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'''Chiang Kai-shek''' (or '''Jiang Jieshi''' in the Communist version)<ref> His last name is Chiang, his first name is Kai-Shek. When the Communists came to power they changed the system of translation and made his name Jiang Jieshi in English. Most English language books call him Chiang Kai-shek</ref> ([[Traditional Chinese]]: 蔣介石; [[Simplified Chinese]]: 蒋介石; [[Hanyu Pinyin]]: Jiǎng Jièshí; [[Jyutping]]: Zoeng<sup>2</sup> Gaai<sup>3</sup> Sek<sup>6</sup>) was the leader of the [[Guomindang]] from 1925 following the death of [[Sun Yixian]] (Sun Yat-sen), and from 1928 until his death in 1975 was the paramount leader and (with brief interruptions) President of the [[Republic of China]]. Chiang ostensibly converted to [[Christianity]] (specifically, to [[Methodism]]) on his marriage to [[Song Meiling]] and was an ardent opponent of [[Communism]].
As commandant of the Whampoa Military Academy, Chiang had to work closely with Soviet advisors and [[Chinese Communist Party]] officials (the Guomindang and the CCP had formed a '[[united front]]' as a result of the Sun-Joffe Agreement, the CCP existing as 'bloc within' the Guomindang). [[Zhou Enlai]] (Wade-Giles: Chou En-lai) was a senior political commissar at the academy. However, Chiang was very suspicious of his Communist allies. Following the death of Sun Yat-sen in 1925, Chiang became the most powerful individual Guomindang leader, and on March 11 1926 launched a limited purge of communists in Guangzhou (the so-called 'Canton Coup'), as a result of which all his Soviet advisors were expelled. However, he did not dissolve the united front, and the CCP, under orders from Moscow, also continued to maintain the status quo.
As commandant of the Whampoa Military Academy, Chiang had to work closely with Soviet advisors and [[Chinese Communist Party]] officials (the Guomindang and the CCP had formed a '[[united front]]' as a result of the Sun-Joffe Agreement, the CCP existing as 'bloc within' the Guomindang). [[Zhou Enlai]] (Wade-Giles: Chou En-lai) was a senior political commissar at the academy. However, Chiang was very suspicious of his Communist allies. Following the death of Sun Yat-sen in 1925, Chiang became the most powerful individual Guomindang leader, and on March 11 1926 launched a limited purge of communists in Guangzhou (the so-called 'Canton Coup'), as a result of which all his Soviet advisors were expelled. However, he did not dissolve the united front, and the CCP, under orders from Moscow, also continued to maintain the status quo.
On July 1, 1926, Chiang launched the Northern Expedition. Guomindang armies marched north from Guangzhou in a bid to free China from the warring warlord factions which had been the sole fluctuating authority in the country since the death of [[Yuan Shikai]] in 1916, and to unify the country under Guomindang rule. However, Chiang was aided by the 'Guangxi Clique' of nationally-minded warlords; and the northern progress of the expedition was aided by carefully-timed popular uprisings planned by the CCP against local warlords. By September 1926 the Guomindang had captured [[Wuhan]] on the middle [[Yangtse]], and a Guomindang government was established there. Instead of continuing to press north, Chiang turned east and in March 1927 occupied [[Nanjing]], which was to become the Nationalist's capital city, and [[Shanghai]].
On July 1, 1926, Chiang launched the Northern Expedition. Guomindang armies marched north from Guangzhou in a bid to free China from the warring warlord factions which had been the ruled each region since 1916. The goal was to unify the country under Guomindang rule. By September 1926 the Guomindang had captured [[Wuhan]] on the middle [[Yangtse]], and a Guomindang government was established there. Instead of continuing to press north, Chiang turned east and in March 1927 occupied [[Nanjing]], which was to become the Nationalist's capital city, and [[Shanghai]].
On April 12, 1927 Chiang again turned on the communists in the 'Shanghai Coup'. Aided by the police of the International Settlement and the French Concession in the city, and by gunmen of the influential 'Green Gang' criminal network, Chiang's troops and police rounded up and executed hundred of communists and trade unionists; in the weeks to come thousands more communists and other left-wingers were killed. The Guomindang government at Wuhan, led by Sun Yat-sen's widow [[Song Qingling]] and by [[Wang Jingwei]] initially protested at Chiang's actions but by the autumn of 1927 they, too, dissolved the united front. Chiang was now the undisputed leader of the Guomindang and the most powerful man in China. In 1928 two northern warlords, [[Yan Xishan]] and [[Feng Yuxiang]], pledged their loyalty to him, and Yan's troops drove the last major warlord opponent, [[Zhang Zuolin]], out of [[Beijing]]. The Northern Expedition was over, and Chiang was master of China.
On April 12, 1927 Chiang again turned on the communists in the 'Shanghai Coup'. Chiang's troops and police rounded up and executed hundreds, probably rhousands of communists under Moscow's control. Chiang was now the undisputed leader of the Guomindang and the most powerful man in China. In 1928 two northern warlords, Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang, pledged their loyalty to him, and Yan's troops drove the last major warlord opponent, Zhang Zuolin, out of Peking. The Northern Expedition was over, and Chiang was master of China.
