Chiang kai-shek

Jessica Breedlove October 2011 Chinese History Professor Woesler Chiang Kai-Shek I am a great warrior. I have fought countless battles. I have sought to honestly deal with my opponents and supervisors. I have not let down the banner of liberation, nor have I let go of the bar of justice. My deepest desire is for the good of the nationalists. I have devoted my life to fighting for this movement. Although I have faced great opposition, even defeat, I still cling to my cause and stand tall. I am Chiang Kai-shek. I was born in 1887. My mother was widowed at age 22; I was 8yrs old at the time. She always wanted the best for me, and worked hard to provide me with opportunities to become someone important. I honor her. Her deepest desire was that I would grow up to serve our country. I have tried to make her proud. In my early years of education I was an adept student. I was very motivated and driven. I began studying the Japanese language, hoping one day to attend a military academy in Japan. This study served me well in years to come. I was interested in politics and would read the newspaper careful when I had free-time at school. From elementary school I had the military in my sights. This was inspired both by my mother and my teacher, Ku Ch’ing-lien. (Furuya 9-10) Eventually, after scrimping and saving, my mother had the funds to send me to Japan to further my education. Although I was discouraged to find that I had to have special recommendation to attend Japan’s military academies, I found that it was a great opportunity to form friendships and obtain allies while I was there. When I returned home to China I entered the extremely competitive process of becoming an elite soldier so that I could qualify to study in Japan. I succeeded in this endeavor and eventually returned there to learn the art of war. I studied there for 3 years. It was there in Japan that I joined a revolutionary group to overthrow the Qing dynasty. To begin with I was simply rebellious, but the ideas presented sunk in and I felt that indeed China needed to be freed. Right after the Wuhan revolt began me and some of my comrades returned home to China to join in the rebellion. I immediately contacted a friend, Ch’en Chi-mei, who was organizing a simultaneous uprising in Shanghai and Hangchow. He assigned me to travel to Hangchow and take up the military aspect of the insurrection. I gladly accepted. (Furuya 32) I hated the red communists. They started as a part of our Kuomintang party, but then slowly but surely did all they could to take over the entire party- and all of China. I could see the rats that they were from the very start. My negative impression of them began when I traveled to see the direct effect of communism in Russia. I was sent to the Soviet Union in 1923 to investigate their form of government and to see if any future alliances or support could be gained by a relationship with them. I was greatly put out when I saw their military camps and met with their commanders. I felt that they could not be trusted. They offered to help in ways of moral and material assistance, all direct military action was to be avoided, but I still didn’t feel like we should trust them. In fact, when I returned I told the Kuomintang: “In regard to the Russian Communist Party, I believe a distinction should be made between facts and theories. We cannot ignore the facts simply because we believe in certain aspects of their theories. My personal observations lead me to the conclusion that [they] cannot be wholly trusted. I told you that we could only believe about 30 percent of what the Russians had to say. That was really an understatement because, in view of the excessive trust you seemed to repose in the Russians, I didn’t want to upset you too much.” (Furuya 117) The party ignored my advice, saying that due to our lack of funds we had to accept what help we could get, (not to mention those leftists who were glad to be working with a country already using communism in their government). I was disappointed with the decision, but acknowledging that was the party’s decision, I supported them. I was loyal to the KMT. After finally overthrowing the Qing dynasty, elections were held and a house of representatives, plus a senate, were created. They voted on a chairman and wrote a constitution. I was appointed as the [person over the military]. When the news came to me that the communists wanted to be separate and equal with the KMT, I was thoroughly upset. How could we let them have so much power?! Our vision was so different and all they wanted to do was put all of the peasants; people who were uneducated and without manners, into so kind of equal position in life. I saw the Soviet Union! They were dark and dreary. I still dreamed of a democratic China. The idiot of a leader agreed to disagree. He put out a statement with the leaders of the communist group that the KMT and the CCP were both going to govern China- as if that would ever work. I decided that it was my responsibility to take things into my own hands. My party was obviously not taking control of the situation. I began to actively fight the CCP for territory, beginning with Shanghai. Blood began to spill, but we needed a unified country. Just as I was fighting the communists, the Japanese decided to invade. It was my opinion that in order to deal with Japan we had to have one government. I wanted to put out the communist fire and then take care of the Japanese. I traveled to Xi’an to meet plan with some fellow military commanders, and while I was there members