View source for Chiang Kai-shek

{{Short description|Military leader and President of the Republic of China (1887-1975)}} <!-- 67 char, shorten -->
{{family name hatnote|[[Jiang (surname)|Chiang]]|lang=Chinese}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}

{{Infobox officeholder
| name               = Chiang Kai-shek
| image              = 蔣中正總統玉照.png
| caption            = Official portrait, 1955
| office             = [[Chairman of the National Government of China]]
| premier            = {{tlit|zh|[[T. V. Soong]]|i=no}}
| term_start         = 1 August 1943{{efn|Acting: 1 August – 10 October 1943}}
| term_end           = 20 May 1948
| 1blankname         = Vice Chairman
| 1namedata          = {{tlit|zh|[[Sun Fo]]|i=no}}
| predecessor        = {{tlit|zh|[[Lin Sen]]|i=no}}
| successor          = ''Position abolished''
| premier1           = {{ubl
 | {{tlit|zh|[[Tan Yankai]]|i=no}}
 | {{tlit|zh|T. V. Soong|i=no}}
}}
| term_start1        = 10 October 1928
| term_end1          = 15 December 1931
| predecessor1       = {{tlit|zh|Tan Yankai|i=no}}
| successor1         = {{tlit|zh|Lin Sen|i=no}}
| office2            = Chairman of the [[Military Affairs Commission]]
| term_start2        = 15 December 1931
| term_end2          = 31 May 1946
| office3            = 1st [[President of the Republic of China]]
| term_start3        = 1 March 1950
| term_end3          = <!--4/-->5 April 1975
| predecessor3       = {{tlit|zh|Li Zongren|i=no}} (acting)
| successor3         = {{tlit|zh|Yen Chia-kan|i=no}}
| premier3           = {{ubl
 | {{tlit|zh|i=no|[[Yan Xishan]]}}
 | {{tlit|zh|i=no|[[Chen Cheng]]}}
 | {{tlit|zh|i=no|[[Yu Hung-chun]]}}
 | {{tlit|zh|i=no|[[Yen Chia-kan]]}}
 | {{tlit|zh|i=no|[[Chiang Ching-kuo]]}}
}}
| vice_president3    = {{ubl
 | {{tlit|zh|i=no|[[Li Zongren]]}}
 | {{tlit|zh|i=no|Chen Cheng}}
 | {{tlit|zh|i=no|Yen Chia-kan}}
}}
| premier4           = {{ubl
 | {{tlit|zh|i=no|[[Zhang Qun]]}}
 | {{tlit|zh|i=no|[[Weng Wenhao]]}}
 | {{tlit|zh|i=no|Sun Fo}}
}}
| vice_president4    = {{tlit|zh|Li Zongren|i=no}}
| term_start4        = 20 May 1948
| term_end4          = 21 January 1949
| predecessor4       = ''Position established''
| successor4         = {{tlit|zh|Li Zongren|i=no}} (acting)
{{Collapsed infobox section begin|Additional positions}}
| office5            = [[Premier of the Republic of China|Premier of the National Government]]
| president6         = Himself
| term_start6        = 1 March 1947
| term_end6          = 18 April 1947
| vice_premier6      = Weng Wenhao
| predecessor6       = {{tlit|zh|T. V. Soong|i=no}}
| president7         = {{tlit|zh|Lin Sen|i=no}}
| term_start7        = 20 November 1939
| vice_premier7      = [[H. H. Kung]]
| term_end7          = 31 May 1945
| predecessor7       = {{tlit|zh|H. H. Kung|i=no}}
| successor7         = {{tlit|zh|T. V. Soong|i=no}}
| president8         = {{tlit|zh|Lin Sen|i=no}}
| term_start8        = 9 December 1935
| term_end8          = 1 January 1938
| vice_premier8      = H. H. Kung
| predecessor8       = {{tlit|zh|[[Wang Jingwei]]|i=no}}
| successor8         = {{tlit|zh|H. H. Kung|i=no}}
| term_start9        = 4 December 1930
| term_end9          = 15 December 1931
| vice_premier9      = {{tlit|zh|T. V. Soong|i=no}}
| president9         = Himself
| predecessor9       = {{tlit|zh|T. V. Soong|i=no}}
| successor9         = {{tlit|zh|[[Chen Mingshu]]|i=no}} (acting)
| office10           = [[Chairman of the Kuomintang]]
| term_start10       = 12 May 1936
| term_end10         = 1 April 1938
| predecessor10      = {{tlit|zh|[[Hu Hanmin]]|i=no}}
| successor10        = Himself as Director-General
| term_start11       = 6 July 1926<ref>Thomas C. T. Kuo, ''Chʻen Tu-Hsiu (1879-1942) and the Chinese Communist Movement'' (Seton Hall University Press, 1975) p.143</ref>
| term_end11         = 11 March 1927
| predecessor11      = {{tlit|zh|[[Zhang Renjie]]|i=no}}
| successor11        = {{tlit|zh|[[Wu Zhihui]]|i=no}} and {{tlit|zh|[[Li Shizeng]]|i=no}}
| office12           = Director-General of the Kuomintang
| term_start12       = 1 April 1938
| term_end12         = <!--4/-->5 April 1975
| deputy12           = {{ubl
 | {{tlit|zh|Wang Jingwei|i=no}}
 | {{tlit|zh|Chen Cheng|i=no}}
}}
| predecessor12      = ''Position established''
| successor12        = {{tlit|zh|Chiang Ching-kuo|i=no}}
{{Collapsed infobox section end}}
| birth_name         = Chiang Jui-yüan
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|df=yes|1887|10|31}}
| birth_place        = [[Xikou]], Zhejiang,<!-- Do not wikilink, see [[MOS:GEOLINK]] --> China
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1975|4|5|1887|10|31}}<!-- (or 4 April)-->
| death_place        = [[Taipei]], Taiwan
| resting_place      = [[Cihu Mausoleum]], Taoyuan<!-- Do not wikilink, see [[MOS:GEOLINK]] -->
| party              = [[Kuomintang]]
| alma_mater         = {{ubl
 | [[Baoding Military Academy]]
 | [[Tokyo Shinbu Gakko]]
}}
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Mao Fumei]]|1901|1921|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|[[Yao Yecheng]] ([[concubine]])|1913|1927}}
* {{marriage|[[Chen Jieru]]|1921|1927}}
* {{marriage|[[Soong Mei-ling]]|1 December 1927|<!--5 April 1945|end=his death-->}}
}}
| relations          = [[Chiang family]]
| children           = {{ubl
 | [[Chiang Ching-kuo]]
 | [[Chiang Wei-kuo]] (adopted)
}}
| signature          = Chiang Kaishek Signature.svg
| nickname           = {{ubl
 | "Generalissimo"{{sfn|Pakula|2009|page=[https://archive.org/details/lastempressmadam00paku_0/page/346 346]}}
 | "Red General"<ref>{{cite news | url=https://read01.com/dENBKQ6.html#.YxoSEvcRUlQ | title=蔣介石是如何當上黃埔軍校校長的 }}</ref>
 | "Big Gun"
 | "The [[Napoleon]] of China"
}}
| allegiance         = {{ubl
| [[Empire of Japan]]
| [[Nationalist government|Republic of China]]
}}
| branch             = {{ubl
 | [[Imperial Japanese Army]]
 | [[National Revolutionary Army]]
 | [[Republic of China Army]]
}}
| service_years      = 1909–1975
| rank               = [[Generalissimo]]{{efn|{{lang-zh|t=特級上將|s=特级上将|p=tèjíshàngjiàng|first=t}}}}
| battles            = {{plainlist|
* [[Xinhai Revolution]]
* [[Northern Expedition]]
* [[Central Plains War]]
* [[Sino-Tibetan War]]
* [[Kumul Rebellion]]
* [[Soviet invasion of Xinjiang]]
* [[Chinese Civil War]]
* [[Second Sino-Japanese War]]
* [[Kuomintang Islamic insurgency]]
}}
| footnotes          = {{Notelist}}
| awards             = [[Order of National Glory]]<br>[[Order of Blue Sky and White Sun]]<br>[[Order of the Sacred Tripod]]<br>[[Order of Brilliant Jade]]<br>[[Order of Propitious Clouds]]<br>[[Order of the Cloud and Banner]]<br>[[Order of Brilliant Star]]<br>[[Honour Sabre of the Awakened Lion]]
| module             = {{Listen voice|name=Chiang|filename=Chiang Kai-shek on the end of World War II (1945).ogg|description=Portion of Chiang's speech on the [[end of World War II in Asia]]|recorded=1945}}
| module2            = {{Collapsed infobox section begin|Chinese names}}
{{Infobox Chinese<!-- Per [[MOS:ZH]] this displays simplified and traditional characters -->
| child = yes
| t = 蔣介石
| s = 蒋介石
| p = Jiǎng Jièshí
| tp = Jiǎng Jiè-shíh
| gr = Jeang Jiehshyr
| w = {{tonesup|Chiang3 Chieh4-shih2}}
| mi = {{IPAc-cmn|AUD|Zh-Jiang Jieshi.ogg|j|iang|3|-|j|ie|4|.|shi|2}}
| bpmf = ㄐㄧㄤˇ ㄐㄧㄝˋ ㄕˊ
| poj = Chiúⁿ Kài-se̍k
| y = Jéung Gaai-sehk
| j = Zoeng2 gaai3 sek6
| hk = Cheung Kai-shek
| ci = {{IPAc-yue|z|oeng|2|-|g|aai|3|-|s|ek|6}}
| lmz = {{IPA|tɕiã˧˥ ka˧˥ zàʔ˨˧}} Tsian Ka Zah
| altname = [[Register name]]
| t2 = 蔣周泰
| s2 = 蒋周泰
| p2 = Jiǎng Zhōutài
| tp2 = Jiǎng Jhou-tài
| gr2 = Jeang Joutay
| mi2 = {{IPAc-cmn|j|iang|3|-|zh|ou|1|.|t|ai|4}}
| w2 = {{tonesup|Chiang3 Chou1-tʻai4}}
| bpmf2 = ㄐㄧㄤˇ ㄓㄡ ㄊㄞˋ
| j2 = Zoeng2 zau1 taai3
| ci2 = {{IPAc-yue|z|oeng|2|.|z|au|1|-|t|aai|3}}
| poj2 = Chiúⁿ Chiu-thài
| lmz2 = {{IPA|tɕiã˧˥ tsɤ˥˨ tʰa˧˥}} Tsian Tseu Tha
| altname3 = [[Milk name]]
| t3 = 蔣瑞元
| s3 = 蒋瑞元
| p3 = Jiǎng Ruìyuán
| tp3 = Jiǎng Ruèi-yuán
| gr3 = Jeang Ruey'yuan
| mi3 = {{IPAc-cmn|j|iang|3|-|r|ui|4|.|yuan|2}}
| w3 = {{tonesup|Chiang3 Jui4-yüan2}}
| bpmf3 = ㄐㄧㄤˇ ㄖㄨㄟˋ ㄩㄢˊ
| j3 = Zoeng2 seoi6 jyun4
| ci3 = {{IPAc-yue|z|oeng|2|-|s|eoi|6|-|j|yun|4}}
| poj3 = Chiúⁿ Sūi-gôan
| lmz3 = {{IPA|tɕiã˧˥ zø˩˧ɲyø˩˧}}   Tsian Zoe Yoe
| altname4 = [[School name]]
| t4 = 蔣志清
| s4 = 蒋志清
| p4 = Jiǎng Zhìqīng
| tp4 = Jiǎng Jhìh-cing
| gr4 = Jeang Jyhching
| mi4 = {{IPAc-cmn|j|iang|3|-|zhi|4|.|q|ing|1}}
| w4 = {{tonesup|Chiang3 Chih4-chʻing1}}
| bpmf4 = ㄐㄧㄤˇ ㄓˋ ㄑㄧㄥ
| j4 = Zoeng2 zi3 cing1
| ci4 = {{IPAc-yue|z|oeng|2|-|z|i|3|-|c|ing|1}}
| poj4 = Chiúⁿ Chì-chheng
| lmz4 = {{IPA|tɕiã˧˥ tsɨ˧˥ tɕʰiɲ˥˨}}
Tsian Tsy Tshin
| altname5 = Adopted name
| t5 = 蔣中正
| s5 = 蒋中正
| p5 = Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng
| tp5 = Jiǎng Jhong-jhèng
| gr5 = Jeang Jongjenq
| mi5 = {{IPAc-cmn|j|iang|3|-|zh|ong|1|.|zh|eng|4}}
| w5 = {{tonesup|Chiang3 Chung1-cheng4}}
| bpmf5 = ㄐㄧㄤˇ ㄓㄨㄥ ㄓㄥˋ
| y5 = Jéung Jūng-jing
| j5 = Zoeng2 zung1 zing3|{{IPAc-yue|z|oeng|2|-|z|ung|1|-|z|ing|3}}
| poj5 = Chiúⁿ Tiong-chèng
| lmz5 = {{IPA|tɕiã˧˥ tsoŋ˥˨ tsəɲ˧˥}}
}}
{{Collapsed infobox section end}}
}}
'''Chiang Kai-shek'''{{efn|See {{section link||Names}}}} ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|tʃ|æ|ŋ|_|k|aɪ|ˈ|ʃ|ɛ|k}};<ref>{{Cite Collins Dictionary|Chiang Kai-shek}}</ref> {{Lang-zh|t=蔣介石|p=Jiǎng Jièshí}}; 31 October 1887{{snd}}5 April 1975) was a Chinese military commander, revolutionary, and statesman who was [[President of the Republic of China]] from 1948 to 1975 and head of the [[Nationalist government]] from 1925 to 1948. As the ''de facto'' leader of the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] (ROC), he ruled the country through [[World War II]] and oversaw the relocation of its government to Taiwan following its defeat in the [[Chinese Civil War]].

Born in [[Zhejiang]], Chiang received a military education in China and [[Empire of Japan|Japan]], joined [[Sun Yat-sen]]'s [[Tongmenghui]] in 1908, and, after the [[1911 Revolution]], participated in the [[National Protection War]]. In 1923, he was appointed by Sun as chief of staff of the [[Army and Navy Marshal stronghold]], and served as commandant of the [[Whampoa Military Academy]] from 1924 until its closure in 1930. After Sun's death, Chiang wrested control of the party and [[National Revolutionary Army|army]] from [[Wang Jingwei]] in the [[Canton Coup]]. From 1926 to 1928, Chiang led the [[Northern Expedition]] and largely unified China under a [[Nationalist government]] based in Nanjing. He broke the [[First United Front]] by purging the [[Chinese Communist Party]] (CCP) members in the [[Shanghai Massacre]], triggering the [[Chinese Civil War]]. During the [[Nanjing decade]], Chiang pursued modernization of China while prioritizing the suppression of the [[Chinese Communist Party|Communists]] over confrontation with Japan following the latter's [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria|invasion of Manchuria]]. The [[Xi'an Incident]] in 1936 forced him to form a [[Second United Front]] with the CCP against Japan. Between 1937 and 1945, Chiang led China in the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]], mostly from the wartime capital of [[Chongqing]]. He attended the [[Cairo Conference]] to discuss the terms of [[Japan's surrender]], including the [[Retrocession Day|retrocession of Taiwan]], where he suppressed the [[February 28 incident|February 28 Incident]].

When [[World War II]] ended, the [[Chinese Civil War]] resumed. In 1949, Chiang's KMT was defeated by [[Mao Zedong|Mao]]'s CCP and [[Retreat of the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan|retreated]] to Taiwan. He imposed [[Martial law in Taiwan|martial law]] and [[White Terror (Taiwan)|White Terror]] on the island that lasted until 1987 and 1992, respectively. Beginning in 1948, he was re-elected five times by the same [[Eternal Parliament]] with six-year terms as [[President of the ROC]], the head of a de facto [[one-party state]], for 25 years until his death. Chiang presided over [[Land Reform in Taiwan|land reform]], [[Taiwan Miracle|economic growth]], and the [[Taiwan Strait]] crises twice in [[First Taiwan Strait Crisis|1954–1955]] and in [[Second Taiwan Strait Crisis|1958]]. He was considered the legitimate leader of China by the [[United Nations]] until [[United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 (XXVI)|1971]], when the ROC's seat was transferred to the [[People's Republic of China]].

Chiang is a controversial figure. Supporters credit him with [[Northern Expedition|unifying the nation]] and ending the [[century of humiliation]], leading the resistance against Japan, fostering economic development and preserving Chinese culture in contrast to Mao's [[Cultural Revolution]]. He is also credited with safeguarding the [[Forbidden City]]'s treasures during the wars, a substantial portion now housed at the [[National Palace Museum|Taipei Palace Museum]]. Critics fault him for his early appeasement of Japan, the deliberate [[1938 Yellow River flood|flooding of the Yellow River]], cronyism and corruption linked to the [[Four big families of the Republic of China|Four Big Families]], and authoritarian rule on both mainland China and Taiwan.

==Names==
According to Chinese practice, Chiang had several names. At his birth, his grandfather chose a "[[milk name]]" ({{Lang|zh-hant|乳名}}), Chiang Jui-yüan ({{lang-zh|t=蔣瑞元|p=Jiǎng Ruìyuán}}), meaning 'auspicious beginning'. All the children in his generation, the twenty-eighth since the clan, the Wuling Jiangs, was established in Xikou, at the foot of the Wuling Mountains, contained the character 瑞 (Jui).{{sfnb|Pantsov|2023|p=16}} His [[register name]] ({{lang|zh-hant|譜名}}), inscribed in the [[Chinese kin|genealogical records of his family]], is Chiang Chou-t'ai ({{lang-zh|t=蔣周泰|hp=Jiǎng Zhōutài|labels=no}}). It is the name by which his extended relatives knew him and used in formal occasions, such as marriage, but not outside of the family.{{sfn|Loh|1971|p=6}}

In 1903, the 16-year-old Chiang went to [[Ningbo]] as a student, and chose a "[[school name]]" ({{Lang|zh-hant|學名}}), Chih-ch'ing ({{lang-zh|t=志清|p=Zhìqīng|labels=no}}), which means 'purity of aspirations'. For the next fifteen years he was known by this name and by which [[Sun Yat-sen]] knew him.

In 1912, when Chiang was in Japan, he started to use the name Chieh-shih ({{lang-zh|t=介石|p=Jièshí|labels=no}}) as a pen name for the articles that he published in a Chinese magazine he founded, ''Voice of the Army'' ({{zhi|t=軍聲|labels=no}}). ''Chieh-shih'' is the [[Wade–Giles]] romanization of this name, based on [[Standard Chinese|Standard Mandarin]]. It soon became Chiang's [[courtesy name]] ({{linktext|lang=zh|字}}). Some think the name was chosen from the classic Chinese book the ''[[I Ching]]''; {{lang-zh|labels=no|c="介于石"|l="[he who is] firm as a rock"}}, is the beginning of line 2 of [[I Ching hexagram 16|Hexagram 16]], "{{linktext|lang=zh|豫}}". Others note that the first character of his courtesy name is also the first character of the courtesy name of his brother and other male relatives on the same generational line, while the second character of his courtesy name ''shek'' ({{Lang|zh-hant|石}}—meaning "stone") suggests the second character of his "register name" ''tai'' ({{Lang|zh-hant|泰}}—the famous [[Mount Tai]]). It is the name by which he is best known in the Chinese-speaking world. The most recognized rendering of his name in English is a hybrid of romanizations based on it too: the family name ''Chiang'' follows Mandarin [[Wade-Giles]], while the given name ''Kai-shek'' reflects a [[Cantonese]] romanization of his courtesy name.{{sfn|Loh|1971|p=6}}

Sometime in 1917 or 1918, as Chiang became close to Sun Yat-sen, he changed his name from Chiang Chih-ch'ing to Chiang Chung-cheng ({{lang-zh|t=蔣中正|Chiang<sup>3</sup> Chung<sup>1</sup>-cheng<sup>4</sup>|p=Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng|labels=no}}).{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} By adopting the name Chung-cheng, he was choosing a name similar to the name of Sun Yat-sen, who is known among Chinese as Chung-shan ({{Lang-zh|t=中山|p=Zhōngshān|l=central mountain|labels=no}}). The name's explicit meaning of uprightness, rectitude, and orthodoxy likely contributed to its currency during his authoritarian rule in Taiwan, where it remains favored among his supporters today. For many years passengers arriving at the [[Taoyuan International Airport|Chiang Kai-shek International Airport]] were greeted by signs in Chinese welcoming them to the "Chung Cheng International Airport". Similarly, [[Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall]] in Taipei was named "Chung Cheng Memorial Hall" in Chinese. In Singapore, [[Chung Cheng High School (Main)|Chung Cheng High School]] was named after him.<ref>{{Cite news |last=如 |first=柏 |date=19 February 2001 |title=中正与南初—历史的错误 |work=[[Lianhe Zaobao]] |pages=4}}</ref>

Chiang's best known titles include Commandant ({{lang-zh|t=校長||p=Xiào Zhǎng|l=principal; schoolmaster}}), used among the alumni of the [[Whampoa Military Academy]]; "[[Generalissimo]]"{{sfnb|Pantsov|2023|p=124}} ({{lang-zh|t=蒋委員長||p=Jiǎnɡ Wěi Yuán Zhǎng|l=Chairman Chiang of the (Military Affairs) Commission}}) or "Gissimo" ({{lang-zh|t=委座||p=Wěi Zuò|l=Chairman}}), used after 1926 when he became the commander in chief of the Nationalist armies.{{sfnb|Pantsov|2023|p=124}}

