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Central Plains War
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Central Plains War
The Central Plains War (traditional Chinese: 中原大戰; simplified Chinese: 中原大战; pinyin: Zhōngyúan Dàzhàn) was a series of military campaigns in 1929 and 1930 that constituted a Chinese civil war between the Nationalist Kuomintang government in Nanjing led by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and several regional military commanders and warlords who were former allies of Chiang.
After the Northern Expedition ended in 1928, Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang, Li Zongren and Zhang Fakui broke off relations with Chiang shortly after a demilitarization conference in 1929, and together they formed an anti-Chiang coalition to openly challenge the legitimacy of the Nanjing government. The war was the largest conflict in the Warlord Era, fought across Henan, Shandong, Anhui and other areas of the Central Plains in China, involving 300,000 soldiers from Nanjing and 700,000 soldiers from the coalition.
Compared to other senior party officials like Hu Hanmin and Wang Jingwei, the political status of Chiang Kai-shek in the Kuomintang (KMT) was lower in the beginning. Chiang began his rise to prominence in 1917 during the Constitutional Protection Movement and the formation of the Guangzhou government, where he displayed his military talent. The turning point came in 1923 when Chen Jiongming launched a rebellion against Sun Yat-sen in Guangzhou. Chiang's role in helping Sun to retreat from Guangzhou ultimately helped him to become Sun's protégé.
After Sun's death in 1925, factions within the Kuomintang began to surface. A power struggle between Chiang and Wang Jingwei led to the split of the KMT. Chiang was able to use his influence as the commandant of the Whampoa Academy and eventually took over the leadership of the party, forcing Wang into exile overseas. In 1926, Chiang was ceremonially chosen as the commander of the newly formed National Revolutionary Army and launched the Northern Expedition. In the course of the expedition, Chiang had managed to form an alliance with warlord armies of Feng Yuxiang, Yan Xishan and Li Zongren.
The Northern Expedition ended with the reunification of China in 1928 under the Nanjing government, as Zhang Xueliang declared the allegiance of his Northeast Army to the Nationalist government in Nanjing, following the assassination of his father Zhang Zuolin by the Japanese Kwantung Army. While Chiang emerged as the paramount leader of the Republic of China, the reunification soon ran into issues as different factions in the Kuomintang disagreed over demilitarization at a military conference in 1929. The National Revolutionary Army was reorganized into four army groups after the Northern Expedition, incorporating armies from regional warlords. The First Army Group was formed by the Whampoa clique, alternatively known as the Central Army, which were directly led by Chiang himself. The Second Army Group consisted of elements from Guominjun led by Feng Yuxiang. The Third Army Group was led by Yan Xishan of the Shanxi clique, while the Fourth Army Group were led by Li Zongren of the New Guangxi clique.
On 1 January 1929, in Nanjing, the National Demilitarization Conference began. The leading figures including Chiang, Yan, Li and Feng gathered to discuss demobilization. Chiang was appointed as chairman, and though the conference did see some successes, it was overall a failure. A 2nd conference was held in August. This August conference divided China into 6 military regions roughly corresponding to the regions of the major warlords (and one for the minor warlords). The new national army was to have 65 divisions of 11,000 men or 715,000 soldiers (not including any personnel above divisional level); this was a large reduction of the 1,502,000 men currently under arms in China. Yan and Feng accused Chiang of attempting to centralise military power under his control and thus remove them from their positions of power.
Feng controlled the provinces of Gansu, Shaanxi and Henan. His partial control of Shandong provided him with large amounts of revenue needed for his military; however this was greatly affected by the fact that there was a famine and rebellion in Gansu. Feng asked Chiang for this territory.
Hunan was controlled by the Guangxi clique (in addition to their other lands); this made the clique a threat to Chiang, who proceeded to appoint his own protege into power in Hunan. This angered the Guangxi clique, who ran Chiang's governor out of office. Chiang did not tolerate this action and prepared for war, while Feng was bribed with offers of large amounts of territory in Shandong for his neutrality. Other Northern Chinese leaders were also bribed for their neutrality so Chiang could focus entirely on the Wuhan armies.
