Northern Expedition - wikipedia Northern Expedition For other uses, see Northern Expeditions ( disambiguation ). Northern Expedition Part of Warlord Era Clockwise from top - left : Chiang inspecting soldiers of the National Revolutionary Army ; NRA troops marching northwards ; an NRA artillery unit engaged in a battle with warlords ; people showing support for the NRA ; peasants volunteer to join the expedition ; NRA soldiers preparing to launch an attack. Date 1926 -- 1928 Location Southern to Northern China Result Victory for the National Revolutionary Army Nationalist government rules over the entirety of the Republic of China Beginning of the Chinese Civil War Overthrow of the Beiyang government End of the Warlord Era Belligerents Nationalist Government National Revolutionary Army Kuomintang Communist Party of China ( until 1927 ) Beiyang Government Fengtian clique Zhili clique Commanders and leaders Chiang Kai - shek Feng Yuxiang Li Zongren Bai Chongxi He Yingqin Yan Xishan Cen Chunxuan Zhou Enlai Ye Ting Du Xigui V.K. Wellington Koo Zhang Zuolin Wu Peifu Sun Chuanfang Strength about 250,000 about 800,000 This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters. Northern Expedition Traditional Chinese 國民 革命 軍 北伐 Simplified Chinese 国民 革命 军 北伐 Literal meaning National Revolutionary Army northern expedition Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Guómín gémìng jūn běifá History of the Republic of China ( ROC ) 1912 -- 49 Mainland rule Xinhai Revolution Provisional Gov 't Beiyang Government Northern Expedition Shanghai massacre Chinese Civil War Nationalist Government Second Sino - Japanese War Nanking Massacre Constitutional government 1945 -- present Taiwan Retrocession of Taiwan February 28 Incident White Terror Korean War First Taiwan Strait Crisis Vietnam War Second Taiwan Strait Crisis Project National Glory Three Noes Lieyu massacre Third Taiwan Strait Crisis Anti-Secession Law 100th anniversary Sunflower Student Movement 2015 Ma -- Xi meeting 2017 Summer Universiade History of China the PRC ( 1949 -- present ) Taiwan ( geographical ) Taipei Kaohsiung Beiping Culture Economy Education Geography Politics Taiwan portal The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army of the Kuomintang ( KMT ), also known as the Nationalists, against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. The purpose of the campaign was to reunify China, and the expedition was divided into two phases. The first phase was interrupted by the political split in the Kuomintang following the formation of the Nanjing faction in April 1927 against the existing faction in Wuhan. The split was partially motivated by the purge of the Communists within the party, which marked the end of the First United Front, and Chiang Kai - shek briefly stepped down as the commander of the National Revolutionary Army. The campaign was resumed in January 1928 with the return of Chiang to the commanding post, and the Nationalist forces advanced to the Yellow River by April 1928. Strings of victories by the Nationalists toward Peking, with the assistance of allied warlords including Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang, forced Zhang Zuolin of the Fengtian clique out of the capital city. Zhang was assassinated shortly after by the Kwantung Army on his way back to Manchuria, and his son Zhang Xueliang took over as the leader of the Fengtian clique. In June 1928, Zhang Xueliang announced Manchuria would be accepting the authority of the Nationalist government in Nanjing, effectively ending the Northern Expedition. Contents 1 Preparation 2 First phase ( July 1926 -- March 1927 ) 2.1 Anti-Communist purge 2.2 Internal conflicts 3 Second phase ( May 1927 -- June 1928 ) 3.1 Jinan incident 3.2 March to Peking 4 Aftermath 4.1 In the Soviet Union 5 References 5.1 Citations 5.2 Bibliography Preparation Chiang Kai - shek, Commander - in - Chief of the National Revolutionary Army, emerged from the Northern Expedition as the leader of the Kuomintang and China. Since the Constitutional Protection Movement ended in 1922, the Kuomintang ( KMT ) had been expanding