== Early life ==
Chiang was born on 31 October 1887, in [[Xikou]], a town in [[Fenghua]], Zhejiang,{{sfn|Loh|1971|p=4}} about {{convert|30|km|sp=us}} west of central [[Ningbo]]. He was born into a family of [[Wu Chinese-speaking people]] with their [[Ancestral home (China)|ancestral home]]—a concept important in [[Chinese society]]—in {{ill|Heqiao|zh|和桥镇}}, a town in [[Yixing]], Jiangsu, about {{convert|38|km|abbr=on|sp=us}} southwest of central [[Wuxi]] and {{convert|10|km|abbr=on|sp=us}} from the shores of [[Lake Tai]]. He was the third child and second son of his father [[Chiang Chao-tsung]] (also Chiang Su-an;{{sfn|Loh|1971|p=5}} 1842–1895;{{sfn|Loh|1971|p=8}} {{zhi|t=蔣肇聰}}) and the first child of his father's third{{sfn|Loh|1971|p=6}} wife {{ill|Wang Tsai-yu|zh|王采玉}} (1864–1921;{{sfn|Loh|1971|p=5}} {{lang-zh|labels=no|c=王采玉}}) who were members of a prosperous family of [[Salt in Chinese history|salt merchants]]. Chiang's father died when he was eight, and he wrote of his mother as the "embodiment of [[Confucianism|Confucian virtues]]". The young Chiang was inspired throughout his youth by the realization that the reputation of an honored family rested upon his shoulders. He was a naughty child.{{sfn|Loh|1971|pp=6–7, 17}} At a young age he was interested in the military.{{sfn|Loh|1971|pp=7–8}} As he grew older, Chiang became more aware of the issues that surrounded him and in his speech to the Kuomintang in 1945 said:

{{blockquote|As you all know I was an orphan boy in a poor family. Deprived of any protection after the death of her husband, my mother was exposed to the most ruthless exploitation by neighbouring ruffians and the local gentry. The efforts she made in fighting against the intrigues of these family intruders certainly endowed her child, brought up in such an environment, with an indomitable spirit to fight for justice. I felt throughout my childhood that my mother and I were fighting a helpless lone war. We were alone in a desert, with no available or possible assistance could we look forward to. But our determination was never shaken, nor was hope abandoned.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tong |first1=Hollington K. |title=Chiang Kai-Shek |date=1953 |publisher=China Publishing Company |page=5}}</ref>}}

In early 1906, Chiang cut off his [[Queue (hairstyle)|queue]], the required hairstyle of men during the [[Qing dynasty]], and had it sent home from school, shocking the people in his hometown.{{sfn|Loh|1971|p=17}}

==Education in Japan==
[[File:Chiang Kaishek in Baoding Military Academy.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|left|Chiang in 1907]]
Chiang grew up at a time in which military defeats, natural disasters, famines, revolts, [[unequal treaties]] and civil wars had left the [[Manchu]]-dominated Qing dynasty unstable and in debt. Successive demands of the [[Western powers]] and [[Empire of Japan|Japan]] since the [[Opium War]] had left China owing millions of [[tael]]s of silver. During his first visit to Japan to pursue a military career from April 1906 to later that year, he describes himself as having strong [[Chinese nationalism|nationalistic]] feelings with a desire, among other things, to 'expel the Manchu Qing and to restore China'.<ref name="edizionicafoscari">{{cite book|url=http://edizionicafoscari.unive.it/media/pdf/books/978-88-6969-127-0/978-88-6969-127-0-ch-01.pdf |doi=10.14277/6969-126-3/SV-4-1 |title=Chiang Kai-shek and His Time|chapter=Chiang Kai-shek's Study in Japan in His Memories |date=December 7, 2017 |access-date=24 July 2018 |archive-date=25 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725033322/http://edizionicafoscari.unive.it/media/pdf/books/978-88-6969-127-0/978-88-6969-127-0-ch-01.pdf |url-status=live |last1=Yamada |first1=Tatsuo |publisher=Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, Italia |editor1-last=Giorgi|editor1-first=Laura De|editor2-last=Samarani|editor2-first=Guido|isbn=978-88-6969-126-3|oclc=1375389695}}</ref> In a 1969 speech, Chiang related a story about his boat trip to Japan at nineteen years old. Another passenger on the ship, a Chinese fellow student who was in the habit of spitting on the floor, was chided by a Chinese sailor who said that Japanese people did not spit on the floor, but instead would spit into a handkerchief. Chiang used the story as an example of how the common man in 1969 Taiwan had not developed the spirit of public [[sanitation]] that Japan had 60 some years later.<ref>{{cite book|script-title=zh: 蔣中正的訪日經驗 (1906–1927) |trans-title=Chiang Kai-shek's experience visiting Japan (1906-1927)|language=zh-tw |author=黃自進 |series=蔣中正日記與民國史研究 |page=158}}</ref>

[[File:Jiangjp.jpg|thumb|Chiang in Imperial Japanese Army uniform]]
Chiang decided to pursue a military career. He began his military training at the [[Baoding Military Academy]] in 1906, the same year Japan left its bimetallic currency standard, devaluing the [[Japanese yen]]. He left for [[Tokyo Shinbu Gakko]], a preparatory school for the [[Imperial Japanese Army Academy]] intended for Chinese students, in 1907. There, he came under the influence of compatriots to support the revolutionary movement to overthrow the [[Manchu]]-dominated [[Qing dynasty]] and to set up a [[Han Chinese|Han]]-dominated Chinese republic. In Japan, he learnt the [[Japanese language|Japanese]] and [[English language|English]] languages, [[equestrianism]], as well as various subjects of [[mathematics]], [[physics]], and [[chemistry]]. He ate simple meals of only [[rice]] with either [[salted fish]] or [[umeboshi]] (the standard meal of Japanese soldiers at the time), and also grew to idolise [[bushido]].<ref name="edizionicafoscari"/> He befriended [[Chen Qimei]], and in 1908 Chen brought Chiang into the [[Tongmenghui]], Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary brotherhood against the Qing dynasty. Finishing his military schooling at Tokyo Shinbu Gakko, Chiang served in the [[Imperial Japanese Army]] from 1909 to 1911.

==Returning to China==
[[File:Family of young Chiang Kai-Shek.jpg|thumb|Family picture of Chiang Kai-Shek (right), his mother Wang Caiyu (middle) holding his son [[Chiang Ching-kuo]] (front), his wife [[Mao Fumei]] and mother of Ching-kuo (left) taken in 1910]]
After learning of the [[Wuchang Uprising]], Chiang returned to China in 1911, intending to fight as an artillery officer. He served in the revolutionary forces, leading a regiment in Shanghai under his friend and mentor [[Chen Qimei]], as one of Chen's chief lieutenants.{{sfn|Loh|1971|p=24}} In early 1912 a dispute arose between Chen and [[Tao Chengzhang]], an influential member of the Revolutionary Alliance who opposed both Sun Yat-sen and Chen. Tao sought to avoid escalating the quarrel by hiding in a hospital, but Chiang discovered him there. Chen dispatched assassins. Chiang may not have taken part in the assassination, but would later assume responsibility to help Chen avoid trouble. Chen valued Chiang despite Chiang's already legendary temper, regarding such bellicosity as useful in a military leader.{{sfn|Taylor|2009|pp=24, 31}}

Chiang's friendship with Chen Qimei signaled an association with Shanghai's criminal syndicate, the [[Green Gang]] headed by [[Du Yuesheng]] and [[Huang Jinrong]]. During Chiang's time in Shanghai, the [[Shanghai International Settlement]] police observed and charged him with various felonies. These charges never resulted in a trial, and Chiang was never jailed.{{sfn|Loh|1971|pp=20, 133}}

Chiang became a founding member of the KMT after the [[1911 Revolution]]. Following the takeover of the Republican government by [[Yuan Shikai]] and the failed [[Second Revolution (China)|Second Revolution]] against Yuan in 1913, Chiang, like his KMT comrades, divided his time between exile in Japan and the havens of the [[Shanghai International Settlement]].

On 18 May 1916, agents of Yuan Shikai assassinated Chen Qimei. Chiang succeeded Chen as leader of the [[Chinese Revolutionary Party]] in Shanghai. Sun Yat-sen's political career reached its lowest point during this time, as most of his old Tongmenghui comrades refused to join him in the exiled Chinese Revolutionary Party.{{sfn|Taylor|2009|pp=25–26}}

== Establishing the Kuomintang's position ==
In 1917, Sun Yat-sen moved his base of operations to Guangzhou, where Chiang joined him in 1918. At this time Sun remained largely sidelined; without arms or money, he was soon expelled from the city and exiled again to Shanghai, only to return to Guangdong with mercenary help in 1920. After his return, a rift developed between Sun, who sought to militarily unify China under the KMT, and Guangdong Governor [[Chen Jiongming]], who wanted to [[Federalism in China|implement a federalist system]] with Guangdong as a model province. On 16 June 1922 [[Ye Ju]], a general of Chen's whom Sun had attempted to exile, led an assault on [[Guangzhou's Presidential Palace|Guangdong's Presidential Palace]].<ref>{{citation |last=Chan |first=Anthony B. |title=Arming the Chinese: The Western Armaments Trade in Warlord China, 1920–1928 |publisher=UBC Press |location=Vancouver |date=2010 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=T6eXCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA106 106]}}</ref> Sun had already fled to the naval yard{{sfnp|Hahn|1955|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=8VPVCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT42 42]}} and boarded the SS&nbsp;''Haiqi'',<ref>{{citation |last=Dreyer |first=Edward L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YsWOAwAAQBAJ |title=China at War, 1901–1941 |publisher=Routledge |location=Abingdon |date=1995 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=YsWOAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA104 104] |isbn=978-1317899846 |access-date=27 September 2016 |archive-date=27 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727204956/https://books.google.com/books?id=YsWOAwAAQBAJ |url-status=live}}</ref> but his wife [[Soong Ching-ling]] narrowly evaded shelling and rifle-fire as she fled.{{sfnp|Pakula|2009|p= [https://archive.org/details/lastempressmadam00paku_0/page/95 95–97]}} They met on the [[SS Zhongshan|SS ''Yongfeng'']], where Chiang joined them as soon as he could return from Shanghai, where he was ritually mourning his mother's death.<ref name="Biographical Dictionary of Republican China">{{citation |title=Biographical Dictionary of Republican China, ''Vol. III'' |at=[https://books.google.com/books?id=KWHREtBHNqYC&pg=PA322 "Chiang Kai-shek", p. 322]}}</ref> For about 50 days, Chiang stayed with Sun, protecting and caring for him and earning his lasting trust. They abandoned their attacks on Chen on 9 August, taking a British ship to Hong Kong and traveling to Shanghai by steamer.<ref name="Biographical Dictionary of Republican China"/>

[[File:Whampoa3.jpg|thumb|left| Sun Yat-sen and Chiang at the 1924 opening ceremonies for the Soviet-funded [[Whampoa Military Academy]]]]
[[File:Chiang Kai-shek-young.jpg|thumb|Chiang in the early 1920s]]
Sun regained control of Guangdong in early 1923, again with the help of mercenaries from [[Yunnan]] and of the [[Comintern]]. Undertaking a reform of the KMT, he established a revolutionary government aimed at unifying China under the KMT. That same year Sun sent Chiang to Moscow, where he spent three months studying the Soviet political and military system. There Chiang met [[Leon Trotsky]] and other Soviet leaders, but quickly came to the conclusion that the Russian model of government was not suitable for China. Chiang later sent his eldest son, [[Chiang Ching-kuo]], to study in the Soviet Union. After his father's split from the [[First United Front]] in 1927, Ching-kuo was retained there as a hostage until 1937. Chiang wrote in [[Chiang Zhongzheng's Diary|his diary]], "It is not worth it to sacrifice the interest of the country for the sake of my son."{{sfn|Taylor|2000|p=59}}{{sfn|Fenby|2005|p=205}}

In the West and in the Soviet Union, Chiang Kai-shek was known as the "Red General".{{sfn|Pakula|2009|p=346}} At Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow, portraits of Chiang were hung on the walls; and, in the Soviet May Day parades that year, Chiang's portrait was to be carried along with the portraits of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, and other Communist leaders.{{sfn|Taylor|2000|p=42}} The United States consulate and other Westerners in Shanghai were concerned about the approach of "Red General" Chiang as his army was seizing control of large areas of the country in the Northern Expedition.{{sfn|Taylor|2009|p=602}}<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/moscowchinesecom00nort |url-access=registration |title=Moscow and Chinese Communists |first=Robert Carver |last=North |year=1963 |publisher=Stanford University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/moscowchinesecom00nort/page/94 94] |isbn=0804704538 |access-date=28 June 2010}}</ref>

When Chiang returned in 1924 Sun appointed him Commandant of the [[Whampoa Military Academy]]. Chiang resigned after one month in disagreement with Sun's close cooperation with the Comintern, but returned at Sun's demand, and accepted [[Zhou Enlai]] as his political commissar. The early years at Whampoa allowed Chiang to cultivate a cadre of young officers loyal to both the KMT and himself.

Throughout his rise to power, Chiang also benefited from membership within the nationalist [[Tiandihui]] fraternity, to which Sun Yat-sen also belonged, and which remained a source of support during his leadership of the Kuomintang.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=McIsaac |first=Lee |date=December 2000 |title='Righteous Fraternities' and Honorable Men: Sworn Brotherhoods in Wartime Chongqing |journal=American Historical Review |volume=105 |issue=5 |pages=1641–1655 |jstor=2652035 |issn=0002-8762}}</ref>

==Rising power==
[[File:Wang Jingwei and Chiang Kai-shek.jpg|thumb|right|Chiang (right) together with [[Wang Jingwei]] (left), 1926]]

Sun Yat-sen died on 12 March 1925,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eileen |first=Tamura |year=1998 |title=China: Understanding Its Past |page=174}}</ref> creating a power vacuum in the Kuomintang. A contest ensued among [[Wang Jingwei]], [[Liao Zhongkai]], and [[Hu Hanmin]]. In August, Liao was assassinated and Hu was arrested for his connections to the murderers. Wang Jingwei, who had succeeded Sun as the first president of the [[Nationalist government]], then controlling only Guangdong province, seemed ascendant but was forced into exile by Chiang following the [[Canton Coup]]. During the coup, the {{nowrap|SS ''Yongfeng''}}, renamed the [[SS Zhongshan|''Zhongshan'']] in Sun's honour, had appeared off [[Changzhou Island|Changzhou]],{{sfn|Van de Ven|2003|p=101}} the location of the Whampoa Academy, on apparently-falsified orders{{sfnp|Van de Ven|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=tx5H_DC5V-MC&pg=PA103 103]}} and amid a series of unusual phone calls trying to ascertain Chiang's location.<ref>{{citation |first=Ah |last=Xiang |contribution-url=http://www.republicanchina.org/Zhongshan-Warship-Incident.pdf |contribution=The ''Zhongshan'' Warship Incident |title=Tragedy of Chinese Revolution |date=1998 |page=1 |access-date=15 July 2016 |archive-date=15 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415103136/http://www.republicanchina.org/Zhongshan-Warship-Incident.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> He initially considered fleeing Guangdong and even booked passage on a Japanese steamer but then decided to use his military connections to declare martial law on 20 March 1926 and to crack down on Communist and Soviet influence over the National Revolutionary Army, the military academy, and the party.{{sfnp|Van de Ven|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=tx5H_DC5V-MC&pg=PA103 103]}} The right wing of the party supported him, and [[Joseph Stalin]], anxious to maintain Soviet influence in the area, had his lieutenants agree to Chiang's demands{{sfnp|Xiang|1998|p=3}} on a reduced Communist presence in the KMT leadership in exchange for certain other concessions.{{sfnp|Van de Ven|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=tx5H_DC5V-MC&pg=PA103 103]}} The rapid replacement of leadership enabled Chiang to effectively end civilian oversight of the military after 15 May, though his authority was somewhat limited{{sfnp|Xiang|1998|p=3}} by the army's own regional composition and divided loyalties.

On 5 June 1926, he was named [[commander-in-chief]] of the [[National Revolutionary Army]] (NRA);{{sfn|Taylor|2009|p=57}} on 27 July, he launched Sun's long-delayed [[Northern Expedition]], aimed at conquering the northern warlords and bringing China together under the KMT.

The NRA branched into three divisions: to the west was Wang Jingwei, who returned from his exile in France to lead a column to take [[Wuhan]]; [[Bai Chongxi]]'s column went east to take Shanghai; Chiang himself led in the middle route, planning to take [[Nanjing]] before pressing ahead to capture [[Beijing]]. However, in January 1927, Wang Jingwei and his KMT leftist allies took the city of Wuhan amid much popular mobilization and fanfare. Allied with a number of [[Chinese Communists]] and advised by Soviet agent [[Mikhail Borodin]], Wang declared the Nationalist government as having moved to Wuhan.

In 1927, when Chiang was setting up a rival Nationalist government in Nanjing, he was preoccupied with the elevation of Sun Yat-sen to the Father of a Republic. He asked [[Chen Guofu]] to purchase a photograph that had been taken in Japan {{circa|1895}} or 1898. It showed members of the [[Revive China Society]] with [[Yeung Ku-wan]] as president, in the place of honor, and Sun, as secretary, on the back row, along with members of the Japanese Chapter of the Revive China Society. When told that it was not for sale, Chiang offered a million dollars to recover the photo and its negative, "The party must have this picture and the negative at any price. They must be destroyed as soon as possible. It would be embarrassing to have our Father of the Chinese Republic shown in a subordinate position".<ref>'"Chiang Kai-Shek's Secret Past: The Memoir of His Second Wife, Ch'en Chieh-ju" by Ch'en Chieh-ju and George Chan, ed. by Lloyd E. Eastman, Westview Press, Boulder, 1993, pp. 248–249.</ref>

On 12 April 1927, Chiang carried out [[Shanghai massacre of 1927|a purge]] of thousands of suspected Communists and dissidents in Shanghai, and began large-scale massacres across the country collectively known as the [[White Terror (mainland China)|"White Terror"]]. During April, more than {{formatnum:12000}} people were killed in Shanghai. The killings drove most Communists from urban cities and into the rural countryside, where the KMT was less powerful.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mayhew |first=Bradley |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IAe97m8sgw0C&pg=PA51 |title=Shanghai |publisher=[[Lonely Planet]] |edition=2nd |date=2004 |isbn=978-1740593083 |access-date=22 July 2009 |page=51 |archive-date=11 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511074658/http://books.google.com/books?id=IAe97m8sgw0C&pg=PA51 |url-status=live}}</ref> In the year after April 1927, over 300,000 people died across China in the anti-communist suppression campaigns, executed by the KMT.<ref>Barnouin, Barbara and Yu Changgen. [https://books.google.com/books?id=NztlWQeXf2IC ''Zhou Enlai: A Political Life''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170325202546/https://books.google.com/books?id=NztlWQeXf2IC |date=25 March 2017 }}. Hong Kong: Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. {{ISBN|9629962802}}. Retrieved 12 March 2011. p. 38</ref> Some estimates claim the White Terror took millions of lives, most of them in rural areas. No concrete number can be verified.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xkoawP_HescC&pg=PA46 |first=Maurice |last=Meisner |title=Mao's China: A History of the People's Republic |access-date=22 July 2009 |isbn=978-0745631066 |date=2006 |publisher=Wiley |author-link=Maurice Meisner |archive-date=25 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170325210405/https://books.google.com/books?id=xkoawP_HescC&pg=PA46 |url-status=live}}</ref> Chiang allowed Soviet agent and advisor [[Mikhail Borodin]] and Soviet general [[Vasily Blücher]] to "escape" to safety after the purge.<ref>{{cite news |title=Generalissimo and Madame Chiang Kai-Shek |newspaper=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=3 January 1938 |url=http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/personoftheyear/archive/stories/1937.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070329012515/http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/personoftheyear/archive/stories/1937.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 March 2007 |access-date=22 May 2011}}</ref>

The NRA formed by the KMT swept through southern and central China until it was checked in [[Shandong]], where confrontations with the Japanese garrison escalated into armed conflict. The conflicts were collectively known as the [[Jinan incident]] of 1928.

Now with an established national government in Nanjing, and supported by conservative allies including Hu Hanmin, Chiang's expulsion of the Communists and their Soviet advisers led to the [[Chinese Civil War]]. Wang Jingwei's Nationalist government was weak militarily, and was soon ended by Chiang with the support of a local warlord ([[Li Zongren]] of [[Guangxi]]). Wang and his leftist party surrendered to Chiang and joined him in Nanjing. However, the cracks between Chiang and Hu's traditionally right-wing KMT faction, the [[Western Hills Group]], began to show soon after the purge of the Communists, and Chiang later imprisoned Hu.

[[File:Chiang Kai-shek and Feng Yuxiang2.jpg|thumb|Chiang and [[Feng Yuxiang]] in 1928]]
Though Chiang had consolidated the power of the KMT in Nanjing, it was still necessary to capture Beijing to claim the legitimacy needed for international recognition. Beijing was taken in June 1928, from an alliance of the warlords [[Feng Yuxiang]] and [[Yan Xishan]]. Yan moved in and captured [[Beijing|Peiping]] on behalf of his new allegiance after the [[Huanggutun incident|death of Zhang Zuolin]] in 1928. His successor, [[Zhang Xueliang]], [[Chinese reunification (1928)|accepted the authority]] of the KMT leadership, and the Northern Expedition officially concluded, marking the end of the [[Warlord Era]].

After the Northern Expedition, Yan, Feng, Li Zongren and [[Zhang Fakui]] broke off relations with Chiang shortly after a demilitarization conference in 1929. Joined by Wang Jingwei, they formed an anti-Chiang coalition to openly challenge the legitimacy of the Nanjing government. They were defeated in the [[Central Plains War]].

Chiang made great efforts to gain recognition as the official successor of Sun Yat-sen. In a pairing of great political significance, Chiang was Sun's brother-in-law. He had married [[Soong Mei-ling]], the younger sister of [[Soong Ching-ling]], Sun's widow, on 1 December 1927. Originally rebuffed in the early 1920s, Chiang managed to ingratiate himself to some degree with Soong Mei-ling's mother by first divorcing his wife and concubines and promising to sincerely study the precepts of Christianity. He read the copy of the Bible that Mei-ling had given him twice before making up his mind to become a Christian, and three years after his marriage he was baptized in the Soong's Methodist church. Although some observers felt that he adopted Christianity as a political move, studies of his recently opened diaries suggest that his faith was strong and sincere and that he felt that Christianity reinforced [[Confucian]] moral teachings.{{sfn|Taylor|2009|p=91}}

Upon reaching Beijing, Chiang paid homage to Sun Yat-sen and had his body moved from the [[Temple of Azure Clouds]] to the new capital of Nanjing to be enshrined in the [[Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum]].