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Central Plains War
The Central Plains War (traditional Chinese: 中原大戰; simplified Chinese: 中原大战; pinyin: Zhōngyúan Dàzhàn) was a series of military campaigns in 1929 and 1930 that constituted a Chinese civil war between the Nationalist Kuomintang government in Nanjing led by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and several regional military commanders and warlords who were former allies of Chiang.
After the Northern Expedition ended in 1928, Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang, Li Zongren and Zhang Fakui broke off relations with Chiang shortly after a demilitarization conference in 1929, and together they formed an anti-Chiang coalition to openly challenge the legitimacy of the Nanjing government. The war was the largest conflict in the Warlord Era, fought across Henan, Shandong, Anhui and other areas of the Central Plains in China, involving 300,000 soldiers from Nanjing and 700,000 soldiers from the coalition.
Compared to other senior party officials like Hu Hanmin and Wang Jingwei, the political status of Chiang Kai-shek in the Kuomintang (KMT) was lower in the beginning. Chiang began his rise to prominence in 1917 during the Constitutional Protection Movement and the formation of the Guangzhou government, where he displayed his military talent. The turning point came in 1923 when Chen Jiongming launched a rebellion against Sun Yat-sen in Guangzhou. Chiang's role in helping Sun to retreat from Guangzhou ultimately helped him to become Sun's protégé.
After Sun's death in 1925, factions within the Kuomintang began to surface. A power struggle between Chiang and Wang Jingwei led to the split of the KMT. Chiang was able to use his influence as the commandant of the Whampoa Academy and eventually took over the leadership of the party, forcing Wang into exile overseas. In 1926, Chiang was ceremonially chosen as the commander of the newly formed National Revolutionary Army and launched the Northern Expedition. In the course of the expedition, Chiang had managed to form an alliance with warlord armies of Feng Yuxiang, Yan Xishan and Li Zongren.
The Northern Expedition ended with the reunification of China in 1928 under the Nanjing government, as Zhang Xueliang declared the allegiance of his Northeast Army to the Nationalist government in Nanjing, following the assassination of his father Zhang Zuolin by the Japanese Kwantung Army. While Chiang emerged as the paramount leader of the Republic of China, the reunification soon ran into issues as different factions in the Kuomintang disagreed over demilitarization at a military conference in 1929. The National Revolutionary Army was reorganized into four army groups after the Northern Expedition, incorporating armies from regional warlords. The First Army Group was formed by the Whampoa clique, alternatively known as the Central Army, which were directly led by Chiang himself. The Second Army Group consisted of elements from Guominjun led by Feng Yuxiang. The Third Army Group was led by Yan Xishan of the Shanxi clique, while the Fourth Army Group were led by Li Zongren of the New Guangxi clique.
On 1 January 1929, in Nanjing, the National Demilitarization Conference began. The leading figures including Chiang, Yan, Li and Feng gathered to discuss demobilization. Chiang was appointed as chairman, and though the conference did see some successes, it was overall a failure. A 2nd conference was held in August. This August conference divided China into 6 military regions roughly corresponding to the regions of the major warlords (and one for the minor warlords). The new national army was to have 65 divisions of 11,000 men or 715,000 soldiers (not including any personnel above divisional level); this was a large reduction of the 1,502,000 men currently under arms in China. Yan and Feng accused Chiang of attempting to centralise military power under his control and thus remove them from their positions of power.
Feng controlled the provinces of Gansu, Shaanxi and Henan. His partial control of Shandong provided him with large amounts of revenue needed for his military; however this was greatly affected by the fact that there was a famine and rebellion in Gansu. Feng asked Chiang for this territory.
Hunan was controlled by the Guangxi clique (in addition to their other lands); this made the clique a threat to Chiang, who proceeded to appoint his own protege into power in Hunan. This angered the Guangxi clique, who ran Chiang's governor out of office. Chiang did not tolerate this action and prepared for war, while Feng was bribed with offers of large amounts of territory in Shandong for his neutrality. Other Northern Chinese leaders were also bribed for their neutrality so Chiang could focus entirely on the Wuhan armies.
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