in Guangdong to prepare for an expedition against the Northern warlords in Peking and reunifying China. The preparation required improving both the political and military strength of the KMT. Before his death in March 1925, Sun Yat - sen was supportive of Sino - Soviet cooperation, which involved forming the First United Front with the Communist Party of China ( CPC ). The Whampoa Military Academy was opened in 1924, with Chiang Kai - shek appointed as the commandant, having emerged as the protégé of Sun since 1922. On 30 May 1925, Chinese students in Shanghai, supported by the KMT, gathered together and held anti-foreign demonstrations in the International Settlement. The movement sparked popular unrest throughout the country. Chiang emerged from the party ranks in the KMT as the paramount leader, and consolidated his power further through the Canton Coup, in which several top Communist leaders in the KMT were arrested between 18 and 19 March 1926. Immediately prior to the expedition, there were three major coalition of warlords across China that were hostile toward the Kuomintang. The forces of Wu Peifu occupied Hubei, Henan and northern Hunan province. The coalition of Sun Chuanfang was in control of Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui and Jiangxi province. The most powerful coalition were led by Zhang Zuolin, head of the Beiyang government and the Zhili clique, in control of Manchuria, Shandong and Hebei province. First phase ( July 1926 -- March 1927 ) Map of the Northern Expedition, the Kuomintang military campaign against warlords in 1926 -- 1928. On 9 July 1926, the Kuomintang ceremonially appointed Chiang Kai - shek as the commander of the National Revolutionary Army ( NRA ), which officially launched the expedition. In a military conference at Changsha on 11 August, the Nationalists decided bypass Nanchang and attack Wuchang straight away. The warlord defense led by Wu Peifu collapsed on 31 August in which Wu only narrowly fled, and the revolutionary forces reached the heavily fortified Wuchang on 31 August. The city garrison surrendered on 10 October after more than a month of military blockade, and the NRA had secured the Hubei province as Wu and his remaining troops fled to Henan. The NRA then diverted their forces toward the territories of Sun Chuanfang, which included both Nanchang and Jiujiang in Jiangxi, capturing both provinces in the process. On 18 December, He Yingqin led two divisions of the NRA and captured Fuzhou, the provincial capital of Fujian. In the short span of six months, the Nationalists had expanded to seven provinces, controlling a population of `` approximately 170 million ''. Sun Chuanfang retreated to Nanjing in the aftermath of major setbacks. The Fengtian clique responded to the request for help from Sun by reinforcing Jiangsu and Anhui, while increasing the number of troops in Henan in support of Wu Peifu. The NRA was able to defeat the alliance, and on 23 March 1927, the Nationalist forces marched into Nanjing. Anti-communist purge Main article : Shanghai massacre As part of the alliance, many members of the Communist Party joined the Kuomintang and exerted significant influence over the left wing faction of the KMT. Between 12 to 14 April, hundreds of Communists in Shanghai were arrested and killed by the order of Chiang, effectively ending the alliance between the Nationalists and the Communists. The purge was condemned by the left wing faction of the KMT led by Wang Jingwei in Wuhan, and this led to the internal split between the KMT based in Wuhan and the KMT based in Nanjing. Internal conflicts The Northern Expedition was temporarily put on hold after the capture of Nanjing. Chiang Kai - shek proposed to several top KMT officials in Wuhan to `` discuss party unity ''. To `` heal the rift '' between the Nanjing and Wuhan factions, Chiang offered to voluntarily step down from his leadership role, allegedly influenced by Bai Chongxi. Wang Jingwei, having recently returned to China, took the leadership role in the Wuhan faction and began purging Communist members of the KMT in Wuhan. The