page_title: War in Ningxia (1934)
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: War in Ningxia (1934) / Background
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Carte de la Chine de 1929 à 1930
context_page_description: The war in Ningxia of 1934, also known as Sun Dianying Campaign, was a minor civil war for control over the Republic of China's province of Ningxia, fought between the warlord Sun Dianying and an alliance against him, consisting of the Ma clique, Governor Yan Xishan of Shanxi, and the Nationalist government of China. The conflict erupted as the unintended consequence of a plan by China's supreme leader, Chiang Kai-shek, to weaken the Ma clique, and resulted in the destruction of Sun Dianying's private army.
context_section_description: In the early 1930s, the Republic of China was politically unstable and divided, with the Nationalist government of Nanjing only in control of parts of the country. Most of China remained in the hands of warlords who had risen to power in the previous decades of internal conflict. Despite having nominally accepted the central government's authority, these warlords used private armies to rule their fiefdoms with impunity and often acted against the orders of Chiang Kai-shek, China's supreme leader. One of the most powerful groups of warlords was the Ma clique, consisting of several related strongmen who controlled the northwestern provinces of Ningxia, Qinghai, and Gansu. Chiang desired to weaken the Ma clique so that his government could assert its power over Northwest China, but his attempts at doing so were only of limited success.
  One opportunity to strengthen the Nationalist government presented itself in 1933, as result of the activities of another group of defiant warlords: Feng Yuxiang, a long-time political rival of Chiang and former leader of the Northwest Army, had started to organise the Chahar People's Anti-Japanese Army. While this formation was ostensibly indended for fighting the Japanese invasion of Inner Mongolia, Feng was actually rallying anti-Chiang elements and public support to his cause. In response, the Nationalist government attempted to weaken Feng's military strength. One way it did so was by removing National Revolutionary Army (NRA) units from his influence by sending them from Chahar Province to other parts of China.
  Chiang Kai-shek consequently developed a plan to undermine both Feng Yuxiang as well as the Ma clique by moving an army sympathetic to Feng into Ma lands. His political rivals would consequently compete for the same territories, weakening each other in the process. Chiang selected the NRA's 41st Army under the command of Sun Dianying for this plot. Sun was notoriously unreliable, having repeatedly changed sides in his military career for opportunistic reasons and bribes; he was also a known opponent of Chiang and had tentatively supported Feng's Anti-Japanese Army. In June 1933, Chiang ordered Sun to move to Qinghai, officially to colonize the underpopulated and underdeveloped Qaidam Basin. Having been unofficially "outlawed" for supporting Feng, Sun had already moved into Suiyuan to evade the government and knew that he had little option other than to accept the order. Furthermore, he hoped that by moving into western China with his 60,000-men strong 41st Army, he could possibly carve out his own territory.
  Appointed as "Reclamation Commissioner of Qinghai", Sun consequently led his forces through Suiyuan's deserts toward the Qaidam Basin, while NRA forces loyal to Chiang took up positions behind him in order to prevent the 41st Army from turning back. The Ma clique quickly realised that Sun posed a potential threat to their power, however, and mobilized a strong political opposition to the Nationalist government's strategy. Governor Ma Lin of Qinghai as well as governor Ma Hongkui of Ningxia declared that they would not allow Sun Dianying to move through their territories, let alone settle in them. They threatened to resign unless Chiang Kai-shek revoked his order, which meant they would possibly revolt against his rule. 
  The Nationalists were unwilling to risk an escalation, and Chiang ordered the 41st Army to halt its advance and wait for further orders in November 1933. Having stopped near the Suiyuan-Ningxia border, the situation of Sun's forces quickly became untenable. They had previously lived off the land and taken supplies from the civilian population, but the area they were now in did not provide enough food for the entire 41st Army. Facing starvation, the morale of Sun's men declined and they threatened to get "out of control". To prevent a mutiny, Sun Dianying had little choice but disobey Chiang's orders and move into Ningxia, thus provoking an open conflict with the Ma clique.
caption: China in 1929/30; territories held by the Ma clique in dark green
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