Century-of-Change-China-exhibit-catalog-1911-to-2011

The Warlord Era and the First United Front
After Yuan Shikai’s death in 1916, China plunged into the warlord period, with regional military leaders ranging
from local bandits’ controlling small bases to powerful heads of large armies’ controlling broad swaths of territory.
Despite the chaos, a remarkable intellectual movement was developing in the universities, where the spirit of
revolution had awakened interest in political ideologies from the West. The center of activity was Peking University
(PKU), whose affiliates included many founding figures of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), in particular a little-
known library assistant, the man who would lead the peasant revolution and ultimately rule China, Mao Zedong.
In May 1919, students at PKU learned of the concessions gained by Japan, including the handover of the Shandong
Peninsula, as the result of the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I. In response, the students initiated a mass
demonstration that spread from city to city, igniting the general population in the largest outpouring of nationalistic
fervor China had ever seen. Demanding reforms at all levels of Chinese society, the demonstration became known as
the May Fourth Movement.
Meanwhile, Sun Yat-sen continued his attempts to tame the regional warlords and build a national government.
After years of fruitless efforts to secure international support, Sun turned to the newly formed Soviet Russia, which
was eager to gain influence in China. In 1923, Sun sent Chiang Kai-shek to Moscow to determine how Sun’s political
party, the Kuomintang (KMT), and Chiang’s army could work together to regain control of China. Two Russian
agents, Vasily Blücher and Mikhail Borodin, were sent to China to integrate the fledgling CCP within the ranks of
the KMT, using the Soviet model. That alliance was attractive to Sun in that the Soviets would provide political
training, military assistance, and financial support. The KMT and the CCP, from their base at the Whampoa Military
Academy in Guangdong, began training together in 1923 in preparation for the Northern Expedition, the mission to
reunite China in their first united front.
After Sun’s untimely death in 1925, his followers mounted the Northern Expedition, advancing from Guangdong
to the Yangtze River Valley. The combination of Nationalists and Communists proved temporarily successful, with
the Communists preparing the territories ahead of the army with propaganda, demonstrations, and strikes. When
the army, led by Chiang, arrived in Shanghai, an earlier communist-led uprising of workers contributed greatly
to its success. Chiang, however, had begun to resent the Soviet agents, feeling that they were more interested in
the international goals of the CCP than the national goals of the KMT. In addition, the CCP’s strikes and related
activities, choreographed by Stalin, alienated the middle and commercial classes, from which Chiang derived the
majority of his support. On April 12, 1927, Chiang staged a successful purge of Communists in Shanghai; the few
who escaped went underground.
By 1928, the Northern Expedition mission had been completed when the young Manchurian warlord Zhang
Xueliang recognized the Nanjing-based Nationalist government. The goal of unifying China had been accomplished,
at least nominally.
軍閥割據與第一次國共合作
1916年袁世凱去世之後,中國進入軍閥時代。各地軍閥出身背景五花八門,有的是控制著一小塊土地的強盜,有
的則是是帶領大批軍隊、割據一方的實力派領袖。
儘管當時政治局面混亂,在中國各大學校園裡還是興起了一批引人注意的知識份子,推展學生運動,其目的在於
以革命精神,喚醒國人對西方政治與意識形態的關注。這一學生運動以北京大學為中心,日後許多中國共產黨的
創始者,當時都在北大校園裡工作,包括當時鮮有人認識的北大圖書館助理毛澤東。在日後的中國歷史進程中,
他領導農民革命,最終成為中國的最高領導人。 1919年五月間,北京大學的學生們獲悉,一次大戰結束之後在巴
黎所簽訂的凡爾賽和約,讓日本在中國獲得了租界,並接管山東半島。學生們在大城市發起大規模示威遊行,並
且在廣大百姓心中激起前所未有的民族主義狂熱。一時間,中國社會各階層都要求改革,這次示威遊行被稱為「
五四運動」。
與此同時,在南方中國活動的孫中山,繼續努力爭取地方軍閥,共同合作以建立國民政府。在過去幾年當中,孫
中山爭取國際援助卻成果甚微,此時蘇俄正試圖加強在中國的影響力,孫中山轉而聯合俄國,1923年,他派遣蔣
介石到莫斯科訪問,考察學習國民黨以及其新建立的武力,如何才能統一中國。隨後不久,兩位蘇俄顧問——瓦
西里布盧徹和鮑羅廷來到中國,利用蘇聯的模式讓剛成立不久的中國共產黨加入國民黨。孫中山對這種合作模式
甚感興趣,並以此獲得蘇聯的政治訓練、軍事支持與財政援助。從1923年開始,國民黨和共產黨以廣東黃埔軍校
為基地,開始合力訓練,為北伐做準備。國共雙方第一次合作的目的,是重新統一中國。
1925年孫中山逝世之後,他的追隨者繼續北伐,從廣東出發,一路打到長江流域。由於共產黨進行宣傳、示威遊
行和罷工,國共合作取得了短暫的成功。當蔣介石領導的國民革命軍進入上海時,已潛伏在當地的共產黨份子,
事先運作工人暴動,這對蔣介石成功佔領上海,發揮了相當關鍵的作用。然而,蔣介石愈加認為來華的蘇聯顧問
們,對於推動取得共黨國際在華的最終目標,似乎更甚於推動國民黨的建國大業,因此他開始排斥蘇聯顧問。另
一方面,共產黨所領導的罷工運動,雖是受到史達林來自莫斯科的指示,卻違背了中國境內中產階級與商人團體
的利益,而蔣介石當時的崛起,正需要這些力量的支持。1927年4月12日,蔣介石在上海發動清黨,掃除共黨份
子,只有少部份共產黨人逃離上海,並轉入地下活動。
1928年,實際統治中國東北地區的少帥張學良,宣佈承認南京國民政府中央政府的地位,北伐正式宣告完成。至
此,中國至少實現了名義上的統一。
56 Hoover Institution
A Century of Change: China 1911–2011
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