==Rule==
{{Main|Nationalist government|History of Taiwan (1945–present)}}

{{See also|Nanjing decade|Taiwan Miracle}}
[[File:Chiang Kai-shek.jpg|thumb|right|Chiang during a visit to an air force base in 1945]]

Having gained control of China, Chiang's party remained surrounded by defeated warlords who remained relatively autonomous within their own regions. On 10 October 1928, Chiang was named director of the State Council, the equivalent to President of the country, in addition to his other titles.{{sfn|Taylor|2009|p=84}} As with his predecessor Sun Yat-sen, the Western media dubbed him "Generalissimo".{{sfn|Taylor|2009|p=57}}

According to Sun Yat-sen's plans, the KMT was to rebuild China in three steps: [[military regime|military rule]], [[Dang Guo|political tutelage]], and [[constitutionalism|constitutional rule]]. The ultimate goal of the KMT revolution was democracy, which was not considered to be feasible in China's fragmented state. Since the KMT had completed the first step of revolution through seizure of power in 1928, Chiang's rule thus began a period of what his party considered to be "political tutelage" in Sun Yat-sen's name. During this so-called Republican Era, many features of a modern, functional Chinese state emerged and developed.<blockquote>Communist revolution is fundamentally unsuited to China. Any revolution animated by hatred cannot accord with the moral character of the Chinese people. For once hatred becomes the motivating force, action inevitably descends into cruelty and moral debasement, seeking advantage through the injury of others. Such conduct stands in direct opposition to the ethical foundations of Chinese civilization.

For several millennia, China's moral tradition has been oriented toward altruism rather than self-interest. The inherent disposition of the Chinese people has been one of peacefulness, magnanimity, and moral luminosity. They do not wish to endure cruelty inflicted by others, nor do they wish to impose cruelty upon others. They neither accept ignoble means applied to themselves, nor do they consent to employ ignoble means against others. Accordingly, methods characterized by cruelty and moral baseness cannot take root in China; at the very least, they will never command the approval of the great majority of the people.

Moreover, revolutions prosecuted through cruel and ignoble means have never escaped failure. Since Communist revolution adopts precisely such methods, it is destined to encounter the opposition of the Chinese people as a whole—or, at minimum, of their overwhelming majority. Any revolutionary action that fails to secure the moral sympathy of the majority can never be legitimately undertaken. This constitutes the first and fundamental reason why the Soviet-style Communist revolution is incompatible with China.</blockquote>—Chiang, ''"The Differences Between Our Party's National Revolution and the Soviet Communist Revolution,"'' 25 April 1929.<ref>{{Cite web |title=蒋中正 - 维基语录, 自由的名人名言录 |url=https://zh.wikiquote.org/wiki/%E8%92%8B%E4%B8%AD%E6%AD%A3 |access-date=2025-12-25 |website=zh.wikiquote.org |language=zh}}</ref>

From 1928 to 1937, known as the [[Nanjing decade]], various aspects of foreign imperialism, [[concessions in China|concessions]] and privileges in China were moderated by diplomacy.<ref>{{cite web |date=13 January 2019 |title=不能忘却的努力 : 中华民国废除近代所有不平等条约的历史__凤凰网 |url=https://ishare.ifeng.com/c/s/7jPgevewoU0 |access-date=6 August 2022 |publisher=Ishare.ifeng.com |archive-date=6 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806053027/https://ishare.ifeng.com/c/s/7jPgevewoU0 |url-status=live}}</ref> The government acted to modernize the legal and penal systems and attempted to stabilize prices, amortize debts, reform the banking and currency systems, build railroads and highways, improve public health facilities, legislate against traffic in narcotics, and augment industrial and agricultural production. Efforts were made to improve education standards, and the national academy of sciences, [[Academia Sinica]], was founded.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mair |first1=Victor H. |title=Chinese Lives: The people who made a civilization |date=2013 |publisher=Thames & Hudson |location=London |isbn=978-0500251928 |page=207}}</ref> In an effort to unify Chinese society, the [[New Life Movement]] was launched to encourage Confucian moral values and personal discipline. ''[[Standard Chinese|Guoyu]]'' ("national language") was promoted as the official language, and the establishment of communications facilities (including radio) was used to encourage a sense of [[Chinese nationalism]] in a way that had not been possible when the nation lacked an effective central government. Under that context, the Chinese [[Rural Reconstruction Movement]] was implemented by some social activists who graduated as professors of the United States with tangible but limited progress in modernizing the tax, infrastructural, economic, cultural, and educational equipment and the mechanisms of rural regions. The social activists actively co-ordinated with the local governments in the towns and villages since the early 1930s. However, the policy was subsequently neglected and canceled by Chiang's government because of rampant wars and the lack of resources after the Japanese War and the civil war.<ref>{{Cite web |title=试论中国乡村建设运动的演进 |url=http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/acd/cg/lt/rb/608/608PDF/cyo.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220830093337/http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/acd/cg/lt/rb/608/608PDF/cyo.pdf |archive-date=30 August 2022 |url-status=live |access-date=3 November 2022 |website=Ritsumeikan Academy Vision |language=zh}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=走向政治解決的鄉村建設運動 |url=https://www.cuhk.edu.hk/ics/21c/media/articles/c091-200411073.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516180803/http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/ics/21c/media/articles/c091-200411073.pdf |archive-date=16 May 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=3 November 2022 |website=The Chinese University of Hong Kong |language=zh}}</ref>

Despite being a conservative, Chiang supported modernization policies such as scientific advancement, universal education, and women's rights. The Kuomintang supported [[women's suffrage]] and education and the abolition of [[polygamy]] and [[foot binding]]. Under Chiang's leadership, the Republic of China government also enacted a women's quota in the parliament, with reserved seats for women. During the Nanjing Decade, average Chinese citizens received education that they had been denied by the dynasties. That increased the literacy rate across China and also promoted the ideals of [[Tridemism]] of democracy, republicanism, science, constitutionalism, and Chinese nationalism based on the Dang Guo system of the KMT.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.xuehua.us/a/5eb7c78386ec4d630fd401a5?lang=zh-hk |title=禁纏足、興女學: 南京國民政府在興女權上做出巨大努力 – 雪花新闻 |access-date=20 July 2022 |archive-date=14 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221014124128/https://www.xuehua.us/a/5eb7c78386ec4d630fd401a5?lang=zh-hk |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.igs.ocha.ac.jp/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/2.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220801081556/http://www2.igs.ocha.ac.jp/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/2.pdf |archive-date=1 August 2022 |url-status=live |title=Gender Quotas in Taiwan |author=Chang-Ling Huang |website=2.igs.ocha.ac.jp |access-date=27 July 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.yangtse.com/zncontent/632475.html |title=从合礼到非法: 纳妾制度在中国是如何被废除的? |website=Yangtse.com |date=29 June 2020 |access-date=23 July 2022 |archive-date=13 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013110527/https://www.yangtse.com/zncontent/632475.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://m.xzbu.com/4/view-3445675.htm |title=南京国民政府时期的教育 |language=zh |website=M.xzbu.com |date=12 September 2012 |access-date=23 July 2022 |archive-date=13 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013224440/https://m.xzbu.com/4/view-3445675.htm |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://stararctic108.weebly.com/2523925136210692551221205123002622221450259453294626696123013034032972262233328723526385552031628858.html |title=抗戰前推動「普及教育案」的背景與實際作為 – 大中華民國 |website=Stararctic108.weebly.com |date= |access-date=23 July 2022 |archive-date=18 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221018083330/https://stararctic108.weebly.com/2523925136210692551221205123002622221450259453294626696123013034032972262233328723526385552031628858.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Any successes that the Nationalists achieved, however, were met with constant political and military upheavals. Many of the urban areas were now under the control of the KMT, but much of the countryside remained under the influence of weakened but undefeated warlords, landlords, and Communists. Chiang often resolved issues of warlord obstinacy through military action, but such action was costly in terms of men and material. The Central Plains War alone nearly bankrupted the Nationalist government and caused almost {{formatnum:250000}} casualties on both sides. In 1931, Hu Hanmin, an old supporter of Chiang, publicly voiced a popular concern that Chiang's position as both premier and president flew in the face of the democratic ideals of the Nationalist government. Chiang had Hu put under house arrest, but Hu was released after national condemnation. Hu then left Nanjing and supported a rival government in Guangzhou. The split resulted in a military conflict between Hu's Guangdong government and Chiang's Nationalist government.
[[File:Chiang Kai-shek & Mme. Chiang Time Cover.jpg|thumb|upright=0.95|Chiang and Soong on the cover of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine, 26 October 1931]]

Throughout his rule, complete eradication of the Communists remained Chiang's dream. After he had assembled his forces in [[Jiangxi]], Chiang led his armies against the newly established [[Chinese Soviet Republic]]. With help from foreign military advisers such as [[Max Bauer]] and [[Alexander von Falkenhausen]], Chiang's [[Fifth Encirclement Campaign against Jiangxi Soviet|Fifth Campaign]] finally surrounded the [[People's Liberation Army|Chinese Red Army]] in 1934.<ref>Mair, p. 207</ref> The Communists, tipped off that a Nationalist offensive was imminent, retreated in the [[Long March]] during which Mao rose from a mere military official to the most influential leader of the Chinese Communist Party.

Some academics and historians have classified Chiang's rule as [[fascism|fascist]].<ref>{{cite journal |first=Lloyd |last=Eastman |title=Fascism in Kuomintang China: The Blue Shirts |journal=The China Quarterly |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/652110 |access-date=2 February 2021 |year=2021 |issue=49 |pages=1–31 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |jstor=652110 |archive-date=1 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220501135314/https://www.jstor.org/stable/652110 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Fitzgerald1964">C. P. Fitzgerald, ''The Birth of Communist China'', Penguin Books, 1964, p. 106. {{ISBN|978-0140206944}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Stanley |last=Payne |title=A History of Fascism 1914–1945 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NLiFIEdI1V4C&pg=PA337 |access-date=2 February 2021 |year=2021 |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |page=337 |isbn=978-0299148744 |archive-date=9 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231109200505/https://books.google.com/books?id=NLiFIEdI1V4C&pg=PA337#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[New Life Movement]], initiated by Chiang, was based upon Confucianism mixed with Christianity, nationalism, and authoritarianism that have some similarities to fascism, which some historians alleged was an imitation of [[Nazism]]. [[Frederic Wakeman]] argued that the New Life Movement was "Confucian fascism".<ref>Wakeman, Frederic, Jr. (1997). "A Revisionist View of the Nanjing Decade: Confucian Fascism." ''The China Quarterly'' 150: 395–432.</ref> Chiang also sponsored the creation of the [[Blue Shirts Society]], in conscious imitation of the Blackshirts in the Italian [[National Fascist Party]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=COCO |first1=Orazio |title=Interactions and Interferences of Italian and German Nationalist Regimes in Asia during the Interwar Period (1928–1937) |journal=The International History Review |date=23 April 2024 |volume=46 |issue=6 |pages=886–909 |doi=10.1080/07075332.2024.2345228 |doi-access=free}}</ref> and the ''[[Sturmabteilung]]'' of the [[Nazi Party]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bradley |first=James |title=The China mirage : the hidden history of American disaster in Asia |date=2015 |isbn=978-0316196673 |edition= |location=New York |pages=139 |oclc=870199580}}</ref> Its ideology was to expel foreign (Japanese and Western) imperialists from China and to crush communism.<ref>{{cite book |first=Frederic E. |last=Wakeman |title=Spymaster: Dai Li and the Chinese Secret Service |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jYYYQYK6FAYC&pg=PA75 |access-date=28 June 2010 |year=2003 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0520234079 |page=75 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205143553/https://books.google.com/books?id=jYYYQYK6FAYC&pg=PA75 |archive-date=5 February 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> Close [[China-Nazi Germany relations|ties with Nazi Germany]] also gave the Nationalist government access to German military and economic assistance during the mid-1930s.<ref name="Crean2024">{{Cite book |last=Crean |first=Jeffrey |title=The Fear of Chinese Power: an International History |date=2024 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Academic]] |isbn=978-1-350-23394-2 |edition= |series=New Approaches to International History series |location=London, UK |pages=}}</ref>{{Rp|page=64}} In a 1935 speech, Chiang stated that "fascism is what China now most needs" and described fascism as the stimulant for a declining society.<ref name="Crean2024" />{{Rp|page=64}} Mao once derogatorily compared Chiang to [[Adolf Hitler]], referring to him as the "[[Führer]] of China".<ref>{{cite web |title=蒋介石与国人的"法西斯主义救中国"之梦 |url=https://www.guancha.cn/historiography/2012_03_30_68122.shtml |access-date=15 December 2021 |author=谌旭彬 |work=观察者网 |archive-date=19 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319231909/https://www.guancha.cn/historiography/2012_03_30_68122.shtml |url-status=dead |language=zh}}</ref> Sino-German relations rapidly deteriorated as Germany grew closer to Japan and almost completely broke down when Japan launched a full-scale invasion of China in 1937, which Germany failed to mediate. However, China, throughout the 1930s, refrained from declaring war on the Axis powers, including Germany and Italy. China also did not formally declare war on Japan until after the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] in December 1941, which led to it officially declaring war on Japan, Germany, and Italy.<ref>{{citation |url=https://worldatwar.net/timeline/other/diplomacy39-45.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505212551/https://worldatwar.net/timeline/other/diplomacy39-45.html |archive-date=5 May 2016 |title=Chronology of World War II Diplomacy 1939–1945 |first=Richard |last=Doody |work=World at War |access-date=}}</ref>

Chinese Communists and many conservative anti-communist writers have argued that Chiang was pro-capitalist based on the alliance thesis (the alliance between Chiang and the capitalists to [[Shanghai massacre|purge the communist and the leftist elements in Shanghai]], as well as in the resulting civil war). However, Chiang also antagonized the capitalists of Shanghai by often attacking them and confiscating their capital and assets for government use even while he denounced and fought against communists. Critics have called that "[[state capitalism|bureaucratic capitalism]]".<ref name="Coppa2006">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gTv99LBYSL4C&pg=PA58 |title=Encyclopedia of modern dictators: from Napoleon to the present |first=Frank J. |last=Coppa |year=2006 |publisher=Peter Lang |page=58 |isbn=0820450103 |access-date=15 May 2011 |archive-date=27 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727210704/https://books.google.com/books?id=gTv99LBYSL4C&pg=PA58 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Coble|1986|p=263}} Historian [[Parks M. Coble]] argues that the phrase "bureaucratic capitalism" is too simplistic to adequately characterize this phenomenon. Instead, he says, the regime weakened all social forces so that the government could pursue policies without being responsible nor responsive to any outside political groups. By defeating any potential challenge to its power, government officials could amass sizable fortunes. With that motive, Chiang cracked down pro-communist worker and peasant organizations, as well as rich Shanghai capitalists. Chiang also continued the anti-capitalist rhetoric of Sun Yat-sen and directed the Kuomintang media to attack the capitalists and capitalism openly. He supported [[government-owned corporation|government-controlled industries]] instead. Coble says that the rhetoric had no impact on governmental policy and that its use was to prevent the capitalists from claiming legitimacy within the party or society and to control them and their wealth.{{sfn|Coble|1986|p=263}}

Authority within the Nationalist government ultimately lay with Chiang.<ref name="Coble2023">{{Cite book |last=Coble |first=Parks M. |title=The Collapse of Nationalist China: How Chiang Kai-shek Lost China's Civil War |date=2023 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1-009-29761-5 |location=Cambridge New York, NY |author-link=Parks M. Coble}}</ref>{{Rp|page=43}} All major policy changes on military, diplomatic, or economic issues required his approval.<ref name="Coble2023" />{{Rp|page=156}} According to historian [[Odd Arne Westad]], "no other leader within the [KMT] had the authority to force through even the simplest decisions.<ref name="Coble2023" />{{Rp|page=156}} The practical power of high-ranking officials like ministers or the head of the Executive Yuan was more closely tied to their relationship with Chiang than with the formal authority of their position".<ref name="Coble2023" />{{Rp|page=43}} Chiang created multiple layers of power in his administration which he sometimes played off against each other to prevent individuals or cliques from gathering power that could oppose his authority.<ref name="Coble2023" />{{Rp|pages=93–94}}

Contrary to the critique that Chiang was highly corrupt, he was not involved in corruption himself.<ref name="ifeng"/> However his wife, Soong Mei-ling, ignored her family's involvement in corruption.<ref name="Chieh-yu2003">{{Cite web |last1=Chieh-yu |first1=Lin |last2=Wu |first2=Debby |last3=Liu |first3=Cody |last4=Wen |first4=DStephanie |last5=Chang |first5=Eddy |date=25 October 2003 |title=The Dragon Lady who charmed the world |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2003/10/25/2003073291 |access-date=31 January 2023 |archive-date=16 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230716055418/https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2003/10/25/2003073291 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Soong family embezzled $20 million in the course of the 1930s and the 1940s when the Nationalist government's revenues were less than $30 million per year.<ref name="Marquis2022" />{{Rp|page=40}} The Soong family's eldest son, [[T.V. Soong]], was the Chinese premier and finance minister, and the eldest daughter, [[Soong Ai-ling]], was the wife of [[Kung Hsiang-hsi]], the wealthiest man in China. The second daughter, [[Soong Ching-ling]], was the wife of Sun Yat-sen, China's founding father. The youngest daughter, Soong Mei-ling, married Chiang in 1927, and following the marriage, both families became intimately connected, which created the "Soong dynasty" and the "Four Families". However, Soong was also credited for her campaign for women's rights in China, including her attempts to improve the education, culture, and social benefits of Chinese women.<ref name="Chieh-yu2003"/> Critics have said that the "Four Families" monopolized the regime and looted it.<ref name="Coppa2006"/> The US sent considerable aid to the Nationalist government but soon realized the widespread corruption. Military supplies that were sent appeared on the black market. Significant sums of money that had been transmitted through T. V. Soong, China's finance minister, soon disappeared. President Truman famously referred to the Nationalist leaders, "They're thieves, every damn one of them." He also said, "They stole $750 million out of the billions that we sent to Chiang. They stole it, and it's invested in real estate down in São Paolo and some right here in New York."<ref>{{Cite web |author=Seth Faison |date=25 October 2003 |title=Madame Chiang Kai-shek, a Power in Husband's China and Abroad, Dies at 105 |website=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/25/world/madame-chiang-kai-shek-a-power-in-husband-s-china-and-abroad-dies-at-105.html |access-date=31 January 2023 |archive-date=31 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131083520/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/25/world/madame-chiang-kai-shek-a-power-in-husband-s-china-and-abroad-dies-at-105.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author=Jonathan Fenby |date=5 November 2003 |title=The sorceress |website=[[TheGuardian.com]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/nov/05/china.jonathanfenby |access-date=31 January 2023 |archive-date=12 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512014144/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/nov/05/china.jonathanfenby |url-status=live}}</ref> Soong Mei-ling and Soong Ai-ling lived luxurious lifestyles and held millions in property, clothes, art, and jewelry.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Bernice Chan |date=22 May 2015 |title=Soong sisters' jewellery and art heirlooms to be auctioned in Hong Kong |url=https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-luxury/article/1805301/soong-sisters-jewellery-and-art-heirlooms-be-auctioned-hong |access-date=31 January 2023 |archive-date=31 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131083508/https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-luxury/article/1805301/soong-sisters-jewellery-and-art-heirlooms-be-auctioned-hong |url-status=live}}</ref> Soong Ai-ling and Soong Mei-ling were also the two richest women in China.<ref>Peterson, Barbara Bennett (ed.). (2000). ''Notable Women of China: Shang Dynasty to the Early 20th century''. M.E. Sharp publishing. {{ISBN|076560504X}}.</ref> Despite living a luxurious life for almost her entire life, Soong Mei-ling left only a $120,000 inheritance, and the reason is that according to her niece, that she donated most of her wealth when she was still alive.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.setn.com/News.aspx?NewsID=1109885 |title=高齡106歲去世!宋美齡死後「銀行帳戶餘額曝光」驚呆了 &#124; 新奇 &#124; 三立新聞網 SETN.COM |date=4 May 2022 |website=www.setn.com |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=19 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230319200116/https://www.setn.com/News.aspx?NewsID=1109885 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Chiang, requiring support, tolerated corruption with people in his inner circles, as well as high-ranking nationalist officials, but not of lower-ranking officers. In 1934, he ordered seven military officers who embezzled state property to be shot. In another case, several division commanders pleaded with Chiang to pardon a criminal officer, but as soon as the division commanders had left, Chiang ordered him shot.<ref name="ifeng">{{cite web |url=https://news.ifeng.com/history/zhongguojindaishi/201001/0115_7180_1512056_2.shtml |title=蒋介石一生清廉自律为何却纵容党内腐败?_历史_凤凰网 |website=News.ifeng.com |date= |access-date=23 July 2022 |archive-date=17 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221017154957/https://news.ifeng.com/history/zhongguojindaishi/201001/0115_7180_1512056_2.shtml |url-status=live}}</ref> The deputy editor and chief reporter at the Central Daily News, [[Lu Keng]], made headline international news by exposing the corruption of two senior officials, Kong Xiangxi ([[H. H. Kung]]) and [[T. V. Soong]]. Chiang then ordered a thorough investigation of the Central Daily News to find the source. However, Lu risked execution by refusing to comply and protecting his journalists. Chiang wanting to avoid an international response and so jailed Lu instead.<ref>South China Morning Post. "[https://www.scmp.com/article/642639/controversial-true-journalist-lu-keng-89-dies-us SCMP] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221228073056/https://www.scmp.com/article/642639/controversial-true-journalist-lu-keng-89-dies-us |date=28 December 2022 }}." ''Controversial 'true journalist' Lu Keng, 89, dies in US.'' Retrieved on 18 November 2008.</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Lee Chin-chuan |url=https://www.taiwan-panorama.com/en/Articles/Details?Guid=9f63c680-bd82-45a9-9156-d06e9efc0c20&CatId=8&postname=Writing%20from%20the%20Edge%20of%20History%2C%20Writing%20from%20the%20Center%20of%20History--Reflections%20on%20Lu%20Keng%27s%20Collection%20of%20Memories%20and%20Regrets |title=Writing from the Edge of History, Writing from the Center of History – Reflections on Lu Keng's Collection of Memories and Regrets |website=Taiwan Panorama |date=September 1997 |access-date=31 January 2023 |archive-date=9 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231109200508/https://www.taiwan-panorama.com/en/Articles/Details?Guid=9f63c680-bd82-45a9-9156-d06e9efc0c20&CatId=8&postname=Writing%20from%20the%20Edge%20of%20History%2C%20Writing%20from%20the%20Center%20of%20History--Reflections%20on%20Lu%20Keng%27s%20Collection%20of%20Memories%20and%20Regrets |url-status=live}}</ref> Chiang realized the widespread problems that corruption was creating, so he undertook several anti-corruption campaigns before and after World War II with varying success. Before the war, both campaigns, the Nanjing Decade Cleanup of 1927–1930 and the Wartime Reform Movement of 1944–1947, failed. Both campaigns following World War II and the KMT retreat to Taiwan, the Kuomintang Reconstruction of 1950–1952 and the Governmental Rejuvenation of 1969–1973, succeeded.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bYlmEAAAQBAJ&dq=Corruption%20Control%20in%20Authoritarian%20Regimes%3A%20Lessons%20from%20East%20Asia&pg=PA48 |title=Corruption Control in Authoritarian Regimes: Lessons from East Asia |first=Christopher |last=Carothers |year=2022 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=48 |isbn=978-1009063913 |access-date=8 February 2023 |archive-date=28 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528040603/https://books.google.com/books?id=bYlmEAAAQBAJ&dq=Corruption%20Control%20in%20Authoritarian%20Regimes:%20Lessons%20from%20East%20Asia&pg=PA48 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Chiang, who viewed all of the foreign great powers with suspicion, wrote in a letter that they "all have it in their minds to promote the interests of their own respective countries at the cost of other nations" and saw it as hypocritical for any of them to condemn one another's foreign policy.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.80750 |title=The life of Chiang Kai-shek |first=Shih-i |last=Hsiung |year=1948 |publisher=Peter Davies |page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.80750/page/n243 211] |access-date=28 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HFWlaMnvu6MC |title=Chiang Kai-shek: An Unauthorized Biography |first=Emily |last=Hahn |year=1955 |publisher=Doubleday |page=84 |isbn=978-0598859235 |access-date=28 June 2014 |archive-date=27 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727211842/https://books.google.com/books?id=HFWlaMnvu6MC |url-status=live}}</ref> He used diplomatic persuasion on the United States, Nazi Germany, and the Soviet Union to regain lost Chinese territories, as he viewed all foreign powers as imperialists that were attempting to exploit China.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_eddVnC3paoC&pg=PA177 |title=Chinese–Soviet Relations, 1937–1945 : The Diplomacy of Chinese Nationalism: The Diplomacy of Chinese Nationalism |first=John W. |last=Garver |year=1988 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=177 |isbn=0195363744 |access-date=28 June 2014 |archive-date=26 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160426112524/https://books.google.com/books?id=_eddVnC3paoC&pg=PA177 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===First phase of Chinese Civil War===
[[File:Nationalist government of Nanking - nominally ruling over entire China, 1930 (2675972715).jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Nationalist government of Nanjing, which nominally ruled over all of China in 1930s]]
During April 1931, Chiang Kai-shek attended a national leadership conference in Nanjing with Zhang Xueliang and General [[Ma Fuxiang]] during which Chiang and Zhang dauntlessly upheld that Manchuria was part of China in the face of the Japanese invasion.{{sfn|Taylor|2009|p=[https://archive.org/details/generalissimochi00tayl/page/93 93]}} After the [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria]] in 1931, Chiang resigned as Chairman of the National Government. He returned shortly afterward.

