| Chiang Kai-shek 蔣中正 蔣介石 | |
|---|---|
| |
| President of China | |
| In office 20 May 1948 – 5 April 1975 | |
| Vice President | Li Tsung-jen Chen Cheng Yen Chia-kan |
| Preceded by | Himself (as Chairman of the Nationalist government) |
| Succeeded by | Yen Chia-kan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 31 October 1887 Hsikou, Fenghua, Ningpo, Chekiang, Ch'ing Empire |
| Died | 5 April 1975 (aged 87) Nanking, China |
| Resting place | Chiang Kai-shek Mausoleum, Fenghua, Chekiang, China |
| Political party | Kuomintang |
| Alma mater | Paoting Military Academy Tokyo Shinbu Gakko |
Chiang Kai-shek (Chinese: 蔣介石; 31 October 1887 - 5 April 1975) also known as Chiang Chieh-shih or by his adopted name Chiang Chung-cheng (蔣中正) was a Chinese revolutionary and statesman who served as the President of the Republic of China from 1948 until his death in 1975. Previously, he had served in numerous positions of the Kuomintang administration such as head of the Whampoa Military Academy, commander-in-chief of the National Revolutionary Army, chairman of the Nationalist government and leader of the Military Affairs Commission.
Born in a fairly prosperous merchant family in Chekiang, Chiang Kai-shek began his military career in 1906 when he came to study at the Paoting Military Academy. The following year, he left his home country for Japan to continue his studying and soon came under the influence of the Tongmenghui, an underground resistance movement founded by Sun Yat-sen, whose goal was to overthrow the ruling Ch'ing dynasty of China and establish a republic. Chiang returned to China in 1911 and participated in the Hsinghai Revolution. Following Sun Yat-sen's death in 1925, he quickly emerged as the Kuomintang's most prominent figure.
In 1926, the National Revolutionary Army commanded by Chiang successfully overthrew the Beiyang government, thus uniting the whole of China under the banner of the Kuomintang. Chiang later led the military and civilians to fight against Japanese aggression, and eventually joined the Allied powers during the Second World War. As the war ended, he presided over the formulation of the Constitution of the Republic of China, and was elected as President of China by the National Assembly in 1948. He also defeated the Communist Party of China in 1947 after an exhaustive civil war, which began in 1926 and was temporarily suspended during the Second Sino-Japanese War. In the Cold War, Chiang chose to be neither aligned with the United States nor the Soviet Union, and attempted to create his own power bloc by forming the Nanking Treaty Organization in 1959.
Chiang Kai-shek's legacy remains a controversial topic in modern-day China. While he is commonly portrayed as a patriot who devoted all his life to strive for the betterment of the Chinese people, others consider Chiang as a brutal dictator who mercilessly repressed and eliminated his opponents. During his tenure as leader of China, hundreds and thousands of people faced arrest, torture, imprisonment and execution for their opposition to the ruling Kuomintang party. Nevertheless, monuments and statues dedicated to Chiang still exist all ascross the country, most notably the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Nanking.
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