of my own political party kidnapped me! Zhang Xueliang and others told me that I must focus on the Japanese before fighting the communists. In addition to their force, I was receiving much pressure from the US government. Japan was a common enemy and they wanted to see if they would conquer China, and conquer her as quickly as they claimed. From all angles people counseled me to postpone my war with the CCP and shift my battle to the Japanese. I didn’t want to agree with them. I knew the gross fungi that the Communists were, that they would spread like a disease, corrupting the entire land if given a chance, but I yielded. I unwillingly agreed to team up with the enemy (CCP) and fight the Japanese. That promise lasted until about 1941. Mao Zedong and I had a particular dislike for each other. While we had to join forces we could hardly get anything done. I could barely stomach looking at that traitor, let alone fighting beside him. It took many other peacemakers to get to any form of agreement, but, alas! We defeated the Japanese in 1945. As soon as possible I shifted my attacks to the CCP. Even when the Japanese surrendered in 1945 I asked that they postpone leaving. I needed to be ready to unify the entire country under the same government, and I had to gather my resources. The Japanese were grateful to me for not implementing severe treatment to the prisoners of war. They were also anti-communist so while they remained in China they were somewhat helpful in locating and exterminating CCP members. The civil war raging within China was not only a battle of arms and of mass, but a battle of image. The key to winning was not just having the brute force, but the support of the people, and the CCP was winning that war in the country side. They were giving peasants property and telling common people to come and join the ranks. Long before the Japanese invaded the communists had spread “anti-Chiang” slogans. What started as ant-KMT transformed into an attack on me! Those dogs sought to turn my own campaign followers against me. There was no misunderstanding on the point that the CCP and I were enemies. In addition to the poor opinion that the CCP had for me (and that they were spreading around the country), some of the military maneuvers that I put into place made the masses dislike me. For example, when the Japanese were attacking I had to retreat a few times. I couldn’t let the Japanese have access to more resources, so I burned the crops and killed the cattle as I went, successfully cutting off to the Japanese, but also causing thousands of the local Chinese to die from starvation. One other incident that harmed my image was the fire of Changsha. I blame it all on those bellow me who failed to complete their assignments, but somehow the people within were not warned before we set fire to the city to keep it from the Japanese. The result was 20,000 civilians killed, while hundreds of thousands no longer had homes. All I can say is that it was for the good of the military. (Barnouin and Changgen 74-75) As the war continued to rage, I fought hard to rid the land of the communists. They used very successful guerrilla warfare tactics. After much travail I cornered them! I was in reach of my goal! I had them surrounded, but for reasons I cannot explain, postponed my attack. In that short window of time, the communists began their Long March, a journey that would be used as a legendary expedition, bringing more people into their red ranks. That was the turning point in the war. Mao became famous and the party breathed new life into their cause. I will forever mourn that situation. Even with all of this conflict within the country, I managed to pull together an election of our republic, and was elected president in 1947. The CCP didn’t recognize this action. Nevertheless I remained in office until 1949, when I resigned. In WWII I was one of the big four allies, along with Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill. Even though I didn’t completely agree with England, the US, or the Soviet Union, our common enemies were Japan, Italy, and Germany. It was something that brought me more publicity, and an opportunity to gain more support. The responsibility of unifying our country, defeating the Japanese, boosting our economic system, creating the right foreign allies, and setting up a functional government all felt heavy on my shoulders. I had such lofty goals for our country! How could we lose so much!? My original master Dr. Sun had long passed away and I missed his counsel and support. This was a point when I had to find extra strength; I had to remind myself of my dream for my country. I pressed on. I knew that the reason the KMT was failing must be because corruption within our party. I also felt that the morality of the people was falling, and I determined that if they were more moral we would have a more successful government. I started the new life movement in to try to get my people to return to their Confucian values and join with the KMT. Unfortunately this movement didn’t catch, and my people continued on their downward plunge into to the gulf of communism. (Bethell 1) I was originally Buddhist, but when I wanted to marry Soong May-ling (my third wife) I promised her mother I would turn Christian. Soong May-ling was the sister-in-law of my mentor, Dr. Sun. She was educated in the US, and became very famous as she helped me build support for the KMT. We were featured in the Times magazine more than once, and met with Pres. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in 1943.