=== President of the Republic of China ===
=== President of the Republic of China ===
In order to pin down the Japanese and prevent them from attacking the Soviet Union, <ref>[http://en.epochtimes.com/news/4-12-13/24830.html ''On the Beginnings of the Chinese Communist Party''], The Epoch Times, Dec 13, 2004.</ref> [[Stalin]] personally wrote to the Central Committee of the CCP, asking them not to kill Chiang Kai-shek, but to cooperate with him for a second time. Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai realized that they could not destroy the KMT with the limited strength of the CCP; if they killed Chiang Kai-shek, they would be defeated and even eliminated by the avenging KMT army. The CCP changed its tone. The CCP forced Chiang Kai-shek to accept cooperation a second time in the name of joint resistance against the Japanese.
In order to pin down the Japanese and prevent them from attacking the Soviet Union, <ref>[http://en.epochtimes.com/news/4-12-13/24830.html ''On the Beginnings of the Chinese Communist Party''], The Epoch Times, Dec 13, 2004.</ref> [[Stalin]] personally wrote to the Central Committee of the CCP, asking them not to kill Chiang Kai-shek, but to cooperate with him for a second time. Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai realized that they could not destroy the KMT with the limited strength of the CCP; if they killed Chiang Kai-shek, they would be defeated and even eliminated by the avenging KMT army. The CCP changed its tone. The CCP forced Chiang Kai-shek to accept cooperation a second time in the name of joint resistance against the Japanese.
The Red Army was soon turned into the Eighth Route Army and grew bigger and more powerful than before.
=== The Sino-Japanese War ===
=== The Sino-Japanese War ===
The [[U.S. War Department]] however, had more realistic and clearer view of the situation. In July 1945, a memorandum entitled, ''The Chinese Communist Movement'', gave a depiction of the true nature of the Communist movement. The report stated the Maoists were more rigidly controlled than the KMT, allowed no opposition groups to exist in their areas (in contrast to the KMT), and were part of the [[Comintern|international Communist]] movement. <ref>Anne W. Carroll, [http://www.ewtn.com/library/HOMELIBR/FR89102.TXT ''Who Lost China''], 1996. Retrieved from www.ewtn com/library/ August 16, 2007.</ref>
The [[U.S. War Department]] however, had more realistic and clearer view of the situation. In July 1945, a memorandum entitled, ''The Chinese Communist Movement'', gave a depiction of the true nature of the Communist movement. The report stated the Maoists were more rigidly controlled than the KMT, allowed no opposition groups to exist in their areas (in contrast to the KMT), and were part of the [[Comintern|international Communist]] movement. <ref>Anne W. Carroll, [http://www.ewtn.com/library/HOMELIBR/FR89102.TXT ''Who Lost China''], 1996. Retrieved from www.ewtn com/library/ August 16, 2007.</ref>
Without committing U.S. combat troops and without supporting a coalition government, the [[Truman Doctrine]] saved Greece from Communism. Greece received weapons and financial support and, most importantly, operational advisers at the battalion level, who ensured that American aid was used effectively. Marshall himself testified that such aid might have worked in China, but General David Barr's military mission to China was specifically instructed not to supply
Without committing U.S. combat troops and without supporting a coalition government, the [[Truman Doctrine]] saved Greece from Communism. Greece received weapons and financial support and, most importantly, operational advisers at the battalion level, who ensured that American aid was used effectively. Marshall himself testified that similar aid might have worked in China, but General David Barr's military mission to China was specifically instructed not to supply this kind of assistance. <ref>Military Situation in the Far East, Hearings before the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate, 82nd Congress (Washington, 1951), p. 558.</ref> General [[Albert C. Wedemeyer]] recommended this approach in his report on his 1947 fact-finding mission, but Marshall personally suppressed the report. <ref>Tang Tsou, ''America's Failure in China, 1941-1945'', Chicago 1964, pg. 457.</ref> Chiang believed that the Truman Doctrine to [[Containment|contain]] the spread of [[Comintern|International Communism]] directed from Moscow would be extended to China, and ordered an offensive as soon as word of the new policy reached him. <ref>Richard C. Thornton, ''China: A Political History, 1917-1980'', Boulder CO 1982, pg. 208.</ref> Truman however, made no effort to save China from Communism.
this kind of assistance. <ref>Military Situation in the Far East, Hearings before the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate, 82nd Congress (Washington, 1951), p. 558.</ref> General [[Albert C. Wedemeyer]] recommended this approach in his report on his 1947 fact-finding mission, but Marshall personally suppressed the report. <ref>Tang Tsou, ''America's Failure in China, 1941-1945'', Chicago 1964, pg. 457.</ref> Chiang believed that the Truman Doctrine to [[Containment|contain]] the spread of [[Comintern|International Communism]] directed from Moscow would be extended to China, and ordered an offensive as soon as word of the new policy reached him. <ref>Richard C. Thornton, ''China: A Political History, 1917-1980'', Boulder CO 1982, pg. 208.</ref> Truman however, made no effort to save China from Communism.
Chiang was forced from the Chinese mainland to the island of [[Taiwan]] in 1949, where he resumed his position as president, albeit of a massively reduced territory.
Chiang was forced from the Chinese mainland to the island of [[Taiwan]] in 1949, where he resumed his position as president, albeit of a massively reduced territory.