Chiang adopted the slogan "first internal pacification, then external resistance," contending that warlords and the CCP had to be eliminated before the invading Japanese could be opposed.<ref name="Pan-2025">{{Cite book |last=Pan |first=Yihong |title=Not Just a Man's War: Chinese Women's Memories of the War of Resistance Against Japan, 1931-45 |publisher=[[University of British Columbia Press]] |year=2025 |isbn=9780774870368}}</ref>{{Reference page|page=10}} This policy of avoiding a frontal war against Japan and prioritizing anti-communist suppression was widely unpopular and provoked nationwide protests.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Spence |first1=Jonathan D. |title=The Search for Modern China |date=1990 |publisher=W.W. Norton |isbn=0393027082 |pages=419–422}}</ref> The CCP called for an end to civil war and a united front against the Japanese.<ref name="Pan-2025" />{{Reference page|page=8}} Chiang's policy of non-resistance to Japan contributed to a decrease in support for the Nationalists and an increase in support for the CCP.<ref name="Pan-2025" />{{Reference page|page=10}} In 1932, while Chiang was seeking first to defeat the CCP, Japan launched an [[January 28 Incident|advance]] on Shanghai and bombarded Nanjing. That disrupted Chiang's offensives against the CCP for a time, but it was the northern factions of Hu Hanmin's Guangdong government (notably the [[19th Route Army]]) that primarily led the offensive against the Japanese during the skirmish. Brought into the NRA immediately after the battle, the 19th Route Army's career under Chiang would be cut short by being disbanded for demonstrating socialist tendencies. {{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

In December 1936, Chiang flew to [[Xi'an]] to co-ordinate a major assault on the Red Army and the CCP, which had retreated into [[Yan'an]]. However, Chiang's allied commander Zhang Xueliang, whose forces were used in his attack and whose homeland of Manchuria had been recently invaded by the Japanese, did not support the attack on the Communists. On 12 December, Zhang and several other Nationalist generals, headed by [[Yang Hucheng]] of [[Shaanxi]], kidnapped Chiang for two weeks in what is known as the [[Xi'an Incident]]. They forced Chiang into making a "[[Second United Front]]" with the Communists against Japan. After releasing Chiang and returning to Nanjing with him, Zhang was placed under house arrest, and the generals who had assisted him were executed. The Second United Front had a commitment by Chiang that was nominal at best and was all but dissolved in 1941.

{{anchor|World War II|WWII|WW2}}

===Second Sino-Japanese War===
[[File:Liangyou 131 cover - Chiang Kai-shek.jpg|thumb|upright|After the outbreak of the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]], ''[[The Young Companion]]'' featured Chiang on its cover.]]
The Second Sino-Japanese War broke out in July 1937, and in August, Chiang sent {{formatnum:600000}} of his best-trained and equipped soldiers to [[Battle of Shanghai|defend Shanghai]]. With over 200,000 Chinese casualties, Chiang lost the political cream of his [[Whampoa Military Academy|Whampoa]]-trained officers. Although Chiang lost militarily, the battle dispelled Japan's claims that it could conquer China in three months and also demonstrated to the Western powers that the Chinese would continue the fight. By December, the capital city of Nanjing had fallen to the Japanese resulting in the [[Nanjing Massacre]]. Chiang moved the government inland first to Wuhan and later to Chongqing.

Having lost most of China's economic and industrial centers, Chiang withdrew into the hinterlands, stretched the Japanese supply lines, and bogged down Japanese soldiers in the vast Chinese interior. As part of a policy of protracted resistance, Chiang authorized the use of [[Scorched earth#Second Sino-Japanese War|scorched-earth]] tactics, which resulted in many civilian deaths. During the Nationalists' retreat from [[Zhengzhou]], the dams around the city were deliberately destroyed by the [[National Revolutionary Army]] to delay the Japanese advance, and the subsequent [[1938 Yellow River flood]] killed 800,000{{sfnb|Taylor|2009 |p= [https://archive.org/details/generalissimochi00tayl_940/page/n168 154]–155}} to one million people.<ref name="Marquis2022">{{Cite book |last1=Marquis |first1=Christopher |url= |title=Mao and Markets: The Communist Roots of Chinese Enterprise |last2=Qiao |first2=Kunyuan |date=2022 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=978-0-300-26883-6 |location=New Haven |doi=10.2307/j.ctv3006z6k |jstor=j.ctv3006z6k |oclc=1348572572 |author-link=Christopher Marquis |s2cid=253067190}}</ref>{{Rp|page=40}} Four million Chinese were left homeless.<ref name="Marquis2022" />{{Rp|page=40}} Chiang and the KMT were slow to provide disaster relief.<ref name="Marquis2022" />{{Rp|page=40}}

After heavy fighting, the Japanese occupied Wuhan in the fall of 1938, and the Nationalists retreated farther inland to Chongqing. En route to Chongqing, the Nationalist Army intentionally started the [[1938 Changsha Fire|Changsha Fire]] as a part of its scorched-earth policy. The fire destroyed much of the city, killed 20,000 civilians, and left hundreds of thousands of people homeless. An organizational error (it was claimed) caused the fire to be started without any warning to the residents of the city. The Nationalists eventually blamed three local commanders for the fire and executed them. Newspapers across China blamed the fire on (non-KMT) arsonists, but the blaze contributed to a nationwide loss of support for the KMT.<ref>Barnouin, Barbara and Yu Changgen. [https://books.google.com/books?id=NztlWQeXf2IC&q=zhou+enlai ''Zhou Enlai: A Political Life''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727215608/https://books.google.com/books?id=NztlWQeXf2IC&printsec=frontcover&dq=zhou+enlai&resnum=2&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAQ |date=27 July 2020}}. Hong Kong: Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. {{ISBN|9629962802}}. Retrieved on 12 March 2011. pp. 74–75</ref>

In 1939, the Muslim leaders [[Isa Yusuf Alptekin]] and Ma Fuliang were sent by Chiang to several Middle Eastern countries, including Egypt, Turkey, and Syria, to gain support for the war against Japan and to express his support for Muslims.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rsLQdBUgyMUC |title=Modern China's Ethnic Frontiers: A Journey to the West |author=Hsiao-ting Lin |author1-link=Lin Hsiao-ting |year=2010 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0415582643 |page=90 |access-date=28 June 2010 |archive-date=5 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205103201/https://books.google.com/books?id=rsLQdBUgyMUC |url-status=live}}</ref>

The Japanese, controlling the puppet state of [[Manchukuo]] and much of China's eastern seaboard, appointed Wang Jingwei as a puppet ruler of the occupied Chinese territories around Nanjing. Wang named himself President of the [[Executive Yuan]] and chairman, and he led a surprisingly large minority of anti-Chiang and anti-Communist Chinese against his old comrades. He died in 1944, a year before the end of World War II.

The Hui [[Xidaotang]] sect pledged allegiance to the Kuomintang after the party's rise to power, and Hui general [[Bai Chongxi]] acquainted Chiang with the Xidaotang Juaozhu Ma Mingren in 1941 in Chongqing.<ref>{{cite book |first=Jonathan |last=Neaman Lipman |title=Familiar strangers: a history of Muslims in Northwest China |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y8Nzux7z6KAC&pg=PA197 |date=1998 |publisher=University of Washington Press |isbn=978-0295800554 |pages=197– |access-date=31 December 2015 |archive-date=22 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160522075442/https://books.google.com/books?id=Y8Nzux7z6KAC&pg=PA197 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1942 Chiang went on tour in [[northwestern China]] in [[Xinjiang]], Gansu, [[Ningxia]], Shaanxi, and [[Qinghai]], where he met the Muslim Generals [[Ma Buqing]] and [[Ma Bufang]].<ref>{{cite news |title=China: He Who Has Reason |newspaper=Time |date=5 October 1942 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,773741,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101014143914/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,773741,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 October 2010 |access-date=11 April 2011}}</ref> He also met the Muslim Generals [[Ma Hongbin]] and [[Ma Hongkui]] separately.

[[File:Franklin D. Roosevelt, Chiang,Kai Shek, and Churchill in Cairo, Egypt - NARA - 196609.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|Chiang with Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in [[Cairo]], Egypt, in November 1943]]

A border crisis erupted with [[Tibet]] in 1942. Under orders from Chiang, Ma Bufang repaired Yushu Airport to prevent [[Tibetan independence movement|Tibetan separatists]] from seeking independence.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kFGhwZxeG5kC&q=ma+bufang+yushu+airport&pg=PA61 |title=Indo-Tibet-China Conflict |last=Lai |first=Dinesh |access-date=1 December 2018 |isbn=978-8178357140 |year=2008 |publisher=Gyan Publishing House |archive-date=3 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203232236/https://books.google.com/books?id=kFGhwZxeG5kC&q=ma+bufang+yushu+airport&pg=PA61 |url-status=live}}</ref> Chiang also ordered Ma Bufang to put his Muslim soldiers on alert for an invasion of Tibet in 1942.<ref>{{cite journal |title=War or Stratagem? Reassessing China's Military Advance towards Tibet, 1942–1943 |journal=The China Quarterly |volume=186 |pages=446–462 |last=Lin |first=Hsiao-ting |doi=10.1017/S0305741006000233 |year=2006 |s2cid=154376402}}</ref> Ma Bufang complied and moved several thousand troops to the Tibetan border.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4_BxAAAAMAAJ |title=China in the anti-Japanese War, 1937–1945: politics, culture and society |first1=David P. |last1=Barrett |first2=Lawrence N. |last2=Shyu |year=2001 |publisher=Peter Lang |page=98 |isbn=0820445568 |access-date=27 September 2016 |archive-date=27 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727205741/https://books.google.com/books?id=4_BxAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref> Chiang also threatened the Tibetans with aerial bombardment if they worked with the Japanese. Ma Bufang attacked the Tibetan Buddhist Tsang monastery in 1941.<ref name="The White Horse Press for the Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit at the University of Cambridge2002">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m1RuAAAAMAAJ |title=Inner Asia, Volume 4, Issues 1–2 |year=2002 |publisher=The White Horse Press for the Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit at the University of Cambridge |page=204 |access-date=28 June 2010 |archive-date=27 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427132150/https://books.google.com/books?id=m1RuAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref> He also constantly attacked the [[Labrang Monastery]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xGvECiS-uEgC&pg=PA35 |title=Labrang: a Tibetan Buddhist monastery at the crossroads of four civilizations |first=Paul Kocot |last=Nietupski |year=1999 |publisher=Snow Lion Publications |page=35 |isbn=1559390905 |access-date=27 September 2016 |archive-date=5 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205084013/https://books.google.com/books?id=xGvECiS-uEgC&pg=PA35 |url-status=live}}</ref>

After the attack on Pearl Harbor and the opening of the [[Pacific War]], China became one of the Allies. During and after World War II, Chiang and his American-educated wife, Soong Mei-ling, known in the United States as "Madame Chiang", held the support of the American [[China Lobby]], which saw in them the hope of a Christian and democratic China. Chiang was even named the Supreme Commander of Allied forces in the China war zone. He was appointed [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]] in 1942.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,777742,00.html?promoid=googlep |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426031043/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,777742,00.html?promoid=googlep |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 April 2011 |magazine=Time |title=Battle of Asia: Land of Three Rivers |date=4 May 1942 |access-date=28 April 2010}}</ref>

General [[Joseph Stilwell]], an American military advisor to Chiang during World War II, strongly criticized Chiang and his generals for what Stilwell saw as their incompetence and corruption.<ref>Romanus and Sunderland, Stilwell's Command Problem, p. 369.</ref> In 1944, the [[United States Army Air Corps]] commenced [[Operation Matterhorn]] to bomb Japan's steel industry from bases to be constructed in mainland China. That was meant to fulfill US President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s promise to Chiang to begin bombing operations against Japan by November 1944. However, Chiang's subordinates refused to take air base construction seriously until enough capital had been delivered to permit embezzlement on a massive scale. Stilwell estimated that at least half of the $100 million spent on construction of air bases was embezzled by Nationalist party officials.<ref>{{cite episode |title=True Airpower |series=Wings: Clash of Wings |network=[[Discovery Channel]] |number=11}}</ref>

The poor performance of Nationalist forces during the Japanese [[Ichigo campaign]] contributed to the view that Chiang was incompetent.<ref name="Coble2023" />{{Rp|page=3}} Their poor performance irreparably damaged Chiang and the Nationalists in the view of the Roosevelt administration.<ref name="Crean2024" />{{Rp|page=75}} Chiang argued that the United States, and Stillwell in particular, were at fault for the failure because they had moved too many Chinese troops into the [[Burma campaign]].<ref name="Coble2023" />{{Rp|page=3}}

After the Japanese surrender, Chiang had to rely on the assistance of the United States in order to transport his troops to regain control of occupied areas.<ref name="Coble2023" />{{Rp|page=3}} Non-Chinese found the behavior of these troops and accompanying officials as undercutting Nationalist legitimacy, as Nationalist forces engaged in a "botched liberation" characterized by corruption, looting, and inefficiency.<ref name="Coble2023" />{{Rp|page=3}}

Chiang tried to balance the influence of the Soviets and the Americans in China during the war. He first told the Americans that they would be welcome in talks between the Soviet Union and China and then secretly told the Soviets that the Americans were unimportant and that their opinions would not be considered. Chiang also used American support and military power in China against Soviet ambitions to dominate the talks. That stopped the Soviets from taking full advantage of the situation in China by the threat of American military action against them.{{sfn|Fenby|2005|p=256}}

Chiang's Nationalist government made laws on [[abortion in China]] more restrictive during the Second Sino-Japanese War.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rodriguez |first=Sarah Mellors |url= |title=Reproductive realities in modern China : birth control and abortion, 1911–2021 |date=2023 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1009027335 |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom |pages=42 |oclc=1366057905}}</ref>

=== French Indochina ===
President Roosevelt, through General Stilwell, privately made it clear that he preferred for the French not to reacquire [[French Indochina]] (now Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos) after the war was over. Roosevelt offered Chiang control of all of Indochina. It was said that Chiang replied in English, "Under no circumstances!"<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v5YlBtzklvQC&pg=PA235 |title=The march of folly: from Troy to Vietnam |first=Barbara |last=Wertheim Tuchman |year=1985 |publisher=Random House, Inc. |page=235 |isbn=0345308239 |access-date=28 November 2010 |archive-date=5 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151005135919/https://books.google.com/books?id=v5YlBtzklvQC&pg=PA235 |url-status=live}}</ref>

After the war, 200,000 Chinese troops under General [[Lu Han (general)|Lu Han]] were sent by Chiang to northern Indochina (north of the 16th parallel) to accept the surrender of Japanese occupying forces there, and the Chinese forces remained in Indochina until 1946, when the French returned.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/americaswarinvie0000addi |url-access=registration |title=America's war in Vietnam: a short narrative history |first=Larry H. |last=Addington |year=2000 |publisher=Indiana University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/americaswarinvie0000addi/page/30 30] |isbn=0-253213606 |access-date=28 November 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Hugh |last=Dyson Walker |title=East Asia: A New History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Z3a0NU4RHMC&pg=PA621 |date=2012 |publisher=AuthorHouse |isbn=978-1477265161 |pages=621– |access-date=2 June 2016 |archive-date=25 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225055810/https://books.google.com/books?id=3Z3a0NU4RHMC&pg=PA621 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Chinese used the [[VNQDD]], the Vietnamese branch of the Kuomintang, to increase their influence in Indochina and to put pressure on their opponents.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o1t8-EjWyrgC&pg=PA119 |title=Britain in Vietnam: prelude to disaster, 1945–6 |first=Peter |last=Neville |year=2007 |publisher=Psychology Press |page=119 |isbn=978-0415358484 |access-date=28 November 2010 |archive-date=16 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016203428/https://books.google.com/books?id=o1t8-EjWyrgC&pg=PA119 |url-status=live}}</ref> Chiang threatened the French with war in response to maneuvering by the French and [[Ho Chi Minh]]'s forces against each other and forced them to come to a peace agreement. In February 1946, he also forced the French to surrender all of their concessions in China and to renounce their extraterritorial privileges in exchange for the Chinese withdrawing from northern Indochina and allowing French troops to reoccupy the region. After France's agreement to those demands, 20,000 French soldiers landed in [[Haiphong]], North Vietnam, on 6 March 1946, under the leadership of general [[Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque]], followed by the withdrawal of Chinese troops which began in March 1946.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pVNaoUu7veUC&pg=PA21 |title=The tragedy of the Vietnam War: a South Vietnamese officer's analysis |first=Van Nguyen |last=Duong |year=2008 |publisher=McFarland |page=21 |isbn=978-0786432851 |access-date=28 November 2010 |archive-date=16 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016205125/https://books.google.com/books?id=pVNaoUu7veUC&pg=PA21 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1I4HOcmE4XQC&pg=PA41 |title=Vietnam 1946: how the war began |first=Stein |last=Tønnesson |year=2010 |publisher=University of California Press |page=41 |isbn=978-0520256026 |access-date=28 November 2010 |archive-date=20 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120013243/https://books.google.com/books?id=1I4HOcmE4XQC&pg=PA41 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yQGqQ3LmExwC&pg=PA63 |title=The Vietnam War as history: edited by Elizabeth Jane Errington and B.J.C. McKercher |first=Elizabeth Jane |last=Errington |year=1990 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |page=63 |isbn=0275935604 |access-date=28 November 2010 |archive-date=16 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016212721/https://books.google.com/books?id=yQGqQ3LmExwC&pg=PA63 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/index-1945.html |title=The Vietnam War Seeds of Conflict 1945–1960 |publisher=The History Place |year=1999 |access-date=28 December 2010 |archive-date=17 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217062228/http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/index-1945.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Ryukyus===
According to Republic of China's notes of a dinner meeting during the [[Cairo Conference]] in 1943, Roosevelt asked Chiang whether China desired the [[Ryukyu Islands]] as territories restored from Japan. Chiang said he would be agreeable to joint occupation and administration by China and the United States.<ref>''Foreign Relations of the United States: The Conferences at Cairo and Tehran, 1943'' [http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/FRUS/FRUS-idx?id=FRUS.FRUS1943CairoTehran p. 324] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428185724/https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/AFRUS |date=28 April 2021}} "Chinese Summary Record."</ref>

