The Beiyang Government
Explanation:
In the 1920s, the Beiyang government based in Beijing was internationally recognized as the legitimate Chinese government. Much of the country, however, was not under its control, being ruled by a patchwork of warlords. The Kuomintang (KMT), based in Guangzhou (Canton), aspired to be the party of national liberation. Since the conclusion of the Constitutional Protection Movement in 1922, the KMT had been bolstering its ranks to prepare for an expedition against the northern warlords in Beijing, intending to reunify China. This preparation involved improving both the political and military strength of the KMT. Before his death in March 1925, Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the Republic of China and co-founder of the KMT, was supportive of Sino-Soviet co-operation, which had involved forming the First United Front with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The military arm of the KMT was the National Revolutionary Army (NRA). Chiang Kai-shek, who had emerged as Sun's protégé as early as 1922, was appointed commandant of the Whampoa Military Academy in 1924, and quickly emerged as a contender for the position of Sun's successor in the aftermath of his death. s. On 20 March 1926, he launched a bloodless purge of hardline communists who were opposed to the proposed expedition from the Guangzhou administration and its military, known as the Canton Coup. At the same time, Chiang made conciliatory moves toward the Soviet Union and attempted to balance the need for Soviet and CCP assistance in the fight against the warlords with his concerns about growing communist influence within the KMT. In the aftermath of the coup, Chiang negotiated a compromise whereby hardline members of the rightist faction, such as Wu Tieh-cheng, were removed from their posts in compensation for the purged leftists. By doing so, Chiang was able to prove his usefulness to the CCP and their Soviet sponsor, Joseph Stalin. Soviet aid to the KMT government would continue, as would co-operation with the CCP. A fragile coalition between KMT rightists, centrists led by Chiang, KMT leftists, and the CCP managed to hold together, laying the groundwork for the Northern Expedition.