CPC responded by staging several successful attacks that politically and militarily weakened the KMT in Wuhan significantly, notably in Nanchang. The chaos in the immediate aftermath of the Communist purge in April allowed Sun to regroup and began launching new offensives with Zhang Zongchang. With the Nationalists fighting the war on two fronts, Sun was able to attack and recapture Xuzhou on 24 July. However, Sun 's forces were decisively defeated by the NRA on 30 August in battles around Longtan, and Sun ended up having `` escaped '' north of the Yangtze River. The Nationalist forces continued to advance northwards and recaptured Xuzhou on 16 August. With the military success of Chiang 's Whampoa troops, the factions within the KMT agreed to recognize the legitimacy of Chiang 's leadership and the Nanjing government as long as their regional sphere of influence continues to be permitted. Consequently, Chiang soon returned to the commanding post in January 1928. Second phase ( May 1927 -- June 1928 ) With Chiang returning as the commander, the expedition was soon to be resumed. The Nationalist summer offensives of 1927 recaptured most of the territories lost to the warlords during the hiatus. Facing the Nationalist advance, Zhang Zuolin assembled the `` National Pacification Army '' known as Anguojun to defend against the National Revolutionary Army. By April 1928, the Nationalist forces have reached the Yellow River, threatening Peking directly. Jinan Incident Main article : Jinan incident As the NRA was passing by Shandong province in May, the Imperial Japanese Army stationed in Jinan intervened on 3 May, violently killed NRA representative Cai Gongshi and other Chinese diplomats from the KMT, while opened fire and killed `` approximately five thousand '' Chinese civilians. This armed conflict is what came to be known as the Jinan Incident. March to Peking In the meanwhile, Shanxi warlord Yan Xishan decided to change side to form an alliance with the Nationalists and began marching toward Peking. Combined with the recent announcement that Japan will recognize the legitimacy of the Nationalists as the representative of China, Zhang Zuolin decided to retreat, but he was assassinated on his way back to Manchuria by operatives from the Japanese Kwantung Army in the Huanggutun Incident. Zhang Xueliang succeeded as the new leader of the Fengtian clique, and he declared his allegiance to the Nationalist government in Nanjing on June 1936, marking the official end of the Northern Expedition. Aftermath While the reunification of China was achieved on the surface, the country `` remain divided alone regional lines ''. After the capture of Peking, Chiang held a conference with Feng Yuxiang, Yan Xishan, Bai Chongxi and Li Zongren in July 1928. As Chiang attempted to cut back the military and centralize the power of the Nationalist government in Nanjing, the regional warlords, with their military strengths largely preserved, quickly renounced their allegiance to Chiang and formed an alliance against the Kuomintang. The struggle for supremacy soon broke out into the Central Plains War in 1930. Although Chiang emerged once again as the paramount leader of China with his decisive victory in the war, the problem of both regionalism and warlordism continued to persist in the KMT, and these problems played a significant role in the Chinese Civil War. In the Soviet Union The Northern Expedition in China became a point of contention over foreign policy between Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky in the Soviet Union. Stalin was an opportunist, willing to overlook party ideology when necessary. He encouraged the CCP to cooperate with the KMT on multiple occasions, as Stalin believed the KMT was more capable of completing the Chinese revolution. Trotsky was opposed to the KMT as he believed the party was against the concept of proletarian revolution. The Comintern was in support of Stalin 's decision to financially support the KMT. References Citations Jump up ^ Taylor 2009, p. 68. Jump up ^ Taylor 2009, p. 72. ^ Jump up to : Taylor 2009, p. 