Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975):

Chiang Kai-shek was an important military leader who helped to shape modern China. In 1912 he participated in an overthrow of the imperial government under Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat-sen, and became the leader of Sun's military. The KMT, or the Nationalist Party, was the official name of Sun's regime. After his death in 1925, Chiang still held military power over the KMT's forces. In 1927, Chiang ordered that the alliance with Chinese Communists be broken, and the Communists to be exterminated. In the 1930's Chiang led campaigns against the Communists, as well as the Japanese in Manchuria. Full scale war with Japan was officially announced in 1937, with Chiang as the leader of Chinese forces. After Chiang's victory in 1945, the Communists that had backed him during the war remembered his betrayal of them, and civil war broke out in China. By 1949 Communists had taken over mainland China, and Chiang fled to Taiwan. Taking over as the leader in Taiwan, he set up plans for economic industrialization and he modernized Taiwanese agriculture. Taiwan grew prosperous economically under his leadership, and he remained in power until his death in 1975.

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