First United Front
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First United Front | |
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聯俄容共 | |
Leader | Sun Yat-sen (1923–1925) Chiang Kai-shek (1926–1927) |
Dates of operation | January 26, 1923 | –April 12, 1927
Merger of | Chinese Nationalist Party Chinese Communist Party |
Country | China |
Allegiance | Nationalist government |
Motives | Chinese unification |
Headquarters | Guangzhou |
Ideology | Tridemism |
Political position | Big tent |
Allies | Soviet Union |
Opponents | Beiyang government Empire of Japan |
Battles and wars | Northern Expedition |
The First United Front (simplified Chinese: 联俄容共; traditional Chinese: 聯俄容共; pinyin: Lián É Róng Gòng; Jyutping: Lyun4 Ngo4 Jung4 Gung6; lit. 'Ally with Russia and incorporate the Communists'; alternatively simplified Chinese: 联俄联共; traditional Chinese: 聯俄聯共; pinyin: Lián É Lián Gòng; Jyutping: Lyun4 Ngo4 Lyun4 Gung6), also known as the KMT–CCP Alliance, of the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), was formed in 1924 as an alliance to end warlordism in China. Together they formed the National Revolutionary Army and set out in 1926 on the Northern Expedition. The CCP joined the KMT as individuals, making use of KMT's superiority in numbers to help spread communism. The KMT, on the other hand, wanted to control the communists from within. Both parties had their own aims and the Front was unsustainable. In 1927, KMT leader Chiang Kai-shek purged the Communists from the Front while the Northern Expedition was still half-complete. This initiated a civil war between the two parties that lasted until the Second United Front was formed in 1936 to prepare for the coming Second Sino-Japanese War.
Background
Impact of the Russian Revolution
Although its significance was not at first fully recognized by Chinese observers, the October Revolution would eventually have a profound effect on China. Sun Yat-sen and the Kuomintang's reaction to the news was immediately positive.[1] Sun Yat-sen called Vladimir Lenin a "great man", and indicated he wished to follow the same path that Lenin had.[2] However, this was unusual. It took other Chinese radicals such as Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao until after the end of World War I for them to appreciate the Bolsheviks' radical departure from the February Revolution.[3] By early 1920, however, they had become convinced of the efficacy of this new revolutionary and political model and were moving towards founding the CCP.[4]
The foreign policy of the new
The resurrection of Kuomintang
During the time of warlords, Sun Yat-sen kept the idea of a united Chinese republic alive. His goal was to establish a rival government in
The rival government led by Sun, however, was at a disadvantage against the warlords from a military point of view. Despite his requests for aid from the West, badly needed financial and arms support never arrived in the country. In the 1920s the Kuomintang eventually received help from the Russian Bolsheviks. Material aid from Russia was good enough for Sun, who had previously shown flexibility when the question was about the promotion of the republic. He had neither sympathy towards Marxism nor did he see communism as a solution to China's problems. In Sun's view, China was not of the rich and the poor; rather, it was the country of the poor and the poorer. The guidelines of the Kuomintang were based on Sun's "Three Principles of the People": nationalism, democracy and the people's livelihood (socialism).
The Kuomintang gradually became a powerful and disciplined party under Russian guidance. The decisive factor was the Bolshevik's assistance to the Kuomintang in the formation of its own army, the National Revolutionary Army. In order to train the army the
Fall
The First United Front was formed so the KMT and the CCP could join to strengthen China. The initial aim was to help defeat the warlord threat (through the Northern Expedition of 1926–28), but both parties actually had ulterior motives with this alliance. The CCP formed it mainly so it could spread communism within the KMT and its members, while Chiang's aim was to control the Communist Party from the inside. Having said that, he was also the main reason the relationship fell apart, due to his desire to control the Communist Party, ultimately leading to the disintegration of the First United Front. After purging the Communists and Soviet advisors from Whampoa and his Nationalist army during the 1926 "
See also
- Outline of the Chinese Civil War
- Timeline of the Chinese Civil War
- United front (China)
- United front in Taiwan
- United front
- United Front Work Department
References
- ^ Feigon 1983, p. 139.
- ISBN 978-1609574567. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
- ^ Feigon 1983, p. 141.
- ^ Feigon 1983, p. 144.
- ^ Zarrow 2005, p. 190.
- ^ Pantsov 2000, p. 58.
- ^ Zarrow 2005, p. 191.
- ^ Pantsov 2000, pp. 57–58.
- ^ Pantsov 2000, pp. 62–63.
Bibliography
- Zarrow, Peter (2005). China in War and Revolution 1895–1949. New York: ISBN 978-1-134-21977-3.
- Pantsov, Alexander (2000). The Bolsheviks and the Chinese Revolution, 1919–1927. Honolulu: ISBN 978-1-315-02796-8.
- Feigon, Lee (1983). Chen Duxiu: Founder of the Chinese Communist Party. Princeton: JSTOR j.ctt7ztnm3.