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Republic of China (1912–1949)

The Republic of China (ROC), or simply China, was a sovereign state based on mainland China from 1912 to 1949 prior to the government's relocation to Taiwan, where it continues to be based today.[f] The ROC was established on 1 January 1912 during the Xinhai Revolution against the Qing dynasty, ending the imperial history of China. The Republican government was ruled by the Kuomintang (KMT) as a one-party state based in Nanjing from 1927, until its flight to Taipei on 7 December 1949 following the KMT's de facto defeat by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the Chinese Civil War. The CCP proclaimed the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949, while the ROC retains control over the "Free Area", with the political status of Taiwan remaining in dispute to this day.

For the Republic of China after its 1949 retreat, see Taiwan. For the Japanese puppet state from 1940 to 1945, see Wang Jingwei regime.

Republic of China

Chinese[1]

See Government of the Republic of China

Details

Sun Yat-sen (first, provisional)

Li Zongren (acting)

 

Tang Shaoyi (first)

 

10 October 1911 – 12 February 1912

1 January 1912

1912–1928

10 January 1920

1926–1928

1927–1948

1927–1936, 1945–1949

7 July 1937–2 September 1945

24 October 1945

25 December 1947

7 December 1949 [f]

11,364,389 km2 (4,387,815 sq mi)

9,665,354 km2 (3,731,814 sq mi)

The ROC was formally declared on 1 January 1912, before Puyi, who had reigned as the Xuantong Emperor of the Qing dynasty, abdicated on 12 February 1912. Sun Yat-sen, the ROC's founder and provisional president, served only briefly before handing over the presidency to Yuan Shikai, the leader of the Beiyang Army. Yuan quickly became authoritarian and used his military power to control the administration, which consequently became known as the "Beiyang government". Yuan even attempted to replace the Republic with his own imperial dynasty until popular unrest forced him to back down. When Yuan died in 1916, the country fragmented between the various local commanders of the Beiyang Army. This began the Warlord Era defined by decentralized conflicts between rival cliques. The most powerful of these cliques, notably the Zhili and Fengtian cliques, at times used their control of Beijing to assert claims to govern the entire Republic.


Meanwhile, the nationalist KMT under Sun's leadership attempted multiple times to establish a rival national government in Guangzhou. Sun was finally able to take Guangzhou with the help of weapons, funding, and advisors from the Soviet Union. As a condition of Soviet support, the KMT formed the "First United Front" with the CCP. CCP members joined the KMT and the two parties cooperated to build a revolutionary base in Canton. Sun planned to use this base to launch a military campaign northwards and reunify the rest of China. Sun's death in 1925 precipitated a power struggle that eventually resulted in the rise of General Chiang Kai-shek to KMT chairmanship. Thanks to strategic alliances with warlords and help from Soviet military advisors, Chiang was able to lead a successful "Northern Expedition". By 1927, Chiang felt secure enough to end the alliance with the Soviet Union and purged the Communists from the KMT. In 1928, the last major independent warlord pledged allegiance to the KMT's Nationalist government in Nanjing.


While there was relative prosperity during the following ten years under Chiang Kai-shek, the ROC continued to be destabilized by the Chinese Civil War, revolts by the KMT's warlord allies, and steady territorial encroachments by Japan. Although heavily damaged by the purge, the CCP gradually rebuilt its strength by focusing on organizing peasants in the countryside. Warlords who resented Chiang's attempts to take away their autonomy and incorporate their military units into the National Revolutionary Army repeatedly led devastating uprisings, most significantly the Central Plains War. In 1931, the Japanese invaded Manchuria. They continued a series of smaller territorial encroachments until 1937, when they launched a full-scale invasion of China.


World War II devastated China, leading to enormous loss of life and material destruction. The war between China and Japan continued until the surrender of Japan at the end of World War II in 1945, which led to Taiwan being placed under Chinese administration. In the aftermath of World War II, civil war resumed between the areas liberated by the KMT and those liberated by the CCP. The CCP's People's Liberation Army managed to defeat the larger and better-armed National Revolutionary Army due to better military tactics and corruption of the ROC leadership. In 1949, the ROC repeatedly moved its capital to avoid the Communist advance—first to Guangzhou, followed by Chongqing, Chengdu, and lastly to Taipei. In October 1949, the CCP established the PRC. Remnants of the ROC government would hang on in mainland China until late 1951.


The ROC was a founding member of the League of Nations and later the United Nations (including its Security Council seat) where it maintained until 1971, when the PRC took over its membership. It was also a member of the Universal Postal Union and the International Olympic Committee. With a population of 541 million in 1949, it was the world's most populous country. Covering 11.4 million square kilometres (4.4 million square miles) of claimed territory,[2] it de jure consisted of 35 provinces, 1 special administrative region, 2 regions, 12 special municipalities, 14 leagues, and 4 special banners.

China–Soviet Union relations

Economic history of China (1912–1949)

History of China–United States relations to 1948

Project National Glory

Chinese Revolutionary Destinations travel guide from Wikivoyage

Media related to Republic of China (1912–1949) at Wikimedia Commons