Chiang Kai-shek (October 31, 1887 – April 5, 1975) was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He was an influential member of the Kuomintang (KMT, the Chinese Nationalist Party) and Sun Yat-sen's (a Chinese revolutionary and political leader) close ally. He became the commandant of Kuomintang's Whampoa Military Academy and took Sun's place in the party when the latter died in 1925. In 1928, Chiang led the Northern Expedition to unify the country, becoming China's overall leader. He served as chairman of the National Military Council of the Nationalist Government of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 to 1948. Chiang led China in the Second Sino-Japanese War, during which the Nationalist Government's power severely weakened, but his prominence grew.
Chiang's Nationalists engaged in a long standing civil war with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). After the Japanese surrender in 1945, he attempted to eradicate the CCP. Ultimately, bolstered by support from Soviet Russia, the CCP defeated Chiang, forcing the Nationalist government to retreat to Taiwan, where martial law was continued while the government still tried to take back mainland China. Chiang ruled the island with an iron fist as the President of the Republic of China and Director-General of the Kuomintang until his death in 1975.
Chiang's legacy has been target of heated debates because of the different views held about him. For some, Chiang was a National Hero that led the victorious Northern Expedition against the Beiyang Warlords in 1927 and contributed to unify China and subsequenly led China to ultimate victory against Japan in 1945. Some blamed him (often unjustly) for not doing enough against the Japanese forces in the lead-up to and during the Second Sino-Japanese War, preferring to keep his armies to fight the communists, or merely waiting and hoping that the Americans would get involved. Some also see him as a champion of anti-communism, being a key figure during the formative years of the World Anti-Communist League. During the Cold War, he was also seen as the leader who led Free China and the bulwark against a possible communist invasion. However, Chiang presided over purges, political authoritarianism and graft during his tenure in mainland China, and ruled throughout a period of imposed martial law and White Terror in Taiwan. His governments were accused of being corrupt from before he even took power in 1928. He also allied with known criminals like Du Yuesheng for political and financial gains. Some opponents charge that Chiang's effort in developing Taiwan was mostly to make the island a strong base from which to one day return to mainland China, and that Chiang had little regard for the long term prosperity and well-being of the Taiwanese people.
Today, Chiang Kai-shek's popularity in Taiwan is divided along political lines, enjoying greater support among KMT supporters. He is generally unpopular among DPP voters and supporters. In sharp contrast to his son, Chiang Ching-kuo, and to Sun Yat-sen, his memory is rarely invoked by current political parties, including the Kuomintang.
In the US and Europe, Chiang was often perceived negatively as the one who lost China to the communists. His constant demands for Western support and funding also earned him the nickname of "Generalissimo Chiang Cash-My-Cheque". Finally, he has been criticized for his poor military skills. He would often issue unrealistic orders, or persistently try to fight unwinnable battles, leading to the loss of his best troops.
In recent years, this view however has started to change. He is now increasingly perceived as a man simply overwhelmed by the events in China, having to fight simultaneously communists, Japanese and provincial warlords while having to reconstruct and unify the country. His sincere, albeit often unsuccessful attempts to build a more powerful nation have been noted by scholars such as Fenby or Mitter. The latter wrote that, ironically, today's China is closer to Chiang's vision than to Mao's one. He argues that the Communists, since the 1980s, have essentially created the state envisioned by Chiang in the 1930s. Mitter concludes by writing that "one can imagine Chiang Kaishek's ghost wandering round China today nodding in approval, while Mao's ghost follows behind him, moaning at the destruction of his vision".
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