Saturday, September 2, 2017

An Introduction to the Kuomintag in China

Hi friend

I have brought you a new article on Chinese history during post First World War period. Happy reading!

The Kuomintag is the leading political party in China. It literally translates as Chinese Nationalist Party or The People’s Party. But do you know how it started and what hurdles it faced? That is a little explored part of Chinese history. I wish to unlock this particular segment of history.

The Kuomintag was founded by Chinese nationalist Sun Yixian in 1917. Sun Yixian was the son of a peasant farmer and had been educated in England. He was, therefore, exposed to the liberal philosophies of the West. Upon returning to China, he grew disillusioned with the corruption and disunity in his country. By 1917 he had gained some power in a small region, Canton, but quickly gained power in larger regions. He and his friend Jiang Jieshi collaborated with the communist party in order to develop the party’s army into a more effective fighting force.

Sun Yixian was not a realistic man. Despite claiming to have the power to solve China’s issues, he had a rather idealistic perception of things. Jieshi, on the other hand was rather more pragmatic. By the time Sun died in 1925, little progress had been made in unifying China; Jieshi, who emerged as the new leader of the party, had, by 1928, succeeded in gaining control of half of China. However, things were not as easy as they seemed. Warlords incited violence in some rural areas, while communists were calling for a Russian style revolution. Jieshi, beginning to see the communists as an embarrassing ally, began a ‘Purification Movement’. Thousands of communists and peasant leaders were murdered. Yixian had advocated democracy and social reform; Jieshi had no interest in either of these, and the Kuomintag, which had promised much but delivered little, quickly lost support.

Thank you!

I hope you liked my article!

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