83. Jump up ^ Taylor 2009, p. 30 -- 37. Jump up ^ Wilbur 1983, p. 11. Jump up ^ Taylor 2009, p. 41. Jump up ^ Wilbur 1983, p. 22. Jump up ^ Wilbur 1983, p. 47. Jump up ^ Wilbur 1983, p. 51. Jump up ^ Wilbur 1983, p. 56. Jump up ^ Wilbur 1983, p. 57 -- 59. ^ Jump up to : Wilbur 1983, p. 62. Jump up ^ Worthing 2016, p. 70. Jump up ^ Taylor 2009, p. 65. Jump up ^ Wilbur 1983, p. 110. Jump up ^ Wilbur 1983, p. 113. Jump up ^ Worthing 2016, p. 84. Jump up ^ Worthing 2016, p. 93. ^ Jump up to : Worthing 2016, p. 92. Jump up ^ Worthing 2016, p. 94. Jump up ^ Worthing 2016, p. 104. ^ Jump up to : Worthing 2016, p. 105. Jump up ^ Taylor 2009, p. 82. Jump up ^ Wang 2014, p. 80. Jump up ^ Taylor 2009, p. 71. ^ Jump up to : Worthing 2016, p. 112. Jump up ^ Taylor 2009, p. 84. Jump up ^ Taylor 2009, p. 132. Jump up ^ Taylor 2009, p. 57. Bibliography Eastman, Lloyd E. ( 1986 ). The Nationalist Era in China, 1927 -- 1949. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521385911. Koga, Yukiko ( 2016 ). Inheritance of Loss : China, Japan, and the Political Economy of Redemption After Empire. Chicago : University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226412139. Lary, Diana ( 2015 ). China 's Civil War. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. ISBN 1107054672. Taylor, Jay ( 2009 ). The Generalissimo. Cambridge : Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674033388. Wang, Zheng ( 2014 ). Never Forget National Humiliation : Historical Memory in Chinese Politics and Foreign Relations. New York : Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231148917. Wilbur, C. Martin ( 1983 ). The Nationalist Revolution in China, 1923 - 1928. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521318645. Worthing, Peter ( 2017 ). General He Yingqin : The Rise and Fall of Nationalist China. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107144637. Warlord Era 1915 -- 1922 1923 -- 1930 Northern factions Southern factions 1915 -- 1916 Empire of China ( Yuan Shikai ) National Protection War 1916 Death of Yuan Shikai 1917 Manchu Restoration 1917 -- 1922 Constitutional Protection Movement 1918 -- 1920 Siberian Intervention 1919 Paris Peace Conference May Fourth Movement 1919 -- 1921 Occupation of Outer Mongolia 1920 Zhili -- Anhui War 1920 -- 1921 Guangdong -- Guangxi War 1921 1st National CPC Congress 1922 First Zhili -- Fengtian War 1923 -- 1927 First United Front 1924 Second Zhili -- Fengtian War Beijing Coup 1925 Yunnan -- Guangxi War May Thirtieth Movement 1925 -- 1926 Anti-Fengtian War 1926 Zhongshan Warship Incident 1926 -- 1928 Northern Expedition 1928 Jinan Incident Huánggūtun Incident Looting of the Eastern Mausoleum Flag Replacement of the Northeast 1929 Warlord Rebellion in northeastern Shandong Sino - Soviet conflict 1930 Central Plains War Beiyang Army Yuan Shikai Anhui Zhili Communications Research Regional Fengtian Shanxi Guominjun Ma Xinjiang Yunnan Old Guangxi New Guangxi Guangdong ( Chen Jitang ) Kuomintang ( KMT ) Communist Party ( CPC ) Sichuan Republic of China ( 1912 -- 49 ) Media related to Northern Expedition at Wikimedia Commons Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Northern_Expedition&oldid=804785967 '' Categories : Kuomintang Warlordism in Republican China Wars involving the Republic of China Conflicts in 1926 Conflicts in 1927 Conflicts in 1928 1926 in China 1927 in China 1928 in China National Revolutionary Army Military campaigns involving China Republic of China ( 1912 -- 49 ) Hidden categories : All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from August 2017 Articles containing traditional Chinese - language text Articles containing simplified Chinese - language text Commons category without a link on Wikidata Talk Contents About Wikipedia Català Čeština Dansk Eesti Español Français 한국어 Bahasa Indonesia 日本 語 Norsk Norsk nynorsk Polski Português Русский Svenska Tiếng Việt 粵語 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 11 October 2017, at 03 : 58. 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Question: what was the intent of the northern expedition
Answer: to reunify China