1945 - Retrocession to China
When the empire finally disintegrated as a result of widespread revolts and uprisings in 1911, partly inspired by his antiManchu writings, Sun Yat-sen, then in the United States, was proclaimed provisional president by representatives from 17 provinces. His strongest political support, however, was confined largely to Kwangtung province. In the face of military opposition he resigned, after 4 months, in favor of Yuan Shih-kai, the strongest of many local warlords who continued to be the nearly exclusive repositories of political power until 1928.
For a decade after the fall of the Manchus, Sun Yat-sen attempted to get from Western nations the financial and military help necessary to unify China. After all of the major powers had rejected his requests, he turned in 1922 to the newly established Soviet Government. By this time he and most others who had been hopeful of establishing Westerntype parliamentary democracy realized the impossibility of this as a short-range objective. Furthermore, the Russian Bolsheviks had apparently, by their absolute grasp of power, demonstrated the efficacy of their methods in a vast and relatively backward country. In 1924, Sun Yat-sen, with the help of Soviet military advisors, established the Whampoa Military Academy outside of Canton under the direction of Chiang Kai-shek.
Chiang Kai-shek was able to unify China under the Nationalists between 1926 and 1928, through reliance upon the armed forces led by officers trained at Whampoa. Chiang Kai-shek's regime was the sole nationally and internationally recognized Chinese government between 1928 and 1949. Nevertheless, his physical control for most of this period was limited to China Proper, and even that with exceptions. Outer Mongolia had declared itself an independent republic (theoretically recognizing the suzerainty of China) in 1924, under Soviet encouragement and protection. Tibet had remained completely autonomous without any attempt on the part of the central government to assert its authority during this period, and Sinkiang was only nominally under Chinese control. Manchuria was in Japanese hands from 1931 to 1945 and under Communist domination most the time thereafter.
The most articulate critics of the Nationalist government and the strongest contenders for the control of China were the Chinese Communists. After their brief collaboration with the Nationalists at the outset of the war, they not only ceased their support, but denounced and fought the Nationalists as violently as they fought the Japanese. The animosity and distrust between Nationalists and Communists became so bitter that reconciliation was no longer possible.
During World War II the United States attempted to support the Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek and at the same time sought to reconcile the two factions in China. In 1946, after the war, the United States, using the influence and personal prestige of General George C. Marshall, attempted to achieve a rapprochement between the two factions, but the distrust on both sides was too deep-seated. Neither side dared to be the first to lay down its arms for fear of treachery, and in the end the United States intermediaries withdrew, convinced of the hopelessness of the task.
By the end of 1948 Communist forces controlled virtually the entire area north of the Yangtze River. In April 1949 they crossed the Yangtze, and the government had to evacuate the capital at Nanking. For the remainder of the year Chiang Kai-shek's government was in flight. It moved to Canton at the end of April, to Chungking at the beginning of October, to Chengtu by the end of November, and to Taipei on Taiwan a month later. After World War II the United States continued military aid to the Nationalist government, but when it became evident that much of this equipment was falling into the hands of the Communists, the aid was curtailed. When the Nationalist government established itself on Taiwan in 1949 the United States Government announced that it would furnish economic aid but no further military aid.
During World War II, President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill, and President Chiang Kai-shek met at Cairo. The result of this meeting was summed up in the Cairo Declaration of December 1, 1943, which specified that “all the territories Japan had stolen from the Chinese, such as Manchuria, Formosa, and the Pescadores, shall be returned to the Republic of China.” This statement was reconfirmed in the Potsdam Proclamation of July 26, 1945. In September 1945, Chinese armed forces took over the administration of Taiwan from the Japanese authorities.
Pacific Commander MacArthur instructed Japan to hand over Taiwan, Penghu and other areas to the Chinese government, a member of the Allied Powers. According to the Nationalist Government’s declaration of war on Japan and the Cairo Declaration reached by China , the United States and Britain , China resumed its sovereignty over Taiwan Province. Taiwan's recovery. Although Taiwan’s modernization under Japanese rule before the war (1895 to 1945) had outstanding performance, it still failed to completely break away from its role as a colony. Political oppression and economic exploitation caused many people in Taiwan to be dissatisfied.
At that time, there was a popular saying in Taiwan: "Dogs go to pigs", describing that the Japanese (dogs) ruled Taiwan had just ended and the National Government (pigs) came again. Dogs can watch the door, but pigs can only eat, which shows the disappointment and dissatisfaction of the people of Taiwan after the Nationalist government replaced the Japanese as the ruler of Taiwan.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
