CHIANG KAI-SHEK: BIOGRAPHY - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) was a Chinese politician, military and dictator, member and later leader of the Chinese nationalist Kuomintang party. He was known for his opposition to the People's Republic of China and for his clashes against Mao Zedong's Red Army. It is owed the founding of the ROC.

After his defeat in present-day China, he was forced to leave the mainland and establish, on the island of Taiwan, a conservative anti-communist regime until his death.

Taken from: Wikipedia

Biography

Chiang Kai-Shek was born in the small town of Xikou, located in Zhejiang province, on October 31, 1887. He was the son of Chinese merchants and studied at the traditional school on Phoenix Mountain. Later he moved to other schools, such as the Ningbo Port School and the Fenghua School.

In 1906 he studied military studies at the Baoding military academy in northern China. In this academy he had military instructors of Japanese origin. This brought as a consequence that some time later, in 1907, he had to move to Japan to continue his military training.

Already on the Japanese island, Chiang Kai-Shek entered the Academy of the Imperial Japanese Army. There he stood out in the artillery unit until 1911. In that year he returned to Shanghai, due to the events that occurred after the fall of the Qing dynasty and the end of the Chinese imperial era.

Post Chinese Dynasty

Upon his return, he joined the nationalist "Kuomintang" movement, founded by Sun Yat-sen, whom he had already met several years ago.

As a member of the Kuomintang, he started several skirmishes in the territories of present-day China. They were exercised against the military chiefs who had divided the territory after the fall of the dynasty.

In 1923 his partner Sun Yat-sen established a revolutionary and nationalist government in the city of Canton. For this, Chiang was sent to the USSR to continue his training with the Soviet army.

After finishing his studies he returned to China and was appointed head of the Whampoa Military Academy. This will later represent the National Revolutionary Forces.

Death of Sun Yat-sen

In 1926 after the death of its founding leader Sun Yat-sen, Chaing became the leader of the Kuomintang. Thus began a series of military campaigns with the help of Soviet advisers against the warlords occupying the rest of the Chinese territory.

Among them he highlighted the conquest of Wuhan and the abolition of the British concessions on Hankou. Until this time, Chiang had the support of the Chinese Communist Party.

Despite the successes obtained during these military campaigns, discrepancies arose between him and the left-wing forces belonging to the Kuomintang.

Separation with the left

This resulted in the division and the creation of the provisional general meeting in Wuhan. Also, the provisional central political board was created, following the ideas of Chiang Kai-Shek.

The beginning of differences between Chiang and the left made the following military campaigns difficult. That is why his followers applied a strong policy of repression against various left-wing groups within the controlled territories.

The strongest repression occurred in the recently conquered city of Shanghai. This left a figure of between 5,000 and 30,000 murdered communists.

As a result of the events that occurred in the city of Shanghai, the Communists of the provisional general meeting in Wuhan decided to expel him from the Kuomintang.

After the Japanese invasion of Chinese territory, both the Communist Party and the Kuomintang put their differences aside to form a united front. Chongqing City was established as the provisional capital.

Despite the alliance with the Soviets, Chiang Kai-shek's China was politically unstable and economically handicapped by wars.

Japanese invasion

Even so, the Chinese had managed to repel the Japanese attacks against the Changsha, which had kept them in high spirits, until in 1940 the Imperial Japanese Army made the landing on Chinese shores and conquered the city of Nanning.

Despite the policy of alliance with the USSR and Western powers such as the US, Chiang failed to stop the advance of the enemy army. For this reason, he decided to maintain a policy of resistance and in turn of repression against the internal left forces.

The long-awaited stability of the Chiang Kai-Shek government managed to consolidate from 1945, when a treaty was signed with Stalin's USSR. This agreement gave it legitimacy over the territory under its control. It also contemplated the cessation of the war with Japan as a result of the US nuclear bombardment of the island and its subsequent surrender.

The post-war events gave this Chinese leader international recognition and rapprochement with the Western powers of the time.

With the Japanese pretensions over China abandoned, hostilities against the Communists began. Since 1930 there was a peasant movement led by Mao Zedong who had founded a communist republic in the city of Yenan. This movement managed to advance within its territory.

Therefore, Chiang decided to ally himself with the Western powers and take command of the military operations against this movement.

From 1949 the communists advanced on strategic cities like Xuzhou, Nanking and Shanghai. Chiang after being defeated decided to move to Taiwan and establish it as his base of operations.

Despite several attempts to reconquer the ROC, on December 1 he announced his resignation to the Maoist troops.

Death

From 1949 until his death Chiang Kai-shek ruled the island of Taiwan as a dictator. He established in it a conservative, anti-communist government and an ally of the western bloc.

He died on April 5, 1975, after several pneumonia. He was succeeded in government by Chiang Ching-kuo, which would initiate a limited political opening.​

Contributions

The approach to the western world influenced the politics of this dictator. So one of its main contributions was the prohibition of child labor, which had already taken place in Europe and America).

It also set working hours of a maximum of 8 hours a day, the creation of a new solar calendar and the creation of a central unity government.

Plays

The Chiang government was characterized by its insistence on fighting corruption. Among them was the increase in the salaries of its officials.

Internationally, he created a network of alliances that gave him international recognition and a position on the UN security council.

He created a unified army that destroyed the various fiefdoms in the territory. This helped him to resist against the Japanese troops. It also allowed the pacification that gave the new government stability in the region.

Politically he stood out for the creation of the ROC in present-day Taiwan and the application of measures that helped modernize the State.

References

1. Jonathan Fenby. Generalissymo Chiang kai-Shek and the china he lost. Recovered from: books.google.es
2. Sebastián Claro. 25 years of economic reforms in china. Recovered from: www.cepchile.cl
3. Jessica Petrino. During the Chinese civil war the Kuomintang captured Beijing. The government of Nanking becomes internationally recognized as the only legitimate government in China. Recovered from: www.iri.edu.ar
4. David Caldevilla Domínguez. The Asian protocol: a bridge between two cultures. Audiovisual communication and advertising department 2. Spain
5. Mao Zedong. About the prolonged war. Recovered from: books.google.es