===Second phase of Chinese Civil War===
{{Main|Chinese Civil War|Chinese Communist Revolution}}

{{See also|Constitution of the Republic of China|1948 Chinese presidential election}}

====Treatment and use of Japanese soldiers====
[[File:Chiang Kai Shek and wife with Lieutenant General Stilwell.jpg|thumb|Chiang, Soong Mei-ling, and US Lieutenant General Joseph W. Stilwell in Burma, April 1942]]
Because of Chiang's focus on his communist opponents, he allowed some Japanese forces and forces from the Japanese puppet regimes to remain on duty in occupied areas in an effort to prevent the communists from accepting their surrender.<ref name="Coble2023" />{{Rp|page=3}}

American troops and weapons soon bolstered the Nationalist forces, which allowed them to reclaim the cities. The countryside, however, remained largely under Communist control. Chiang implemented his war-time phrase "repay evil with good" and made a huge effort to protect elements of the Japanese invading army.<ref name="Mitter2020">{{Cite book |last=Mitter |first=Rana |title=China's good war : how World War II is shaping a new nationalism |date=2020 |publisher=The Belknap Press of [[Harvard University Press]] |isbn=978-0674984264 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |pages=58 |oclc=1141442704 }}</ref> In 1949, a Nationalist court acquitted General [[Yasuji Okamura|Okamura Yasuji]], the chief commander of Japanese forces in China, of alleged war crimes,<ref name="Mitter2020" />  retaining him as an advisor.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Okamura Yasutsuga |url=http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/O/k/Okamura_Yasutsuga.htm |access-date=15 October 2022 |website=pwencycl.kgbudge.com |archive-date=1 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301205945/http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/O/k/Okamura_Yasutsuga.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> Nationalist China repeatedly intervened to protect Okamura from repeated American requests to testify at the [[Tokyo war crimes trial]].<ref name="Mitter2020" />

Many top Nationalist generals, including Chiang, had studied and trained in Japan before the Nationalists had returned to the mainland in the 1920s and maintained close personal friendships with top Japanese officers. The Japanese general in charge of all forces in China, General Okamura, had personally trained officers who later became generals in Chiang's staff. Reportedly, Chiang seriously considered accepting this offer but declined only because he knew that the United States would certainly be outraged by the gesture. Even so, armed Japanese troops remained in China well into 1947, with some non-commissioned officers finding their way into the Nationalist officer corps.{{sfn|Gillin|Etter|1983|pp=499–500}} The Japanese in China came to regard Chiang as a magnanimous figure to whom many of them owed their lives and livelihoods; that fact was attested by both Nationalist and Communist sources.{{sfn|Gillin|Etter|1983|p=505}}

==== Conditions during Chinese Civil War ====
[[File:Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong.jpg|thumb|Chiang (left) and Mao (right) in 1945]]
Chiang did not de-mobilize his troops after the defeat of the Japanese, instead remaining on a war footing to prepare for the resumption of civil war against the Communists.<ref name="Coble2023" />{{Rp|page=85}} This further strained the economy of Nationalist-era China, worsening deficits.<ref name="Coble2023" />{{Rp|pages=84–85}} A significant body of evidence suggests that much of the Nationalist military budget in this period was wasted.<ref name="Coble2023" />{{Rp|page=86}} One factor in military budget waste included that troop counts were inflated above actual head counts and that officers embezzled the salaries of the non-existent soldiers.<ref name="Coble2023" />{{Rp|page=86}} Another was the power of military commanders over local branches of the Bank of China, which they could require to provide currency outside of the normal budget process.<ref name="Coble2023" />{{Rp|pages=86–87}}

Although Chiang had achieved status abroad as a world leader, his government deteriorated as the result of corruption and hyperinflation. In his diary in June 1948, Chiang wrote that the KMT had failed not because of external enemies but because of rot from within.<ref>{{cite web |last=Bethell |first=Tom |year=2007 |title=Hoover Archives: Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for China |url=https://www.hoover.org/research/chiang-kai-shek-and-struggle-china |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070730081935/http://www.hoover.org/publications/digest/6731746.html |archive-date=30 July 2007 |access-date=7 November 2014 |website=hoover.org |publisher=The Hoover Institution}}</ref> The war had severely weakened the Nationalists, and the Communists were strengthened by their popular land reform policies<ref>Ray Huang, cong dalishi jiaodu du Jiang Jieshi riji (Reading Chiang Kai-shek's diary from a macro-history perspective), Chinatimes Publishing Press, Taipei, 1994, pp. 441–443</ref>{{sfn|Taylor|2009|pp=102–103}} and by a rural population that supported and trusted them. The Nationalists initially had superiority in arms and men, but their lack of popularity, infiltration by Communist agents, low morale, and disorganization soon allowed the Communists to gain the upper hand in the civil war.
[[File:Chiang Soong and two sons.jpg|thumb|A family photo of Chiang Kai-shek, Soong May-ling, Jin-guo and Wei-guo.]]
After World War II, the United States encouraged peace talks between Chiang and the Communist leader, Mao Zedong, in Chongqing. Concerns about widespread and well-documented corruption in Chiang's government throughout his rule made the US government limit aid to Chiang for much of the period of 1946 to 1948 despite the fighting against Mao's Red Army. Alleged infiltration of the US government by CCP agents may have also played a role in the suspension of American aid.<ref>Haynes, John Earl; Harvey Klehr, ''Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America'', New Haven: Yale University Press (2000), {{ISBN|0300084625}}, pp. 142–145</ref>

Chiang's right-hand man, the secret police chief [[Dai Li]], was anti-American and anti-Communist and a self-declared fascist.{{sfn|Fenby|2005|p=414}} Dai ordered Kuomintang agents to spy on American officers.{{sfn|Fenby|2005|p=413}} Earlier, Dai had been involved with the [[Blue Shirts Society]], a fascist-inspired paramilitary group within the Kuomintang that wanted to expel Western and Japanese imperialists, crush the Communists, and eliminate feudalism.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jYYYQYK6FAYC&pg=PA75 |title=Spymaster: Dai Li and the Chinese secret service |first=Frederic E. |last=Wakeman |year=2003 |publisher=University of California Press |page=75 |isbn=0520234073 |access-date=28 June 2010 |archive-date=5 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205143553/https://books.google.com/books?id=jYYYQYK6FAYC&pg=PA75 |url-status=live}}</ref> Dai Li died in a plane crash, which some suspect to be an assassination orchestrated by Chiang;{{sfn|Fenby|2005|p=460}} however, the assassination was also rumoured to have been arranged by the American [[Office of Strategic Services]] because of Dai's anti-Americanism and since it happened on an American plane.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.storm.mg/article/3609683 |title=俞劍鴻觀點: 戴笠的幾個可能性-風傳媒 |date=25 April 2021 |access-date=13 December 2021 |archive-date=5 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210905014904/https://www.storm.mg/article/3609683 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Conflict with Li Zongren ====
A [[Constitution of the Republic of China|new constitution]] was promulgated in 1947, and Chiang was elected by the [[National Assembly of the Republic of China|National Assembly]] as the first [[President of the Republic of China]] on 20 May 1948. That marked the beginning of what was termed the "democratic constitutional government" period by the KMT political orthodoxy, but the Communists refused to recognize the new Constitution, and its government as legitimate. Chiang resigned as president on 21 January 1949, as Nationalist forces suffered terrible losses and defections to the Communists. After Chiang's resignation, vice-president Li Zongren became China's acting president.<ref>{{cite book |script-title=zh:蔣中正日記與民國史研究 |trans-title=Chiang Kai-Shek's Diaries and the Study of Republican Chinese History |language=zh-tw |date=April 2011 |location=Taipei |volume=2 |editor=Fang-shang Lu {{lang|zh-tw|呂芳上}} |publisher=世界大同出版有限公司 |page=615 |quote={{lang|zh-tw|1949年1月21日, 蔣介石正式宣佈辭去中華民國總統職位, 由副總統李宗仁代行總統職權.}}}}</ref>

Shortly after Chiang's resignation, the Communists halted their advances and attempted to negotiate the Nationalists' virtual surrender. Li tried to negotiate milder terms to end the civil war but had no success. When it became clear that Li was unlikely to accept Mao's terms, the Communists issued an ultimatum in April 1949 that warned that they would resume their attacks if Li did not agree within five days. Li refused.<ref>[[Jonathan Spence|Spence, Jonathan D.]] ''[[The Search for Modern China]]'', [[W.W. Norton and Company]]. 1999. {{ISBN|0393973514}}. p. 486</ref>

Li's attempts to carry out his policies faced varying degrees of opposition from Chiang's supporters and were generally unsuccessful. Taylor has noted that Chiang had a superstitious belief in holding Manchuria. After the Nationalist military defeat in the province, Chiang lost faith in winning the war and started to prepare for the retreat to Taiwan. Chiang especially antagonized Li by taking possession of and moving to Taiwan US$200&nbsp;million of gold and US dollars that belonged to the central government. Li desperately needed them to cover the government's soaring expenses. When the Communists captured the Nationalist capital of Nanjing in April 1949, Li refused to accompany the central government as it fled to Guangdong and instead expressed his dissatisfaction with Chiang by retiring to Guangxi.{{sfn|Gillin|1967|p=289}}

[[File:Korea Dignitaries.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Chiang with South Korean President [[Syngman Rhee]] in 1949]]
The former warlord [[Yan Xishan]], who had fled to Nanjing only one month earlier, quickly insinuated himself within the Li-Chiang rivalry and attempted to have Li and Chiang reconcile their differences in the effort to resist the Communists. At Chiang's request, Yan visited Li to convince Li not to withdraw from public life. Yan broke down in tears while he talked of the loss of his home province of Shanxi to the Communists, and he warned Li that the Nationalist cause was doomed unless Li went to Guangdong. Li agreed to return if Chiang surrendered most of the gold and US dollars in his possession that belonged to the central government, and Chiang stopped overriding Li's authority. After Yan communicated those demands and Chiang agreed to comply with them, Li departed for Guangdong.{{sfn|Gillin|1967|p=289}}

In Guangdong, Li attempted to create a new government composed of both supporters and opponents of Chiang. Li's first choice of premier was Chu Cheng, a veteran member of the Kuomintang who had been virtually driven into exile for his strong opposition to Chiang. After the Legislative Yuan jas rejected Chu, Li was obliged to choose Yan Xishan instead. By then, Yan was well known for his adaptability, and Chiang welcomed his appointment.{{sfn|Gillin|1967|p=289}}

The conflict between Chiang and Li persisted. Although he had agreed to do so as a prerequisite of Li's return, Chiang refused to surrender more than a fraction of the wealth that he had sent to Taiwan. Without being backed by gold or foreign currency, the money that was issued by Li and Yan quickly declined in value until it became virtually worthless.{{sfn|Gillin|1967|p=290}} Although he did not hold a formal executive position in the government, Chiang continued to issue orders to the army, and many officers continued to obey Chiang, rather than Li. The inability of Li to co-ordinate KMT military forces led him to put into effect a plan of defense that he had contemplated in 1948. Instead of attempting to defend all of southern China, Li ordered what remained of the Nationalist armies to withdraw to Guangxi and Guangdong. He hoped that he could concentrate all available defenses on the smaller area, which would be more easily defensible. The object of Li's strategy was to maintain a foothold on the Chinese mainland in the hope that the United States would eventually be compelled to enter the war in China on the Nationalist side.{{sfn|Gillin|1967|p=290}}

==== Final Communist advance ====
[[File:Guèrra Civila Chinesa (1946-1950).png|thumb|Map of the [[Chinese Civil War]] (1946–1950)]]
Chiang opposed Li's plan of defense because it would have placed most of the troops who were still loyal to Chiang under the control of Li and Chiang's other opponents in the central government. To overcome Chiang's intransigence, Li began ousting Chiang's supporters within the central government. Yan Xishan continued in his attempts to work with both sides, which created the impression among Li's supporters that he was a stooge of Chiang, and those who supported Chiang began to bitterly resent Yan for his willingness to work with Li. Because of the rivalry between Chiang and Li, Chiang refused to allow Nationalist troops loyal to him to aid in the defense of Guangxi and Guangdong. That let Communist forces occupy Guangdong in October 1949.{{sfn|Gillin|1967|p=291}}

After Guangdong fell to the Communists, Chiang relocated the government to Chongqing, and Li effectively surrendered his powers and flew to New York for treatment of his chronic [[duodenum]] illness at the Hospital of [[Columbia University]]. Li visited President Truman, and denounced Chiang as a dictator and an usurper. Li vowed that he would "return to crush" Chiang once he returned to China. Li remained in exile and did not return to Taiwan.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070714040245/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,812143,00.html "China: Return of the Gimo"]. ''Time''. 13 March 1950. Retrieved 16 May 2011.</ref>

In the early morning of 10 December 1949, Communist troops laid siege to [[Chengdu]], the last KMT-controlled city in mainland China, where Chiang Kai-shek and his son [[Chiang Ching-kuo]] directed the defense at the Chengtu Central Military Academy. Flying out of [[Chengdu Fenghuangshan Airport]], father and son were evacuated to Taiwan via Guangdong on the aircraft ''May-ling'' and arrived the same day. Chiang Kai-shek would never return to the mainland.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://phtv.ifeng.com/program/tfzg/200901/0112_2950_964266.shtml |title=蒋介石逃往台湾时我军为何未打其座机?_卫视_凤凰网 |website=phtv.ifeng.com |access-date=9 October 2020 |archive-date=3 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203104415/http://phtv.ifeng.com/program/tfzg/200901/0112_2950_964266.shtml |url-status=live}}</ref>

Historian Odd Arne Westad says the Communists won the Civil War because they made fewer military mistakes than Chiang had. Also, his search for a powerful centralized government made Chiang antagonize too many interest groups in China. Furthermore, his party was weakened by the war against Japan. Meanwhile, the Communists told different groups, such as peasants, exactly what they wanted to hear and cloaked themselves in the cover of Chinese nationalism.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Westad |first=Odd Arne |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2U4ROBRYP5AC&pg=PA291 |title=Restless Empire: China and the World Since 1750 |date=2012 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-0465056675 |page=291 |access-date=8 February 2023 |archive-date=28 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528040555/https://books.google.com/books?id=2U4ROBRYP5AC&pg=PA291 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{Request quotation|date=October 2023}}

Chiang did not reassume the presidency until 1 March 1950. In January 1952, Chiang commanded the [[Control Yuan]], now in Taiwan, to impeach Li in the "Case of Li Zongren's Failure to carry out Duties due to Illegal Conduct" (李宗仁違法失職案). Chiang relieved Li of the position as vice-president of the National Assembly in March 1954.

===In Taiwan===
{{Main|Taiwan after World War II|Project National Glory}}

{{See also|Republic of China Armed Forces|White Terror (Taiwan)}}

==== Preparations to retake the mainland ====
Chiang moved the government to [[Taipei]], Taiwan, where he resumed his duties as president on 1 March 1950.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/5-gp/yearbook/2001/appendix1-1.htm#1950 |title=ROC Chronology: January 1911 – December 2000 |access-date=23 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101229224745/http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/5-gp/yearbook/2001/appendix1-1.htm#1950 |archive-date=29 December 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Chiang was re-elected by the [[National Assembly of the Republic of China|National Assembly]] to be the President of the Republic of China on 20 May 1954, and again in 1960, 1966, and 1972. He continued to claim sovereignty over all of China, including the territories held by his government and the People's Republic, as well as territory the latter ceded to foreign governments, such as [[Tuva]] and [[Outer Mongolia]]. In the context of the [[Cold War]], most of the Western world recognized that position, and the ROC represented China in the United Nations and other international organizations until the 1970s.

[[File:蔣介石 岸信介 宋美齡.jpg|thumb|Chiang with Japanese politician [[Nobusuke Kishi]], in 1957]]
During his presidency on Taiwan, Chiang continued making preparations to take back mainland China. He developed the JROTC army to prepare for an invasion of the mainland and to defend Taiwan in case of an attack by the Communist forces. He also financed armed groups in mainland China, such as Muslim soldiers of the ROC Army who had been left in Yunnan under [[Li Mi (ROC general)|Li Mi]] and continued to fight. It was not until the 1980s that those troops were finally airlifted to Taiwan.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/5-gp/yearbook/2002/chpt25-7.htm |title=Muslims in Taiwan |publisher=Government Information Office (ROC) |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070113214755/http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/5-gp/yearbook/2002/chpt25-7.htm |archive-date=13 January 2007}}</ref> He promoted the Uyghur [[Yulbars Khan]] to governor during the [[Kuomintang Islamic Insurgency in China (1950–1958)|Islamic insurgency on the mainland]] for resisting the Communists even though the government had already evacuated to Taiwan.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IAs9AAAAIAAJ&q=yulbars%20calcutta%20%20taiwan |title=Warlords and Muslims in Chinese Central Asia: a political history of Republican Sinkiang 1911–1949 |first=Andrew D. W. |last=Forbes |year=1986 |publisher=CUP Archive |location=Cambridge, England |isbn=0521255147 |page=225 |access-date=28 June 2010 |archive-date=6 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210206125753/https://books.google.com/books?id=IAs9AAAAIAAJ&q=yulbars%20calcutta%20%20taiwan |url-status=live}}</ref> He planned an [[Project National Glory|invasion of the mainland]] in 1962.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=70NxlYekQIgC&pg=PA118 |title=Who influenced whom?: lessons from the Cold War |first=Dale C. |last=Tatum |year=2002 |publisher=University Press of America |isbn=0761824448 |page=118 |access-date=28 June 2010 |archive-date=27 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727205031/https://books.google.com/books?id=70NxlYekQIgC&pg=PA118 |url-status=live}}</ref> In the 1950s, Chiang's airplanes dropped supplies to Kuomintang Muslim insurgents in Qinghai, in the traditional Tibetan area of [[Amdo]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZNCghCIbyVAC&pg=PA169 |title=The Sino-American alliance: Nationalist China and American Cold War strategy in Asia |first=John W. |last=Garver |year=1997 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |isbn=0765600250 |page=169 |access-date=28 June 2010 |archive-date=27 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727215504/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZNCghCIbyVAC&pg=PA169 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Regime in Taiwan ====
Despite an ostensibly democratic constitution, the government under Chiang was a de facto one-party state, consisting almost completely of [[waishengren|mainlanders]]; the "[[Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion]]" greatly enhanced the executive's powers, and the goal of [[Project National Glory|retaking mainland China]] allowed the KMT to maintain a monopoly on power and to prohibit real parliamentary opposition. The government's official line for the martial law provisions stemmed from the claim that emergency provisions were necessary since the Communists and the Nationalists were still in a state of war. Seeking to promote Chinese nationalism, Chiang's government actively ignored and suppressed local cultural expression and even forbade the use of local languages in mass media broadcasts or during class sessions. As a result of Taiwan's anti-government uprising in 1947, known as the [[February 28 incident]], the KMT-led political repression resulted in the death or the disappearance of up to 30,000 Taiwanese intellectuals, activists, and people suspected of opposition to the KMT.<ref>[http://englishnews.ftv.com.tw/read.aspx?sno=5B33122680FD5E65A32B8E335FE5727A "Ceremonies held to commemorate 228 Incident victims (2014/02/28)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141211124818/http://englishnews.ftv.com.tw/read.aspx?sno=5B33122680FD5E65A32B8E335FE5727A |date=11 December 2014 }}. ''englishnews.ftv.com.tw''.</ref>

In the aftermath of the retreat to Taiwan, Chiang became increasingly disillusioned with the Kuomintang (KMT), believing that rampant corruption, power-brokering, and factional struggles—particularly the [[CC Clique]], which challenged Chiang's authority—had severely undermined the party's ability to govern effectively. At one point, he considered dissolving the KMT altogether and replacing it with a new party.<ref>{{cite book |last=黄嘉树 |title=国民党在台湾 |publisher=南海出版公司 |year=1991 |pages=130 |language=zh-hant |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CS81AAAAMAAJ}}</ref> However, in 1950, he ultimately chose to initiate a major reform effort within the KMT, launching the [[Party Reform Program]] (國民黨改造方案) and establishing the Central Reform Committee (中央改造委員會).<ref name="從經濟發展到民主: 現代亞洲轉型之路的不同面貌">{{cite book |last1=Slater |first1=Dan |last2=Wong |first2=Joseph |title=從經濟發展到民主: 現代亞洲轉型之路的不同面貌 |publisher=春山出版有限公司 |year=2024 |isbn=9786267478080 |pages=141–143 |language=zh-hant}}</ref><ref name="Kuo 2015 54–56">{{cite book |last=Kuo |first=Tai-Chün |title=台灣經濟轉型的故事: 從計劃經濟到市場經濟 |publisher=聯經出版事業股份有限公司 |year=2015 |isbn=9789570845655 |pages=54–56 |language=zh-hant |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rwfoCQAAQBAJ&q=cc%E7%B3%BB+%E8%87%AA%E7%94%B1%E5%B8%82%E5%A0%B4}}</ref><ref name="茅家琦-1988">{{cite book |last=茅家琦 |title=台湾30年 1949-1979 |publisher=[[Henan People's Press]] |year=1988 |pages=15 |isbn=978-7-215-00066-7 |language=zh-hant |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gXnTAAAAMAAJ}}</ref>

The committee aimed to emulate aspects of the Chinese Communist Party's organizational structure, seeking to create a highly disciplined, centralized, and people-supporting party apparatus that could exert top-down authoritarian control while incorporating grassroots feedback. The reform plan called for rapid party expansion, increasing membership from 80,000 to 500,000 within five years, and implementing KMT branches within public institutions such as schools. Additionally, Chiang sought to root out corrupt officials and establish a meritocratic system, mandating that government positions be filled primarily by technocrats selected from top universities.<ref name="從經濟發展到民主: 現代亞洲轉型之路的不同面貌"/><ref name="Kuo 2015 54–56"/><ref name="茅家琦-1988"/>

