Yunnan–Guangxi War

Yunnan-Guangxi War
Date March 1925–February 1927 Location South China Result Chiang Kai-shek victory
Belligerents
Yunnan clique Supported by:  France	National Revolutionary Army Supported by:  Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Tang Jiyao Chen Jiongming	Chiang Kai-shek Hu Hanmin Li Zongren
Casualties and losses
Thousands of civilians killed

The Yunnan–Guangxi War was a war of succession fought for control of the Chinese Nationalist Party after the death of Sun Yat-sen in 1925. It was launched by the Yunnan clique against the party leadership and the New Guangxi clique.^[1]

On 18 March 1925--six days after Sun's death--Tang Jiyao, leader of the Yunnan clique, claimed to be the rightful leader of the Kuomintang against acting generalissimo Hu Hanmin and party executives.^[2] He had been a revolutionary since the Qing dynasty, was one of the most prominent leaders of the National Protection War against Yuan Shikai, co-founded the Constitutional Protection Movement and assisted Sun during the Guangdong-Guangxi War and Chen Jiongming's rebellion. Despite this, his relationship with Sun was not solid. He had previously negotiated with the Beiyang government and other northern warlords, resisted Sun's call for the Northern Expedition and was unwilling to provide the National Assembly long-term shelter during the Guangdong-Guangxi War. Sun had also recognized the authority of Gu Pinzhen, who had briefly overthrown Tang in 1921.

Given that he was the most accomplished and famous general in the Kuomintang, Tang believed he was the natural leader of the national revolution. He justified his claim by noting that Sun had named Tang his "deputy generalissimo" in 1924. In actuality, Tang had declined this position when he learned it was inferior to Hu Hanmin's "vice generalissimo" rank. The party leaders denounced Tang as a usurper. Frustrated, he rallied his allies in Yunnan and Guizhou to lead an expedition to Guangzhou. Hu Hanmin requested the New Guangxi clique to form a defense. Li Zongren successfully routed Tang's invading armies during the summer. His stature rose as a result of the war and he would later become acting president.

The fortunes of the previously obscure Chiang Kai-shek also rose during the war. In August the right-wing Hu Hanmin was blamed for the assassination of fellow party executive Liao Zhongkai and was arrested and exiled by Chiang and Wang Jingwei. Chiang took over Gen. Xu Chongzhi's role as commander of the KMT's military, since Xu was suspected of either taking part in the assassination, knowing about it or was simply incompetent in providing security (Xu was a replacement for his mutinous superior, Chen Jiongming). Many KMT right-wing leaders were demoted, like Lin Sen and Dai Jitao. This effectively made Chiang the second most powerful person in the KMT after Wang Jingwei.

In September Chen Jiongming launched his final rebellion in Guangdong, which was crushed by Chiang. Chen and Tang became allies and were elected premier and vice premier, respectively, of the new China Public Interest Party in San Francisco on October. The party advocated federalism and multi-party democracy; it moved its headquarters to Hong Kong in 1926.

Chiang Kai-shek eventually ousted Wang Jingwei following the Zhongshan Warship Incident in the spring of 1926. After the Nationalists' successful Northern Expedition, many of Tang's generals wanted to realign themselves with the Kuomintang. Long Yun forced Tang into retirement in February 1927. Tang died three months later at the age of 43.

References

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Warlord Era and warlordism during the Nanjing decade

1915–1924	1925–1934	Factions
1911–1914 Bai Lang Rebellion 1913 Second Revolution 1915 Twenty-One Demands 1915–1916 Empire of China (Yuan Shikai) National Protection War 1916 Death of Yuan Shikai 1917 Manchu Restoration 1917–1922 Constitutional Protection Movement 1917–1929 Golok rebellions 1918–1920 Siberian intervention 1919 Paris Peace Conference Shandong Problem May Fourth Movement 1919–1921 Occupation of Outer Mongolia 1920 Zhili–Anhui War 1920–1921 Guangdong–Guangxi War 1920–1926 Spirit Soldier rebellions 1921 1st National CPC Congress 1921–1922 Washington Naval Conference 1922 First Zhili–Fengtian War 1923–1927 First United Front 1923 Lincheng Outrage 1924 Second Zhili–Fengtian War Canton Merchants' Corps Uprising Beijing Coup	1925 Yunnan–Guangxi War May Thirtieth Movement 1925–1926 Anti-Fengtian War Canton–Hong Kong strike 1926 Zhongshan Warship Incident 1926–1928 Northern Expedition Nanjing–Wuhan Split Nationalist-Communist Civil War 1927 Nanking incident of 1927 1927 Shanghai Commune of 1927 1927 Shanghai massacre 1927 July 15 Incident 1927–1930 Muslim conflict in Gansu 1928 Jinan incident Huanggutun incident Looting of the Eastern Mausoleum Northeast Flag Replacement 1928–1929 Third Red Spears' uprising in Shandong 1929 Chiang-Gui War Warlord Rebellion in northeastern Shandong (incl. Beijing Revolt) Sino-Soviet conflict 1930 Central Plains War 1930–1932 Sino-Tibetan War / Qinghai–Tibet War 1931–1935 Kumul Rebellion / Soviet invasion of Xinjiang 1932 Han–Liu War 1932 Two-Liu war 1934 War in Ningxia	Beiyang Anhui Zhili Fengtian (National Pacification Army) Zhili Army Shanxi Guominjun Ma Xinjiang Yunnan Sichuan Old Guangxi New Guangxi Guangdong Guizhou Kuomintang (KMT) Communist Party (CCP)

Republic of China (1912–1949)