A lesson on Jiang Jieshi

Jiang Jieshi, also known as Chiang Kai Shek, was born on October 31, 1887 to mother Wang Caiyi and father Jiang ZhaoCong, in Fenghua, China, found in the provence of Zhejiang. They were an upper middle class family, his father being a wine merchant. All of this would change, when Jiang Jieshi was only eight years old, and his father died, leaving the family to struggle and face extreme poverty. Even in crisis, Jiang was given the traditional schooling, focused around the teaching of Confusion.

In 1905 Jiang decided to persue a military career, after growing up in a world filled with warlords and rebellion, leaving the country in a state of Chaos. He first started his military training at the Baoding Military Academy in 1906, but only stayed there for a year. He then moved to Japan in 1907 to study at a Military State College in Tokyo. This is where Jiang’s political ideas began to develop. He became fond of Sun Yatsen, who was the leader of the Kuomintang, also known as the Nationalist party. There basic idea for China was to rid China of the imperial rule of the Manchus, and instead develop a republic for China. Chen used Jiang for his military prowess, bringing him into Tongmenhui, an organization related to the Kuomintang. Here Jiang served three years in the Japanese imperial army, from 1909 to 1911.

In 1911 a revolution occurred, where many Han chinese revoluted against the Manchu’s imperial power. During this revolution Jiang led a regiment which took over an important city in China, Shanghai. In October of 1911, the Republican Revolution had an uprising in the Hubei Province ending the 260 year Manchu rule, and declaring a republic on January 1st, 1912.

Jiang continued to follow and be supported by Sun Yat-sen, who later appointed him commandant of the Whampoa Military Academy in Canton. Here is where Jiang Jie shi would go on to build up the Nationalists army in 1924. A year later, in 1925, Sun died, leaving the role of leader of the Kuomingtan to Jiang. A good leader, focused on the values of the nationlist part, Jiang succeeded in reunifying most of china under a National Government. He also led the conquest of trying to surpress the communist party, of whom Mao Ze Dong belonged to, which was beginning to rise.

Jiang led a successful party for many years but, with the second world war, Jiang faced many hardships. Now he not only had to worry about the threat of the communist party, but Japan began invading parts of China as well. In 1937 Japan began a full-scaled invasion of China. China, now at war with Japan, decided to become one of the allied powers, when the United States finally entered the war. Because of this, Jiang Jieshi made connection in the U.S, and became more well known in western society. China being weakened by WW2, left it vulnerable to other attacks. In 1948 the communist and Kuomingtan began a civil war. The communist won out of the Kuomingtan, and established the people’s Republic of China. Jiang and those still loyal to the Kuomintan fled to the nearby Island of Taiwan. Here he establish a democratic government, and became the first elected president of Taiwan. His government, the government of Taiwan, was recognized by the world and UN as beging the legitimate government of China until Jiang Jiashi died in 1975.