The first decades after the Nationalists had moved the seat of government to the province of Taiwan are associated with the organized effort to resist Communism, which was known as the [[White Terror (Taiwan)|"White Terror"]]; about 140,000 Taiwanese were imprisoned for their real or perceived opposition to the Kuomintang.<ref name=TaipeiTimes20050520>{{Cite news
  | last=Huang
  | first=Tai-lin
  | title=White Terror exhibit unveils part of the truth
  | page=2
  | newspaper=[[Taipei Times]]
  | date=20 May 2005
| url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2005/05/20/2003255840
  | access-date=8 January 2019
| archive-date=20 December 2019
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220145619/http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2005/05/20/2003255840
  | url-status=live
  }}</ref> Most of those prosecuted were labeled by the Kuomintang as "bandit spies" (匪諜), meaning spies for Chinese Communists, and punished as such or [[Taiwan independence movement|"Taiwanese Separatists"]] (台獨分子).<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.chinatimes.com/hottopic/20200313004406-260812?chdtv| title=肅殺的白色恐怖!寧可錯殺一千也不放過一人 – 歷史| date=13 March 2020| access-date=19 February 2023| archive-date=19 February 2023| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230219105117/https://www.chinatimes.com/hottopic/20200313004406-260812?chdtv| url-status=live}}</ref>

Under the pretext that new elections could not be held in Communist-occupied constituencies, the [[Eternal Parliament|National Assembly, Legislative Yuan, and Control Yuan members]] held their posts indefinitely. The Temporary Provisions also allowed Chiang to remain as president beyond the two-term limit in the Constitution. He was re-elected by the National Assembly as president four times: in 1954, 1960, 1966, and 1972.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan) |date=1 February 1972 |title=Mandate to the National Assembly |url=https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=4&post=5701 |access-date=10 May 2022 |website=Taiwan Today |language=en |archive-date=10 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510133425/https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=4&post=5701 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:DoubleTenDayParadeOctober101966.jpg|thumb|Chiang presiding over the 1966 [[Double Ten Day|Double Ten celebrations]]]]
Believing that corruption and the lack of morals were key reasons that the KMT had lost mainland China to the Communists, Chiang attempted to purge corruption by dismissing members of the KMT who were accused of graft. Some major figures in the previous mainland Chinese government, such as Chiang's brothers-in-law [[H. H. Kung]], T. V. Soong and nephew [[Chen Lifu]], exiled themselves to the United States. Although politically authoritarian and, to some extent, dominated by government-owned industries, Chiang's new Taiwanese state also encouraged economic development, especially in the export sector. A popular sweeping [[Land Reform in Taiwan|Land Reform Act]], as well as American foreign aid during the 1950s, laid the foundation for Taiwan's economic success to become one of the [[Four Asian Tigers]]. After retreating to Taiwan, Chiang learned from his mistakes and failures in the mainland and blamed them for failing to pursue Sun Yat-sen's ideals of Tridemism and welfarism. Chiang's land reform more than doubled the land ownership of Taiwanese farmers. It removed the rent burdens on them, with former landowners using the government compensation to become the new capitalist class. He promoted a mixed economy of state and private ownership with economic planning. Chiang also promoted a nine-year free education and the importance of science in Taiwanese education and values. Those measures generated great success, with consistent and strong growth and the stabilization of inflation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=台灣時期蔣介石的思想變化 及其「革新」實踐 |url=https://www.cuhk.edu.hk/ics/21c/media/articles/c162-201706021.pdf |access-date=3 November 2022 |website=The Chinese University of Hong Kong |language=zh |archive-date=11 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221011173136/https://www.cuhk.edu.hk/ics/21c/media/articles/c162-201706021.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

After the government of the Republic of China had moved to Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek's economic policy turned towards to economic liberalism and used [[Sho-Chieh Tsiang]] and other liberal economists to promote economic liberalization reforms in Taiwan.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rwfoCQAAQBAJ&q=%E8%87%BA%E7%81%A3%E7%B6%93%E6%BF%9F%E6%94%B9%E9%9D%A9|title=台灣經濟轉型的故事: 從計劃經濟到市場經濟|date=2015|publisher=聯經文庫|isbn=978-9570845655|access-date=20 February 2023|archive-date=4 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604090917/https://books.google.com/books?id=rwfoCQAAQBAJ&q=%E8%87%BA%E7%81%A3%E7%B6%93%E6%BF%9F%E6%94%B9%E9%9D%A9|url-status=live}}</ref>

However, Taylor has noted that the developmental model of Chiangism in Taiwan still had elements of socialism, and the [[Gini index]] of Taiwan was around 0.28 by the 1970s, which was lower than the relatively-egalitarian West Germany. ROC (Taiwan) was one of the most equal countries in the pro-western bloc. Those in the lower 40% of income doubled their share to 22% of the total income, with the upper 20% shrinking their share from 61% to 39%, from the time of Japanese rule.{{sfn|Taylor|2009|pp=102–103}} The [[Chiangism|Chiangist]] economic model can be seen as a form of [[dirigisme]], with the [[economic interventionism|state playing a crucial role]] in directing the market economy. Small businesses and state-owned enterprises in Taiwan flourished under the economic model, but the economy did not see the emergence of corporate monopolies, unlike in most other major capitalist countries.

After the democratization of Taiwan, it began to slowly drift away from the Chiangist economic policy to embrace a more free market system, as part of the [[economic globalization]] process under the context of [[neoliberalism]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ghk.nctu.edu.tw/word/3-2-1%E9%BB%83%E6%87%89%E8%B2%B40.pdf |title=新自由主義浪潮下臺灣的困境 |language=zh-hant |website=GHK.NCTU.edu.TW |access-date=20 February 2023 |archive-date=21 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180421000401/http://ghk.nctu.edu.tw/word/3-2-1%E9%BB%83%E6%87%89%E8%B2%B40.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Chiang had the personal power to review the rulings of all military tribunals, which during the martial law period tried civilians as well. In 1950, Lin Pang-chun and two other men were arrested on charges of financial crimes and sentenced to 3–10 years in prison. Chiang reviewed the sentences of all three and ordered them executed instead. In 1954, the Changhua monk Kao Chih-te and two others were sentenced to 12 years in prison for providing aid to accused communists. Chiang sentenced them to death after he had reviewed the case. That control over the decision of military tribunals violated the ROC constitution.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Yu-fu |first1=Chen |last2=Hetherington |first2=William |title=Martial Law court-martials suppressed people, report says |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2020/08/18/2003741882 |website=Taipei Times |date=18 August 2020 |access-date=18 August 2020 |archive-date=29 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129051503/https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2020/08/18/2003741882 |url-status=live }}</ref>

After Chiang's death, the next president, his son, Chiang Ching-kuo, and Chiang Ching-kuo's successor, [[Lee Teng-hui]], a [[Taiwanese indigenous peoples|native Taiwanese]], would in the 1980s and 1990s increase native Taiwanese representation in the government and loosen the many authoritarian controls of the early era of ROC control in Taiwan, paving way for the democratization process.<ref>{{cite thesis|url=https://nccur.lib.nccu.edu.tw/handle/140.119/34380/|title=台灣國家認同變遷下的兩岸關係|author=劉文斌|date=2003|institution=國立政治大學|degree=Ph.D}}</ref>

====Relations with Japan====
In 1971, the former Australian opposition leader [[Gough Whitlam]] (who became Prime Minister in 1972, and [[Whitlam Government#Duumvirate|swiftly relocated the Australian mission from Taipei to Beijing]]) visited Japan. After meeting with Japanese Prime Minister [[Eisaku Sato]] Whitlam observed that the reason that Japan was hesitant to withdraw recognition from the Nationalist government was "the presence of a treaty between the Japanese government and that of Chiang Kai-shek." Sato explained that the continued recognition of Japan towards the Nationalist government was largely because of the personal relationship that various members of the Japanese government felt towards Chiang. This relationship was rooted largely in the generous and lenient treatment of [[Japanese prisoners of war in World War II|Japanese prisoners-of-war]] by the Nationalist government in the years immediately after the Japanese surrender in 1945, and was felt especially strongly as a bond of personal obligation by the most senior members who were in power.{{sfn|Gillin|Etter|1983|p=516}}

Although Japan recognized the People's Republic in 1972, shortly after [[Kakuei Tanaka]] had succeeded Sato as Prime Minister of Japan, the memory of the relationship was strong enough to be reported by ''The New York Times'' (15 April 1978) as a significant factor inhibiting trade between Japan and the mainland. There is speculation that a clash between Communist forces and a Japanese warship in 1978 was caused by Chinese anger by Japanese Prime Minister [[Takeo Fukuda]] attending Chiang's funeral. Historically, Japan's attempts to normalize its [[China–Japan relations|relationship with the People's Republic]] were met with accusations of ingratitude in Taiwan.{{sfn|Gillin|Etter|1983|p=516}}

====Relations with United States====
[[File:Ike cks.JPG|upright=1.15|right|thumb|Chiang with US President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] in June 1960]]
Chiang was suspicious that [[Central Intelligence Agency Directorate of Operations|covert operatives of the United States]] were plotting a [[coup]] against him.

In 1950, Chiang Ching-kuo became head of Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, which he remained until 1965. Chiang Kai-shek was also suspicious of politicians who were overly friendly to the United States and considered them on the look out leaking confidential news Wu Kuo-chen was not in favor of a Soviet style snooping agency.
After moved to United States the same year, Wu became a vocal critic of Chiang's family and government watch dog with US supported funds.<ref name="Moody1977">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AW9yrtekFRkC&pg=PA302 |title=Opposition and dissent in contemporary China |first=Peter R. |last=Moody |year=1977 |publisher=Hoover Press |page=302 |isbn=0817967710 |access-date=30 November 2010 |archive-date=5 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205143937/https://books.google.com/books?id=AW9yrtekFRkC&pg=PA302 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Chiang Ching-kuo, who had been educated in the Soviet Union, initiated [[Soviet military academies|Soviet-style military organization]] in the [[Republic of China Armed Forces]]. He reorganized and Sovietized the [[political officer (military)|political officer corps]] and propagated [[socialist ideology of the Kuomintang|Kuomintang ideology]] throughout the military. [[Sun Li-jen]], who had been educated at the American [[Virginia Military Institute]], opposed those practices.{{sfn|Taylor|2000|p=195}}

Chiang Ching-kuo orchestrated the controversial court-martial and arrest of General [[Sun Li-jen]] in August 1955 for plotting a coup d'état with the CIA against his father, Chiang Kai-shek, and the Kuomintang. The CIA allegedly wanted to help Sun take control of Taiwan and declare its independence.<ref name="Moody1977"/><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YoB35f6HD9gC&pg=PA181 |title=Patterns in the dust: Chinese-American relations and the recognition controversy, 1949–1950 |first=Nancy Bernkopf |last=Tucker |author-link=Nancy Bernkopf Tucker |year=1983 |publisher=Columbia University Press |page=181 |isbn=0231053622 |access-date=28 June 2010 |archive-date=8 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200608103031/https://books.google.com/books?id=YoB35f6HD9gC&pg=PA181 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Death==
[[File:Chiang Kai-shek memorial amk.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|The [[Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall]] is a famous monument, landmark, and tourist attraction in Taipei, Taiwan.]]
{{Wikisource|Translation:Will of Chiang Kai-shek}}
{{Main|Death and state funeral of Chiang Kai-shek}}

In 1975, 26 years after Chiang had come to Taiwan, he died in Taipei at the age of 87. His wife and his eldest son, Premier Chiang Ching‐kuo, were at his bedside.<ref name="nytcks">{{cite news |date=6 April 1975 |title=Chiang Kai-shek Is Dead in Taipei at 87; Last of Allied Big Four of World War II |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |location=Taipei |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/04/06/archives/chiang-kaishek-is-dead-in-taipei-at-87-last-of-allied-big-four-of.html |url-status=live |access-date=29 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929081811/https://www.nytimes.com/1975/04/06/archives/chiang-kaishek-is-dead-in-taipei-at-87-last-of-allied-big-four-of.html |archive-date=29 September 2019}}</ref> He had suffered a heart attack and pneumonia in the foregoing months, and died from kidney failure aggravated by advanced heart failure on 5 April. Chiang's funeral was held on 16 April.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://reuters.screenocean.com/record/2311|title=Taiwan: Funeral Of Chiang Kai-Shek|access-date=20 June 2020|archive-date=21 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200621191958/https://reuters.screenocean.com/record/2311|url-status=live}}</ref>

A month of mourning was declared. The response by Japanese media was swift and shaped by a respect for Chiang, who had been trained in Japanese military schools and shared a particular fondness for the Japanese Empire.<ref>Hoppens R. (ed.). 17 November 2021. [https://taiwaninsight.org/2021/11/17/remembering-chiang-kai-shek-in-japanese-media/ "Remembering Chiang Kai-Shek in Japanese Media"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415195013/https://taiwaninsight.org/2021/11/17/remembering-chiang-kai-shek-in-japanese-media/ |date=15 April 2023 }} University of Nottingham. Taiwan Studies Programme. ''taiwaninsight.org.'' Accessed 15 April 2023.</ref> The Chinese music composer [[Hwang Yau-tai]] wrote the "[[Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Song]]". In mainland China, however, Chiang's death was met with little apparent mourning, and Communist state-run newspapers gave the brief headline "Chiang Kai-shek Has Died". Chiang's body was put in a copper coffin and temporarily interred at his favorite residence in [[Cihu Mausoleum|Cihu]], [[Daxi District|Daxi]], [[Taoyuan City|Taoyuan]]. His funeral was attended by dignitaries from many nations, including US Vice President [[Nelson Rockefeller]], South Korean Prime Minister [[Kim Jong-pil]], and two former Japanese prime ministers: [[Nobusuke Kishi]] and [[Eisaku Sato]]. {{ill|Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Day|zh|先總統蔣公逝世紀念日}} was established on 5 April. The memorial day was disestablished in 2007.

When his son, Chiang Ching-kuo, died in 1988, he was entombed in a separate mausoleum in nearby [[Touliao Mausoleum|Touliao]]. The hope was to have both of them buried at their birthplace in Fenghua when that would be possible. In 2004, [[Chiang Fang-liang]], the widow of Chiang Ching-kuo, asked for both father and son to be buried at [[Wuzhi Mountain Military Cemetery]] in [[Xizhi]], [[Taipei County]] (now New Taipei City). Chiang's ultimate funeral ceremony became a political battle between the wishes of the state and those of his family.

Chiang was succeeded as president by Vice President [[Yen Chia-kan]] and as Kuomintang party ruler by his son Chiang Ching-kuo, who retired Chiang Kai-shek's title of Director-General and instead assumed the position of chairman. Yen's presidency was interim; Chiang Ching-kuo, who was the Premier, became president after the end of Yen's term three years later.

== Cult of personality ==
[[File:ZongTongWanSui.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|[[Propaganda in the Republic of China|Chinese propaganda poster]] proclaiming "Long Live the President"]]

Chiang's portrait hung over [[Tiananmen Square]] until 1949, when it was displaced with Mao's portrait.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.febeyer.com/2022/01/12/chiang-kai-shek-on-the-forbidden-city/ |title=Chiang Kai-shek on the Forbidden City - F.E. Beyer |date=11 January 2022 |access-date=14 April 2023 |archive-date=14 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414002103/https://www.febeyer.com/2022/01/12/chiang-kai-shek-on-the-forbidden-city/ |url-status=live}}</ref> His portrait is still displayed in Tiananmen Square, SE of the Monument to the People's Heroes. Portraits of Chiang were common in private homes and in public on the streets.{{sfn|Fenby|2005|p=337}}{{sfn|Pakula|2009|page = [https://archive.org/details/lastempressmadam00paku_0/page/531 531]}}<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FRY0v7AH2ngC&pg=PA448 |title=Madame Chiang Kai-shek: China's Eternal First Lady |first=Laura |last=Tyson Li |year=2007 |publisher=Grove Press |page=448 |isbn=978-0-8021-4322-8 |access-date=28 June 2010 |archive-date=27 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727212728/https://books.google.com/books?id=FRY0v7AH2ngC&pg=PA448 |url-status=live}}</ref> After his death, the [[Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Song]] was written in 1988 to commemorate Chiang Kai-shek. In Cihu, there are several [[Chiang Kai-shek statues|statues of Chiang Kai-shek]].

Chiang was popular among many people and dressed in plain, simple clothes, unlike contemporary Chinese warlords who dressed extravagantly.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.80750 |title=The life of Chiang Kai-shek |first=Shih-i |last=Hsiung |year=1948 |publisher=Peter Davies |page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.80750/page/n289 256] |access-date=28 June 2010}}</ref>

Quotes from the Quran and hadith were used by Muslims in the Kuomintang-controlled Muslim publication, the ''Yuehua'', to justify Chiang Kai-shek's rule over China.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MJzB6wrz6Q4C&pg=PA135 |title=Intellectuals in the modern Islamic world: transmission, transformation, communication |first1=Stéphane A. |last1=Dudoignon |first2=Hisao |last2=Komatsu |first3=Yasushi |last3=Kosugi |year=2006 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |page=134 |isbn=0-415-36835-9 |access-date=28 June 2010 |archive-date=5 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205081618/https://books.google.com/books?id=MJzB6wrz6Q4C&pg=PA135 |url-status=live}}</ref> When the Muslim general and warlord [[Ma Lin (warlord)|Ma Lin]] was interviewed, he was described as having "high admiration for and unwavering loyalty to Chiang Kai-shek".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gIBCAAAAYAAJ |title=The Moslem World, Volumes 31–34 |year=1941 |publisher=Hartford Seminary Foundation |page=183 |access-date=8 May 2011 |archive-date=27 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727210636/https://books.google.com/books?id=gIBCAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Philosophy ==
{{Main|Chiangism}}

{{Conservatism in China|Politicians}}
[[File:INF3-331 Unity of Strength Chiang-Kai-Shek and Winston Churchill heads, with Nationalist China flag and Union Jack.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|Chiang Kai-shek and Winston Churchill heads with Nationalist China flag and Union Jack]]
The Kuomintang used traditional Chinese religious ceremonies, and promulgated martyrdom. Kuomintang ideology subserved and promulgated the view that the souls of Party martyrs who died fighting for the Kuomintang, the revolution, and the party founder Sun Yat-sen were sent to heaven. Chiang Kai-shek believed that these martyrs witnessed events on Earth from heaven after their deaths.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/chiangkaisheksse00chen |url-access=registration |title=Chiang Kai-shek's secret past: the memoir of his second wife, Chʻen Chieh-ju |first1=Jieru |last1=Chen |first2=Lloyd E. |last2=Eastman |year=1993 |publisher=Westview Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/chiangkaisheksse00chen/page/236 236] |isbn=0-8133-1825-4 |access-date=28 June 2010}}</ref>{{sfn|Van de Ven|2003|p=100}}<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LSS4AAAAIAAJ |title=The first Chinese democracy: political life in the Republic of China on Taiwan |first1=Linda |last1=Chao |first2=Ramon H. |last2=Myers |year=1998 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |page=45 |isbn=0-8018-5650-7 |access-date=28 June 2010 |archive-date=5 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205043822/https://books.google.com/books?id=LSS4AAAAIAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TVNwAAAAMAAJ |title=President Chiang Kai-shek's selected speeches and messages, 1937–1945 |first=Kai-shek |last=Chiang |publisher=China Cultural Service |page=137 |oclc=3376275 |access-date=28 June 2010 |date=1946 <!--1946?--> |archive-date=5 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205084741/https://books.google.com/books?id=TVNwAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Unlike Sun's original [[Tridemist]] ideology that was heavily influenced by Western enlightenment theorists such as [[Henry George]], Abraham Lincoln, [[Bertrand Russell]], and [[John Stuart Mill]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://chinese.larouchepub.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/San-Min-Chu-I_ALL-en.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181123082621/http://chinese.larouchepub.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/San-Min-Chu-I_ALL-en.pdf |archive-date=23 November 2018 |url-status=live |title=Microsoft Word - San-Min-Chu-I_FINAL.rtf |website=Chinese.larouchepub.com |access-date=23 July 2022}}</ref> the traditional Chinese Confucian influence on Chiang's ideology is much stronger. Chiang rejected the Western progressive ideologies of individualism, liberalism, and the cultural aspects of Marxism. Therefore, Chiang is generally more culturally and socially conservative than Sun Yat-sen. Jay Taylor has described Chiang Kai-shek as a revolutionary nationalist and a "left-leaning Confucian-Jacobinist".

