The Canton government prepares an expedition
Regional military leaders divided China in the 1920s. The Nationalist government in Canton sought national authority, supported by cooperation with Communists, Soviet assistance and the Whampoa Military Academy. The Northern Expedition began in 1926, advancing through Hunan, Hubei and the Yangtze region. Military operations accompanied propaganda and labour and peasant organizing. Coalition members nevertheless disagreed over social movements, military leadership and the political structure they expected to establish.
Military advances coincide with a political split
Advancing armies won defections from regional commanders and encouraged unions and peasant associations. In 1927, Chiang Kai-shek purged Communists in Shanghai, with repression elsewhere breaking the alliance. Communists developed new military and rural strategies. Competing Nationalist governments emerged in Nanjing and Wuhan before consolidation. Requisitioning, recruitment and political violence affected residents. The campaign’s objective of unification became entangled with a lasting conflict between the former political partners.
The Nanjing government develops after 1928
Nationalist forces reached Beijing in 1928, and the Northeast recognized the Nanjing government. Nominal unification followed, although regional armies retained substantial power. Central authorities negotiated with them while developing finance, diplomacy and transport institutions. Tariff, currency and administrative reforms expanded, unevenly across regions. Continued warfare consumed resources, and the full-scale war with Japan after 1937 redirected priorities. A new central framework therefore operated amid persistent military and regional constraints.