The US was initially supportive of me and my campaign and, until about 1970, recognized me as the voice for the Republic of China in the United Nations. I was a little concerned that their western ways were too modern, but accepted their help. Eventually they lost faith in me and I no longer had their support. People who worked with me kept moving to the US and then giving me a bad reputation. In 1947 I began the White Terror movement. I wanted to cleanse Taiwan, and all of China, of any communists. As a result of martial law and extreme measures that I felt were necessary, some 18,000 to 28,000 people died in the massacre in Taiwan. This was a move to get the people to submit to the new governing powers, namely myself, and I have been forever blamed for the people who were killed. I noticed that now there is even a monument commemorating the event, and that I am chiseled in as the villain. When I lost the support of the US, and the CCP was flourishing I moved my capital to Taiwan. This move began in 1947, although I didn’t leave until 1949. My government in mainland China was simply falling apart. Inflation and corruption had weakened us to the point of shattering. My comrade – tried to negotiate with the communist party, but to no avail. We couldn’t come to terms with one another. I became president of Taiwan in 1950 and was re-elected in 1954, 1960, and 1972. Obviously the officials liked me. I had also become widely known in the Western world, and claimed to represent all of China (including those parts I didn’t currently have control of), which the United Nations agreed to recognize. Even when I was unpopular I held this power. When I moved to Taiwan I took sufficient funds to support the plans I had for the economic system there. Some say that I embezzled precious money, and I did return some of it, but I feel I had more need of it than anyone else. I set in motion new policies that launched the Republic of China into a prosperous economic situation. I also enforced legislature to change the national language to Mandarin, instead of Cantonese. I have to say that I made my mark on Taiwan. Even when I was in Taiwan I tried to help overthrow the communist party in mainland China. I provided funds for some Muslim groups still within the territory, and sent them supplies. I traveled to Muslim groups and asked them to make a greater effort to fight the communists. I even planned to attack with my own troops. I simply couldn’t let my homeland go. I knew that I was so close… I only wished that it would have worked. I died in 1975. It was my wish to postpone burial until China was reunited under the principles which my mentor, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, had directed. I felt very strongly about this, as did my son, Chiang Chinkou. Both of our remains were placed in a temporary mausoleum located near Lake Kindness in Taiwan, until in 2005, at the request of my wife we were buried in the Wuchih Mountain Military Cemetery, Taiwan. In my lifetime I did everything I could to attain my dream: a democratic China. Many people criticize the ways I went about doing this. I would take risks; I would fight battles that didn’t seem winnable. Even when the mainland was completely out of my reach, I reached. When I said I didn’t want to be buried until the country was united under correct principles, I meant it! I am devoted to my principles. The moral code of the people seemed to be completely out of control, and I feel that if we would have adopted the principles presented in the New Life movement, it would have made a huge difference. China would have been drastically different if I would have won the war. I should have won the war! I was in the right, they were in the wrong. My vision of China, better yet, the vision that was originally held by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, would have elevated China high above the stars. We would have dominated all foreign powers. I am bitter that I could not bring my homeland to the state that we wanted, but I can see that now modern China has adopted some of our plans. I do not agree with much of what they do. I can hardly believe that they have declared they are a capitalist country! I never agreed with capitalism, but there are some other things that please me greatly. I am glad that they have made the common language Mandarin. I am really happy that they are showing the nations of the world that China can do great things. I can see that they are becoming more prominent economically. Probably the most grievous thing to me is that with the communists still in control of mainland China there is still friction between Taiwan and the mainland. I anger that there is such a division among the Chinese! Do they not see the glorious way life would be if they were to become a true Democracy?! I wish that I could change it. I wish that I could live more than one life that I could forever fight for my dream. But, I have determined, if there was another, someone else who could bring my country to the great end that I envisioned for it, I would gladly have that person do what they could. Even if I cannot make the dream come to pass, it is sufficient that someone make it happen. It is for the greater good of China.