When the Northern Expedition was complete, Kuomintang Generals led by Chiang Kai-shek paid tribute to Sun's soul in heaven with a sacrificial ceremony at the Xiangshan Temple in Beijing in July 1928. Among the Kuomintang Generals present were the Muslim Generals Bai Chongxi and Ma Fuxiang.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.ubcpress.ca/books/pdf/chapters/2006/tibetandnationalistchina'sfrontier.pdf |title=Tibet and Nationalist China's frontier: intrigues and ethnopolitics, 1928–49 |first=Hsiao-ting |last=Lin |year=2006 |publisher=UBC Press |page=29 |isbn=0-7748-1301-6 |access-date=28 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513045337/http://www.ubcpress.ca/books/pdf/chapters/2006/tibetandnationalistchina'sfrontier.pdf |archive-date=13 May 2011}}</ref>

Chiang Kai-shek considered both Han Chinese and all ethnic minorities of China, the [[Five Races Under One Union]], as descendants of the [[Yellow Emperor]], the mythical founder of the Chinese nation, and belonging to the Chinese Nation [[Zhonghua Minzu]]. He introduced this into Kuomintang ideology which was propagated into the educational system of the Republic of China.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YujNjFgTuGMC&pg=PA416 |title=The Other Taiwan: 1945 to the present |first=Murray A. |last=Rubinstein |year=1994 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |page=416 |isbn=1-56324-193-5 |access-date=28 June 2010 |archive-date=5 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205041927/https://books.google.com/books?id=YujNjFgTuGMC&pg=PA416 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&pg=PA208 |title=Eurasian crossroads: a history of Xinjiang |first=James A. |last=Millward |year=2007 |publisher=Columbia University Press |page=208 |isbn=978-0-231-13924-3 |access-date=28 June 2010 |archive-date=9 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109033724/https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&pg=PA208 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/fareasthistoryof0000clyd |url-access=registration |title=The Far East: a history of the Western impact and the Eastern response (1830–1970) |first1=Paul Hibbert |last1=Clyde |first2=Burton F. |last2=Beers |year=1971 |publisher=Prentice-Hall |page=[https://archive.org/details/fareasthistoryof0000clyd/page/409 409] |isbn=9780133029765 |access-date=28 June 2010}}</ref>

Chiang, as a Chinese nationalist and a Confucian, was against the iconoclasm of the [[May Fourth Movement]]. Motivated by his sense of nationalism, he viewed some Western ideas as foreign and believed that the great introduction of Western ideas and literature, which the May Fourth Movement promoted, was not beneficial to China. He and Sun criticized the May Fourth intellectuals as corrupting the morals of China's youth.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chen |first=Joseph T. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dc4UAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA13 |title=The May Fourth Movement in Shanghai: The Making of a Social Movement in Modern China |publisher=Brill Archive |year=1971 |page=13 |access-date=28 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205081556/https://books.google.com/books?id=Dc4UAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA13 |archive-date=5 February 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Chiang Kai-shek once said:
{{blockquote|If when I die, I am still a dictator, I will certainly go down into the oblivion of all dictators. If, on the other hand, I succeed in establishing a truly stable foundation for a democratic government, I will live forever in every home in China.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J3BpDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA177 |title=Taiwan's Modernization: Americanization and Modernizing Confucian Manifestations |first=Wei-Bin |last=Zhang |year=2003 |publisher=World Scientific, 2003 |page=177 |isbn=9814486132 |access-date=23 May 2021 |archive-date=23 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210523174431/https://books.google.com/books?id=J3BpDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA177 |url-status=live}}</ref>}}

== Historical perception ==
[[File:Chiang Kai-shek, Yangmingshan 02.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Statue of Chiang Kai-shek in [[Yangmingshan National Park]], Taiwan]]

For some, Chiang's legacy was as a national hero who achieved [[Chinese reunification (1928)|unification]] as leader of the Northern Expedition and as the leader against Japan's invasion, and for enduring without major aid, as Chiang called on his countrymen to fight to the "bitter end" until their ultimate victory against Japan in 1945.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bernstein |first1=Richard |title=China 1945: Mao's revolution and America's fateful choice |date=2014 |location=New York |isbn=978-0307595881 |pages=30–33 |edition=First}}</ref> He was also champion of anti-communism during the formative years of the [[World Anti-Communist League]]. During the subsequent Cold War, he was seen as the leader who led [[Free area of the Republic of China|Free China]] and the bulwark against a possible communist invasion.

Others see him in a darker light. Chiang was often perceived as "the man who lost China", criticized for his poor military skills, such as issuing unrealistic orders and persistently attempting to fight unwinnable battles, leading to the loss of his best troops.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fenby |first=Jonathan |title=History of Modern China |page = 279}}</ref> The historian [[Rudolph Rummel]] documented that Chiang's decisions led to millions of excess deaths from calamities such as persecution against actual or perceived communists and its conscription of soldiers, confiscation of food, and [[1938 Yellow River flood|flooding]] of downstream regions of the Yellow River during the Second Sino-Japanese War.<ref name=Rummel>{{cite web|last1=R.J.Rummel|title=China's Bloody Century|url=https://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/CHINA.CHAP1.HTM|access-date=4 June 2017|archive-date=7 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807023112/https://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/CHINA.CHAP1.HTM|url-status=live}}</ref> His government was also accused of being corrupt and allying with known criminals such as [[Du Yuesheng]] for political and financial gains, and his critics often accuse him of fascism.<ref name="Fitzgerald1964"/> In Taiwan, he ruled throughout [[martial law in Taiwan|a period of martial law]]. Some opponents charge that Chiang's efforts in developing the island were mostly to turn it into a strong base from which to recover mainland China and that he had little regard for the Taiwanese people.{{fact|date=May 2026}}

Unlike Chiang's son Chiang Ching-kuo, who is respected across the political spectrum, Chiang Kai-shek's image is perceived rather negatively in Taiwan. He was rated the lowest in two opinion polls about the perception of former presidents.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.storm.mg/article/1871975 | title=《遠見民調》「哪位總統對台灣貢獻最大」 他遙遙領先、第二名看不到車尾燈-風傳媒 | date=25 October 2019 | access-date=29 August 2022 | archive-date=3 July 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220703082647/https://www.storm.mg/article/1871975 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/ch/news/3993883 | title=只贏蔣介石.... 台灣民調歷任總統評價: 最親中馬英九倒數第二 &#124; 台灣英文新聞 &#124; 2020-08-24 18:07:00 | date=24 August 2020 | access-date=29 August 2022 | archive-date=31 July 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731074636/https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/ch/news/3993883 | url-status=live }}</ref> His popularity in Taiwan is divided along political lines, enjoying better support in the Kuomintang (KMT) while being widely unpopular among [[Democratic Progressive Party]] (DPP) voters and those who blame him for the thousands killed during the [[February 28 Incident]] and criticise his dictatorial rule.<ref name="veconomist" >{{cite news|title=Chiang Kai-shek's former homes are open to tourists|url=https://www.economist.com/news/china/21730036-visitors-china-and-taiwan-have-very-different-views-late-dictator-chiang-kai-sheks-former|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|date=5 October 2017|access-date=7 October 2017|archive-date=7 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171007094103/https://www.economist.com/news/china/21730036-visitors-china-and-taiwan-have-very-different-views-late-dictator-chiang-kai-sheks-former|url-status=live}}</ref>

In contrast, his image has partially improved in mainland China. He had been portrayed as a villain and a "bourgeoisie reactionary lackey" who fought against the "liberation" of China by the communists, but since the 2000s, the media and popular culture have depicted him in a less negative manner.<ref name=Mitter2013 /> For example, many praised the 2009 movie sponsored by the Chinese Communist Party, ''[[The Founding of a Republic]]'', for moving away from casting Chiang as 'evil' versus Mao and emphasizing instead that the contingencies of war led the communists to victory.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Davis|first1=Gloria|last2=Davis|first2=M.E.|title=Filmed Founding Myths |url=http://www.chinaheritagequarterly.org/scholarship.php?searchterm=020_founding.inc&issue=020|access-date=12 June 2021|website=China Heritage Quarterly|archive-date=14 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230614005058/http://www.chinaheritagequarterly.org/scholarship.php?searchterm=020_founding.inc&issue=020|url-status=live}}</ref> In the context of the Second Sino-Japanese War, aspects of Chiang's trip to India, or meeting with Roosevelt and Churchill in Cairo can be viewed positively.<ref name="Coble2023" />{{Rp|page=4}} The shift also takes into account Chiang's commitment to a [[Chinese unification|unified China]] and his stance against [[Taiwan independence movement|Taiwanese independence]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Bernstein |first=Richard |date=3 September 2015 |title=Assassinating Chiang Kai-shek |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/09/03/assassinating-chiang-kai-shek-china-taiwan-japan-world-war-2/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170527154152/http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/09/03/assassinating-chiang-kai-shek-china-taiwan-japan-world-war-2/ |archive-date=27 May 2017 |access-date=28 May 2017 |website=[[Foreign Policy]]}}</ref> Chiang's ancestral home in [[Fenghua District|Fenghua]], [[Zhejiang]], has become a museum and tourist attraction.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thatsmags.com/china/post/8321/retake-the-mainland-chiang-kai-shek-bronze-marches-on-zhejiang-hometown|title='Retake the Mainland': Chiang Kai-shek bronze marches on Zhejiang hometown|last=Kilpatrick|first=Ryan|date=13 January 2015|website=That's China |access-date=28 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170410122744/http://www.thatsmags.com/china/post/8321/retake-the-mainland-chiang-kai-shek-bronze-marches-on-zhejiang-hometown |archive-date=10 April 2017}}</ref> Historian [[Rana Mitter]] notes that the displays inside were very positive about Chiang's role during the Second Sino-Japanese War.<ref name=Mitter2013>{{cite book|first=Rana|last=Mitter|title=China's Good War How World War II Is Shaping a New Nationalism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bqc_YkuyaCIC&q=chiang%20reactionary|year=2013|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|pages=9|isbn=978-0544334502|access-date=18 March 2023|archive-date=28 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528040604/https://books.google.com/books?id=Bqc_YkuyaCIC&q=chiang%20reactionary|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[[Rana Mitter]], ''Forgotten Ally: China's World War II, 1937–1945'', [https://archive.org/details/forgottenallychi0000mitt/page/9/mode/1up?view=theater p.9], [[Sterling Publishing]], 2009.</ref>

Mitter further observed that, ironically, today's China is closer to Chiang's vision than to Mao's and wrote, "One can imagine Chiang Kai-shek's ghost wandering round China today nodding in approval, while Mao's ghost follows behind him, moaning at the destruction of his vision".<ref>[[Rana Mitter]], ''Modern China: A Brief Insight'', [https://archive.org/details/modernchina0000mitt/page/106/mode/1up?view=theater p.106], [[Sterling Publishing]], 2009.</ref> [[Liang Shuming]] opined that Chiang Kai-shek's "greatest contribution was to make the CCP successful. If he had been a bit more trustworthy, if his character was somewhat better, the CCP would have been unable to beat him".<ref>In an interview reported in "Has Man a Future?", p. 224</ref> Some Chinese historians argue that the main determinants for Chiang's defeat were not corruption or the lack of US support, but his decision to start the civil war with 70% of government expenditures in the military, his overestimation of the Nationalist forces equipped with US arms, and the loss of popularity and morales of his soldiers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chinese-future.org/articles/l24enbs4wh7da95yrtskjl2s73klr7?format=amp|title=致命的自负 —国民党大陆溃败的原因再探|website=www.chinese-future.org|date=13 July 2021 |access-date=20 March 2023|archive-date=20 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230320194051/https://www.chinese-future.org/articles/l24enbs4wh7da95yrtskjl2s73klr7?format=amp|url-status=live}}</ref> Other historians argue that his failure was largely caused by external factors outside of Chiang's control. They include the refusal of the Truman administration to support Chiang by withdrawing aid, the foisting of an arms embargo by [[George C. Marshall]], the failed pursuit of a détente between the nationalists and the communists, the American push for a coalition government with the CCP, and the USSR's consistent aid and support for the CCP during the civil war.{{sfn|Taylor|2009|pp=102–103}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://worldif.economist.com/article/12130/chiangs-china|title=Chiang's China|date=1 July 2015|website=Worldif.economist.com|access-date=20 July 2022|archive-date=19 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220719100737/https://worldif.economist.com/article/12130/chiangs-china|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uchronia.net/label/waldchinaw.html |title=China Without Tears: If Chiang Kai-Shek Hadn't Gambled in 1946 |website=Uchronia.net |date= |access-date=19 July 2022 |archive-date=3 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221003180407/http://www.uchronia.net/label/waldchinaw.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/who-lost-china-10801|title=Who Lost China?|website=Ewtn.com|access-date=27 July 2022|archive-date=23 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220723190451/https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/who-lost-china-10801|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Family==
=== Wives ===
<gallery class="center" classes="center">
File:Mao Fumei.jpg|[[Mao Fumei]] (1882–1939), who died in the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] during a bombardment, is the mother of his son and successor Chiang Ching-kuo.
File:Yao Zhicheng.jpg|[[Yao Yecheng]] (1889–1972), who came to Taiwan and died in Taipei
File:Chen Jieru.jpg|[[Chen Jieru]] ("Jennie", 1906–1971), who lived in Shanghai, but moved to Hong Kong later and died there
File:Soong May-ling wearing China Air Force pin.jpg|[[Soong Mei-ling]] (1898–2003), who moved to the United States after Chiang Kai-shek's death, is arguably his most famous wife even though they had no children together.
</gallery>

In 1901, in an arranged marriage at age 14,{{sfn|Loh|1971|p=11}} Chiang was married to Mao Fumei, an illiterate villager five years his senior or older than her.{{sfn|Fenby|2009|p=35|ps=. "In 1901, a marriage was arranged between Chiang and Mao Fumei, a robust, illiterate village girl. He was fourteen; she was five years his senior. His heart was hardly in becoming a husband."}} While married to Mao, Chiang adopted either one or two concubines (concubinage was still a common practice for well-to-do, non-Christian males in China): he took [[Yao Yecheng]] ({{lang|zh-hant|姚冶誠}}, 1887–1966) as concubine in late 1912{{sfn|Loh|1971|p=27}} and married [[Chen Jieru]] (1906–1971)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lary |first=Diana |url= |title=China's grandmothers : gender, family, and aging from late Qing to twenty-first century |date=2022 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1-009-06478-1 |edition= |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom |pages=123 |oclc=1292532755}}</ref> in December 1921. While he was still living in Shanghai, Chiang and Yao adopted a son, Wei-kuo. Chen adopted a daughter in 1924, named Yaoguang, who later took her mother's surname. Chen's autobiography rejected the idea that she had been a concubine.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ch'en |first1=Chieh-ju |last2=Lee |first2=James |editor1-last=Eastman |editor1-first=Lloyd E. |date=1993 |title=Chiang Kai-shek's Secret Past: The Memoir of His Second Wife, Ch'en Chieh-ju |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mxqBAAAAIAAJ |location=Boulder, Colorado |publisher=Westview Press |isbn=0-8133-1824-6 |access-date=10 November 2014 |archive-date=3 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203235334/https://books.google.com/books?id=mxqBAAAAIAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref> Chen said that, by the time she married Chiang, he had already divorced Yao, and that Chen was therefore his wife. Chiang and Mao had a son, [[Chiang Ching-kuo|Ching-kuo]].

According to the memoirs of Chen Jieru, Chiang's second wife, she contracted [[gonorrhea]] from Chiang soon after their marriage. He told her that he acquired this disease after separating from his first wife and living with his concubine Yao Yecheng, as well as with many other women he consorted with. His doctor explained to her that Chiang had sex with her before completing his treatment for the disease. As a result, both Chiang and Chen Jieru believed that they had become sterile; however, a purported miscarriage by Soong Mei-ling in August 1928 would, if it actually occurred, cast serious doubt on whether this was true.{{sfn|Taylor|2009|p=602}}<ref>''Chiang Kai-shek's Secret Past''. pp. 83–85.</ref>

=== Family tree ===

{{Chiang family tree}}

== Religion and relationships with religious communities ==

Chiang personally dealt extensively with religions, power figures, and factions in China during his regime.

=== Religious views ===
Chiang Kai-shek was born and raised as a [[Buddhists|Buddhist]], but became a [[Methodist]] upon his marriage to his fourth wife, Soong Mei-ling. It was previously believed that this was a political move,{{sfn|Taylor|2009|p=2}} but further studies of his personal diaries suggest that his faith was sincere.{{sfn|Taylor|2009|p=91}}

=== Relationship with Muslims ===
[[File:Chiang Kaishek with Muslim General Ma Fushou.jpg|thumb|Chiang Kai-shek with the Muslim General [[Ma Fushou]]]]

Chiang developed relationships with other generals. Chiang became a sworn brother of the Chinese Muslim general [[Ma Fuxiang]] and appointed him to high ranking positions. Chiang addressed Ma Fuxiang's son [[Ma Hongkui]] as Shao Yun Shixiong.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zeSeAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA77 |title=Familiar China at war: regions of China, 1937–1945 |first1=Stephen R. |last1=MacKinnon |first2=Diana |last2=Lary |first3=Ezra F. |last3=Vogel |year=2007 |publisher=Stanford University Press |page=77 |isbn=978-0-8047-5509-2 |access-date=28 June 2010 |archive-date=27 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727210740/https://books.google.com/books?id=zeSeAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA77 |url-status=live}}</ref> Ma Fuxiang attended national leadership conferences with Chiang during battles against Japan.{{sfn|Taylor|2009|p=93}} Ma Hongkui was eventually scapegoated for the failure of the [[Ningxia Campaign (1949)|Ningxia Campaign]] against the Communists, so he moved to the US instead of remaining in Taiwan with Chiang.

When Chiang became President of China after the Northern Expedition, he carved out [[Ningxia]] and Qinghai out of Gansu province, and appointed Muslim generals as military governors of all three provinces: Ma Hongkui, [[Ma Hongbin]], and [[Ma Qi]]. The three Muslim governors, known as [[Xibei San Ma]], controlled armies composed entirely of Muslims. Chiang called on the three and their subordinates to wage war against the Soviet peoples, Tibetans, Communists, and the Japanese. Chiang continued to appoint Muslims as governors of the three provinces, including [[Ma Lin (warlord)|Ma Lin]] and Ma Fushou. Chiang's appointments, the first time that Muslims had been appointed as governors of Gansu, increased the prestige of Muslim officials in northwestern China. The armies raised by this "Ma Clique", most notably their Muslim cavalry, were incorporated into the KMT army. Chiang appointed Hui general [[Bai Chongxi]] as the Minister of National Defence of the Republic of China, which controlled the ROC military.

Chiang also supported the Muslim General [[Ma Zhongying]], whom he had trained at [[Whampoa Military Academy]] during the [[Kumul Rebellion]], in a [[jihad]] against [[Jin Shuren]], [[Sheng Shicai]], and the Soviet Union during the [[Soviet Invasion of Xinjiang]]. Chiang designated Ma's Muslim army as the [[36th Division (National Revolutionary Army)]] and gave his troops KMT flags and uniforms. Chiang then supported Muslim General [[Ma Hushan]] against Sheng and the Soviet Union in the [[Xinjiang War (1937)]]. All Muslim generals commissioned by Chiang in the National Revolutionary Army swore allegiance to him. Several, like [[Ma Shaowu]] and Ma Hushan were loyal to Chiang and Kuomintang hardliners.

The [[Ili Rebellion]] and [[Pei-ta-shan Incident]] plagued relations with the Soviet Union during Chiang's rule and caused trouble with the Uyghurs. During the Ili Rebellion and Peitashan incident, Chiang deployed Hui troops against [[Uyghur people|Uyghur]] mobs in Turfan, and against Soviet Russian and Mongols at Peitashan.

During Chiang's rule, attacks on foreigners and ethnic minorities by the allied warlords of the Nationalist government such as the Ma Clique flared up in several incidents. One of these was the [[Battle of Kashgar (1934)|Battle of Kashgar]] where a Muslim army loyal to the Kuomintang massacred 4,500 Uyghurs, and killed several Britons at the British consulate in Kashgar.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AxGQAAAAMAAJ&q=tungans |title=British documents on foreign affairs: reports and papers from the Foreign Office confidential print. From the First to the Second World War. Asia 1914–1939. China, April 1934 – December 1935, Part 2, Volume 43 |first1=Kenneth |last1=Bourne |first2=Ann |last2=Trotter |year=1996 |publisher=University Publications of America |isbn=0-89093-613-7 |page=167 |access-date=11 January 2021 |archive-date=17 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517215317/https://books.google.com/books?id=AxGQAAAAMAAJ&q=tungans |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Hu Songshan]], a Muslim Imam, backed Chiang Kai-shek's regime and gave prayers for his government. ROC flags were saluted by Muslims in Ningxia during prayer along with exhortations to nationalism during Chiang's rule. Chiang sent Muslim students abroad to study at places like [[Al-Azhar University]] and Muslim schools throughout China that taught loyalty to his regime.

The Yuehua, a Chinese Muslim publication, quoted the Quran and hadith to justify submitting to Chiang Kai-shek as the leader of China, and as justification for Jihad in the war against Japan.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MJzB6wrz6Q4C |title=Intellectuals in the modern Islamic world: transmission, transformation, communication |first1=Stéphane A. |last1=Dudoignon |first2=Hisao |last2=Komatsu |first3=Yasushi |last3=Kosugi |year=2006 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |pages=135, 336 |isbn=0-415-36835-9 |access-date=28 June 2010 |archive-date=13 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140613072333/http://books.google.com/books?id=MJzB6wrz6Q4C |url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Yihewani]] (Ikhwan al Muslimun a.k.a. Muslim brotherhood) was the predominant Muslim sect backed by the Chiang government during Chiang's regime. Other Muslim sects, like the [[Xidaotang]] and Sufi brotherhoods like Jahriyya and Khuffiya were also supported by his regime. The Chinese Muslim Association, a pro-Kuomintang and anti-Communist organization, was set up by Muslims working in his regime. [[Salafists]] attempted to gain a foothold in China during his regime, but the Yihewani and Hanafi Sunni [[Gedimu]] denounced the Salafis as radicals, engaged in fights against them, and declared them heretics, forcing the Salafis to form a separate sect.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uHjR3yeIWzUC&pg=PA127 |title=Muslim diversity: local Islam in global contexts |first=Leif O. |last=Manger |year=1999 |publisher=Routledge |page=127 |isbn=0-7007-1104-X |access-date=28 June 2010 |archive-date=27 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727210459/https://books.google.com/books?id=uHjR3yeIWzUC&pg=PA127 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |first=Dru C. |last=Gladney |publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers |year=2004 |isbn=1-85065-324-0 |title=Dislocating China: reflections on Muslims, minorities and other subaltern subjects |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ddddmhXofKoC&pg=PA321 |page=321 |access-date=27 September 2016 |archive-date=27 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727210434/https://books.google.com/books?id=ddddmhXofKoC&pg=PA321 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b21aKLh6_KkC&pg=PA79 |title=Between Mecca and Beijing: modernization and consumption among urban Chinese Muslims |first=Maris Boyd |last=Gillette |year=2000 |publisher=Stanford University Press |pages=79, 80 |isbn=0-8047-3694-4 |access-date=28 June 2010 |archive-date=27 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727210532/https://books.google.com/books?id=b21aKLh6_KkC&pg=PA79 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordhistoryofi00john |url-access=registration |title=The Oxford history of Islam |first=John L. |last=Esposito |year=1999 |publisher=Oxford University Press US |page=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordhistoryofi00john/page/458 458] |isbn=0-19-510799-3 |access-date=28 June 2010}}</ref> [[Ma Ching-chiang]], a Muslim General, served as an advisor to Chiang Kai-shek. [[Ma Buqing]] was another Muslim General who fled to Taiwan along with Chiang. His government donated money to build the [[Taipei Grand Mosque]] on Taiwan.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.taipeimosque.org.tw/index.php?categoryid=9 |title=台北清真寺 – 清真寺簡介 |access-date=10 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429234635/http://www.taipeimosque.org.tw/index.php?categoryid=9 |archive-date=29 April 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Relationship with Buddhists and Christians ===
Chiang had uneasy relations with the Tibetans. He fought against them in the [[Sino-Tibetan War]], and he supported the Muslim General Ma Bufang in his war against Tibetan rebels in Qinghai. Chiang ordered Ma Bufang to prepare his Islamic army to invade Tibet several times, to deter Tibetan independence, and threatened the Tibetans with aerial bombardment. Ma Bufang attacked the Tibetan [[Buddhist]] Tsang monastery in 1941.<ref name="The White Horse Press for the Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit at the University of Cambridge2002"/> After the war, Chiang appointed Ma Bufang as ambassador to [[Saudi Arabia]].

