiling, a Christian woman who would become greatly admired internationally as China’s first lady. The capital was moved to Nanjing in 1928. The warlords were finally brought to heel in 1930 when Chiang put down a brief but bloody revolt in central China.

Under the Nationalists, China experienced industrialization and modernization, but there was also conflict between the government in Nanjing, the Communist Party, remnant warlords, and Japan. Nation-building took a backseat to war with Japan in 1937–1945. Japan occupied coastal areas and cut off China's access to seaports, while the Nationalists retreated to Chongqing. The Chinese cause received much sympathetic attention in the U.S. press, and the [[Flying Tigers]], an aviation squadron, was lionized. The Burma Road, and later the Ledo Road, were built to allow US "lend-lease" aid to reach the Chinese army. The Nationalists' Y Force drove back the Japanese in Yunnan during a May–June 1944 offensive, but otherwise military results were disappointing.

Under the Nationalists, China experienced industrialization and modernization, but there was also conflict between the government in Nanjing, the Communist Party, remnant warlords, and Japan. Nation-building took a backseat to war with Japan in 1937–1945. Japan occupied coastal areas and cut off China's access to seaports, while the Nationalists retreated to Chongqing. The Chinese cause received much sympathetic attention in the U.S. press, and the [[Flying Tigers]], an aviation squadron, was lionized. The Burma Road, and later the Ledo Road, were built to allow US "lend-lease" aid to reach the Chinese army. The Nationalists' Y Force drove back the Japanese in Yunnan during a May–June 1944 offensive, but otherwise military results were disappointing.