Chiang incorporated Methodist values into the New Life Movement under the influence of his wife. Dancing and Western music were discouraged. In one incident, several youths splashed acid on people wearing Western clothing, although Chiang was not directly responsible for these incidents. Despite being a Methodist, he made reference to the Buddha in his diary, and encouraged the establishment of a Buddhist political party under Master [[Taixu]].

According to [[Jehovah's Witnesses]]' magazine ''[[The Watchtower]]'', some of their members travelled to Chongqing and spoke to him personally while distributing their literature there during World War II.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/302013001#h=30:572-30:914 |title=Myanmar (Burma) – Watchtower Online Library |access-date=6 January 2018 |archive-date=7 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180107061449/https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/302013001#h=30:572-30:914 |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Honours ==
{{more citations needed section|date=October 2018}}[[File:Coat of arms of Chiang Kai-shek (Order of Seraphim).svg|thumb|upright=0.95|Chiang Kai-shek's seal as Knight of the [[Royal Order of the Seraphim]]]]
[[File:Chiang Kai-shek（蔣中正）.jpg|thumb|upright=0.95|Chiang Kai-shek with his decorations, 10 October 1943]]
; Republic of China national honours
* [[Order of National Glory]]
* [[Order of Blue Sky and White Sun]]
* [[Order of the Sacred Tripod]]
* [[Order of Brilliant Jade]]
* [[Order of Propitious Clouds]]
* [[Order of the Cloud and Banner]]
* [[Order of Brilliant Star]]
* [[Honour Sabre of the Awakened Lion]]

; Foreign honours
* Dominican Republic:
** [[Order of Merit of Duarte, Sánchez and Mella]] (January 1940)
** [[Order of Christopher Columbus]] (July 1948)
** Grand Cross of the [[Order of Christopher Columbus]] (October 1971)
* Philippines:
** Chief Commander of the [[Philippine Legion of Honor]] (1949)<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/briefer-on-the-philippine-legion-of-honor/ |title=Briefer on the Philippine Legion of Honor |newspaper=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines |access-date=22 May 2020 |archive-date=8 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308115659/https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/briefer-on-the-philippine-legion-of-honor/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
** Grand Collar of the Ancient [[Order of Sikatuna]] (2 May 1960)<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/the-order-of-sikatuna/ |title=The Order of Sikatuna |newspaper=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines |access-date=22 May 2020 |archive-date=25 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190825092055/https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/the-order-of-sikatuna/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
* United States:
** Chief Commander of the [[Legion of Merit]] (9 July 1943)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ww2db.com/person_bio.php?person_id=2 |title=Chiang Kaishek Biography |publisher=World War II Database |access-date=12 July 2015 |archive-date=7 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707230900/http://ww2db.com/person_bio.php?person_id=2 |url-status=live}}</ref>
** [[Distinguished Service Medal (U.S. Army)]] (March 1946)
* South Korea:
** [[Order of Merit for National Foundation]] (27 November 1953)
** [[Grand Order of Mugunghwa]] (15 February 1966)
* Thailand: [[Order of the Rajamitrabhorn]] (5 June 1963)
* Colombia: [[Order of Boyaca]] (October 1963)
* United Kingdom: [[Order of the Bath]] (1941)
* Peru: [[Order of the Sun of Peru]] (October 1944)
* Czechoslovakia: [[Order of the White Lion]] (30 May 1945)
* France: [[Legion of Honour]] (9 January 1945)
* Chile: [[Order of Merit (Chile)]] (29 January 1944)
* Mexico: [[Order of the Aztec Eagle]] (April 1945)
* Greece: [[Order of the Redeemer]] (22 March 1957)
* Jordan: [[Supreme Order of the Renaissance]] (9 March 1959)
* Brazil: [[Order of the Southern Cross]] (1944)
* Italy: [[Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus]] (April 1948)
* Sweden: [[Royal Order of the Seraphim]] (4 June 1948)
* Spain:
** [[Order of Isabella the Catholic]] (May 1936)
** [[Order of Civil Merit]] (1965)
* Venezuela: [[Order of the Liberator]] (July 1954)
* Vietnam (Nguyễn dynasty): [[Kim Khánh|Kim Khanh Medal]] (January 1960)
* Belgium: [[Order of Leopold (Belgium)]] (4 June 1946)
* Malawi: [[Order of the Lion (Malawi)]] (5 August 1967)
* Bolivia: [[Order of the Condor of the Andes]] (March 1966)
* Gambia: Order of the Republic of The Gambia (November 1972)
* Argentina: [[Order of the Liberator General San Martín]] (October 1960)
* Guatemala: [[Order of the Quetzal]] (7 December 1956)
* Nicaragua:
** National Order of Miguel Larreynaga (November 1974)
** Order of Ruben Dario (October 1958)
* Panama: [[Order of Vasco Núñez de Balboa]] (February 1960)
* Paraguay: Collar of Marshal Francisco Solano Lopez Grade of National Order of Merit (May 1962)

== Selected writings ==
* {{cite book |last1=Chiang |first1=May-ling Soong |last2=Chiang |first2=Kai- |translator= |year=1937 |title=General Chiang Kai-shek; the Account of the Fortnight in Sian When the Fate of China Hung in the Balance |publisher=Doubleday, Doran |location=Garden City, New York |url=https://archive.org/details/generalchiangkai00chia/page/n9/mode/2up |isbn= |ref=none}} Includes foreword, by [[John Leighton Stuart|J. Leighton Stuart]].—What China has faced, by Mme. Chiang Kai-shek.—Sian: a coup d'e´tat, by Mme. Chiang Kai-shek.—A fortnight in Sian: extracts from a diary, by Chiang Kai-shek.—The Generalissimo's admonition to Chiang Hsueh-liang (''sic'': i.e. [[Zhang Xueliang]]) and Yang Hu-chen (''sic'': i.e. [[Yang Hucheng]]) prior to his departure from Sian.—Names of Chinese persons and places mentioned in the story and diary.
* {{cite book |last=Chiang |first=Kai-shek |author-mask=4 |translator=Wang Chung-hui |year=1947 |title=China's Destiny |publisher=The Macmillan Company |location=New York |isbn= |ref=none}} Authorized translation of 中国之命运 (''Zhongguo zhi mingyun'') (1943). . Introduction by [[Lin Yutang]].
* {{cite book |last=Jiang, Jieshi |author-mask=4 |year=1947 |title=Chiang Kai-Shek: China's Destiny and Chinese Economic Theory |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.177765/page/n7/mode/2up |publisher=Roy |location=New York |isbn= |ref=none}}.  Unauthorized translation of 中国之命运 (''Zhongguo zhi mingyun'') (1943) by [[Philip Jaffe]], with his notes and extensive critical commentary.
* [https://archive.org/details/collectedwartime008681mbp ''The Collected Wartime Messages Of Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek''] at Netarchive
* {{cite book |last=Chiang, Kai-shek |author-mask=3 |translator= |year=1957 |title=Soviet Russia in China; a Summing-up at Seventy |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Cudahy |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/sovietrussiainch0000chai |isbn= |ref=none}}
* —, Works at Internet Archive [https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%28Chiang+Kai-shek%29&sort=titleSorter HERE]

== See also ==
{{Portal|Biography|China|Politics|Taiwan}}
* [[Chiang Kai-shek International Airport]]
* {{annotated link|Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall}}
* [[Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Song]]
* {{annotated link|Chiang Kai-shek statues}}
* {{annotated link|Cihu Mausoleum}}
* [[Free area of the Republic of China]]
* [[Guesthouses of Chiang Kai-shek]]
* {{annotated link|Nationalist government}}
* {{annotated link|Republic of China Armed Forces}}
* {{annotated link|Shilin Official Residence}}
* [[Timeline of Chiang Kai-shek]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

=== Bibliography and further reading ===
{{refbegin|40em}}
* {{cite journal |last=Bae |first=Kyounghan |title=Chiang Kai-Shek and Christianity: Religious Life Reflected from His Diary |journal=Journal of Modern Chinese History |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=1–10 |date=2009 |language= |url=https://www.tandfonline.com |doi=10.1080/17535650902900364 |jstor= |s2cid=143023389 |issn= |access-date= |archive-date=9 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220109184329/https://www.tandfonline.com/ |url-status=live|url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite book |last=Coble |first=Parks M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9nJF_19fnZ4C&pg=PA264 |title=The Shanghai capitalists and the Nationalist government, 1927–1937 |year=1986 |publisher=Harvard Univ Asia Center |edition=2, reprint, illustrated |volume=94 of Harvard East Asian monographs |isbn=0-674-80536-4 |access-date=15 May 2011 |archive-date=27 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727210457/https://books.google.com/books?id=9nJF_19fnZ4C&pg=PA264 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=Ch'en |first=Chieh-ju |author-link=Chen Jieru |title=Chiang Kai-shek's Secret Past: The Memoirs of His Second Wife |editor-first=Lloyd E. |editor-last=Eastman |publisher=Routledge |year=1993}}
* Crozier, Brian. 2009. ''The Man Who Lost China''. {{ISBN|0-684-14686-X}}
* Fairbank, John King, and Denis Twitchett, eds. 1983. ''The Cambridge History of China: Volume 12, Republican China, 1912–1949, Part 1''. {{ISBN|0-521-23541-3}}
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YkREps9oGR4C&pg=PA205 |title=Chiang Kai Shek: China's Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost |first=Jonathan |last=Fenby |year=2005 |publisher=Carroll & Graf Publishers |isbn=0-7867-1484-0 |access-date=28 June 2010 |archive-date=9 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231109202142/https://books.google.com/books?id=YkREps9oGR4C&pg=PA205 |url-status=live}} [https://archive.org/details/chiangkaishekchi0000fenb Alt URL]
** {{cite book |last=Fenby |first=J. |title=Chiang Kai Shek: China's Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost |publisher=Hachette Books |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-7867-3984-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tZxKDgAAQBAJ&pg=PP35 |access-date=10 May 2019 |page=35 |quote= |archive-date=27 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727204924/https://books.google.com/books?id=tZxKDgAAQBAJ&pg=PP35 |url-status=live}}
* Garver, John W. ''China's Quest: The History of the Foreign Relations of the People's Republic'' (2nd ed. 2018) comprehensive scholarly history. [https://www.amazon.com/Chinas-Quest-History-Relations-Republic/dp/0190884355/ excerpt] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728045608/https://www.amazon.com/Chinas-Quest-History-Relations-Republic/dp/0190884355/ |date=28 July 2020 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Gillin |first1=Donald G. |last2=Etter |first2=Charles |title=Staying On: Japanese Soldiers and Civilians in China, 1945–1949 |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=42 |issue=3 |date=May 1983 |pages=497–518 |doi=10.2307/2055515 |jstor=2055515 |s2cid=164133500 |doi-access=free}}
* {{cite book |last=Gillin |first=Donald G |title=Warlord: Yen Hsi-shan in Shansi Province 1911–1949 |location=Princeton, New Jersey |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1967}}
* Li, Laura Tyson. 2006. ''[[Madame Chiang Kai-shek: China's Eternal First Lady]]''. Grove Press. {{ISBN|0-8021-4322-9}}
* {{cite book |last=Loh |first=Pichon Pei |url=https://archive.org/details/earlychiangkaish0000lohp/ |title=The Early Chiang Kai-shek: A Study of His Personality and Politics, 1887–1924 |date=1971 |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |isbn=0-231-03596-9 |url-access=registration |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}
* May, Ernest R. 2002. "1947–48: When Marshall Kept the U.S. out of War in China". ''Journal of Military History'' 66(4): 1001–1010. [https://www.marshallfoundation.org/newsroom/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2016/01/May-2002.pdf online free] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029112205/http://www.marshallfoundation.org/newsroom/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2016/01/May-2002.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629132356/http://marshallfoundation.org/newsroom/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2016/01/May-2002.pdf |archive-date=29 June 2016 |url-status=live |date=29 October 2020 }}
* Paine, S. C. M. ''The Wars for Asia, 1911–1949'' (2014)
* {{cite book |last=Pakula |first=Hannah |url=https://archive.org/details/lastempressmadam00paku_0 |url-access=registration |title=The last empress: Madame Chiang Kai-Shek and the birth of modern China |year=2009 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-4391-4893-8 |access-date=28 June 2010}}
* {{cite book |last=Pantsov |first=Alexander V. |url=https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300260205/victorious-in-defeat/ |url-access=registration |title=Victorious in Defeat: The Life and Times of Chiang Kai-shek, China, 1887-1975 |year=2023 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=9780300260205 |access-date=3 March 2023 |archive-date=2 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230402175430/https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300260205/victorious-in-defeat/ |url-status=live}}
* Romanus, Charles F., and Riley Sunderland. 1959. ''Time Runs Out in CBI''. Official U.S. Army history [https://www.questia.com/library/book/time-runs-out-in-cbi-by-charles-f-romanus-riley-sunderland.jsp online edition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624020448/http://www.questia.com/library/book/time-runs-out-in-cbi-by-charles-f-romanus-riley-sunderland.jsp |date=24 June 2011 }}
* Sainsbury, Keith. 1985. ''The Turning Point: Roosevelt, Stalin, Churchill, and Chiang-Kai-shek, 1943. The Moscow, Cairo, and Teheran Conferences''. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-285172-1}}
* Seagrave, Sterling. 1996. ''The Soong Dynasty''. Corgi Books. {{ISBN|0-552-14108-9}}
* Stueck, William. 1984. ''The Wedemeyer Mission: American Politics and Foreign Policy during the Cold War''. University of Georgia Press. {{ISBN|0-8203-0717-3}}
* [[Tang Tsou]]. 1963. ''America's Failure in China, 1941–50''. University of Chicago Press. {{ISBN|0-226-81516-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Jay |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_5R2fnVZXiwC&pg=PA59 |title=The Generalissimo's son: Chiang Ching-kuo and the revolutions in China and Taiwan |year=2000 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=0-674-00287-3 |access-date=28 June 2010 |archive-date=25 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225065552/https://books.google.com/books?id=_5R2fnVZXiwC&pg=PA59 |url-status=live}}
* {{Cite book |last=Taylor |first=Jay |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=03catqbPCmgC&pg=PA93 |title=The Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the struggle for modern China |year=2009 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-03338-2 |access-date=28 June 2010 |archive-date=25 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225055650/https://books.google.com/books?id=03catqbPCmgC&pg=PA93 |url-status=live}}
* Tuchman, Barbara W. 1971. ''Stillwell and the American Experience in China, 1911–45''. {{ISBN|0-8021-3852-7}}
* {{citation |last=Van de Ven |first=Hans |date=2003 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tx5H_DC5V-MC |title=War and Nationalism in China: 1925–1945 |series=Studies in the Modern History of Asia |publisher=RoutledgeCurzon |location=London |isbn=978-0415145718 |access-date=27 September 2016 |archive-date=25 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225071802/https://books.google.com/books?id=tx5H_DC5V-MC |url-status=live}}
* van de Ven, Hans, et al. eds.  ''Negotiating China's Destiny in World War II'' (Stanford University Press, 2014). 336 pp. [https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=42871 H-Net online review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626130559/https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=42871 |date=26 June 2015 }}
* Vogel, Ezra F. ''China and Japan: Facing History'' (2019) [https://www.amazon.com/China-Japan-Ezra-F-Vogel/dp/0674916573/  excerpt] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309000700/https://www.amazon.com/China-Japan-Ezra-F-Vogel/dp/0674916573/ |date=9 March 2021 }}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{wiktionary|unleash Chiang}}
{{Sister project links|Chiang Kai-shek}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170614182245/http://www.president.gov.tw/1_roc_intro/e_xpresident/e_b_cha.html ROC Government Biography]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070329012515/http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/personoftheyear/archive/stories/1937.html ''Time'' "Man and Wife of the Year", 1937]
* [https://www.cksmh.gov.tw/ The National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Official Site]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110430211939/http://www.chungcheng.org.tw/ewelcome.html The Chungcheng Cultural and Educational Foundation]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110424223621/http://chiang2006.world.edoors.com/index.php Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek Association Hong Kong]
* [http://www.taiwandocuments.org/surrender03.htm Order of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek supplementing the Act of Surrender]&nbsp;– by Japan on 9 September 1945
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071212100247/http://www.xikou114.com/index.php?title=%E6%AD%A6%E5%B2%AD%E8%92%8B%E6%B0%8F%E4%B8%96%E7%B3%BB Family tree of his descendants] (in [[Simplified Chinese]])
* [http://docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/psf/box2/folo15.html The Chiang Kai-shek Index at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040226235850/http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/av/sou_sig/sight01_2.htm 1966 GIO Biographical video]
* [http://gpwd.mnd.gov.tw/web2/web2_a/music/mp3_01/04.mp3 "The Memorial Song of Late President Chiang Kai-shek" (Ministry of National Defence of ROC)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120806090436/http://gpwd.mnd.gov.tw/web2/web2_a/music/mp3_01/04.mp3 |date=6 August 2012 }}
* [https://www.spartacus-educational.com/2WWchaing.htm Chiang Kai-shek Biography]&nbsp;– From Spartacus Educational
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100103061217/http://www.ntch.edu.tw/ The National Chiang Kai-shek Cultural Center Official Site]
* [http://www.hoover.org/library-archives/collections/chiang-kai-shek-diaries Chiang Kai-shek Diaries at the Hoover Institution Archives] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150505092731/http://www.hoover.org/library-archives/collections/chiang-kai-shek-diaries |date=5 May 2015 }}
* [http://blog.udn.com/mobile/skyfleet/22339171 蔣介石的勳章 ORDERS of CHIANG KAI SHEK – SKYFLEET/LUFTFLOTT的部落格/天艦 – udn部落格]
* {{PM20|FID=pe/019622}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-off}}
{{s-bef |before = [[Tan Yankai]] }}
{{s-ttl |title = [[President of the Republic of China|Chairman of the National Government of China]] |years = 1928–1931 }}
{{s-aft |after = [[Lin Sen]] }}
{{s-bef |before = [[T. V. Soong]] }}
{{s-ttl |title = [[Premier of the Republic of China]] |years = 1930–1931 }}
{{s-aft |after = [[Chen Mingshu]] }}
{{s-new}}
{{s-ttl |title = Chairman of the [[National Military Council]] |years = 1932–1946 }}
{{s-aft |after = [[Bai Chongxi]] |as = [[Ministry of National Defense (Republic of China)|Ministerof National Defense]] }}
{{s-bef |before = [[Wang Jingwei]]}}
{{s-ttl |title = [[Premier of the Republic of China]] |years = 1935–1938 }}
{{s-aft |after = [[H. H. Kung]]}}
{{s-bef |before = H. H. Kung}}
{{s-ttl |title = [[Premier of the Republic of China]] |years = 1939–1945 }}
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{{s-bef |before = [[Lin Sen]] }}
{{s-ttl |title =  Chairman of the [[National Government of the Republic of China]] |years = 1943–1948}}
{{s-aft |after = Himself<br /><small>As [[President of the Republic of China]]</small>}}
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{{s-ttl |title = [[Premier of the Republic of China]] |years = 1947 }}
{{s-aft |after = [[Zhang Qun]]}}
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{{s-ttl |title = [[President of the Republic of China]] |years = 1948–1975<br /><small>[[Li Zongren]] (Acting)<br />21 January 1949 to 1 March 1950</small> }}
{{s-aft |after = [[Yen Chia-kan]] }}
{{S-ppo}}
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{{s-ttl |title = [[List of leaders of the Kuomintang|Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang]] |years = 1926–1927 }}
{{s-aft |after = [[Woo Tsin-hang]] and [[Li Shizeng|Li Yuying]] }}
{{s-bef |before = [[Hu Hanmin]] }}
{{s-ttl |title = [[List of leaders of the Kuomintang|Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang]] |years = 1936–1938}}
{{s-aft |after = Himself  |as = [[List of leaders of the Kuomintang|Director General of the Kuomintang]] }}
{{s-bef |before = Himself |as = [[Chairman of the Kuomintang]] }}
{{s-ttl |title = Director-General of the Kuomintang |years = 1938–1975 }}
{{s-aft |after = [[Chiang Ching-kuo]] |as = Chairman of the Kuomintang }}
{{S-mil}}
{{s-new}}
{{s-ttl |title = Commander-in-chief of the [[National Revolutionary Army]]|years = 1925–1947}}
{{s-non |reason = Office abolished }}
{{S-aca}}
{{s-new}}
{{s-ttl |title = Commandant of the [[Whampoa Military Academy]] |years = 1924–1947 }}
{{s-aft |after = [[Guan Linzheng]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Presidents of the Republic of China}}
{{ROCPMs}}
{{KMTleaders}}
{{Warlord era}}
{{Chinese Civil War}}
{{Cold War}}
{{Conservatism}}
{{Time Persons of the Year|27–50}}
{{PLH Recipients}}

{{Authority control}}

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