1916 Death of Yuan Shikai 1918–1920 Siberian Intervention | 1917 Manchu Restoration | |
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1915–1916 Empire of China (Yuan Shikai)
National Protection War 1917–1922 Constitutional Protection Movement 1919 Paris Peace Conference
May Fourth Movement |
The Warlord Era is the common term that refers to the time period of China beginning from 1916 to the mid-1930s, when the country was divided by various military cliques. Followed by the death of Yuan Shikai in 1916, and nominally ended in 1928 at the conclusion of the Northern Expedition with the Northeast Flag Replacement, beginning the "Nanjing decade". However, the division continued to exist into the 1930s, and remained until the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949.
Contents
- Northern Faction
- Anhui clique
- Zhili clique
- Fengtian clique
- Shanxi clique
- Ma clique
- Southern Faction
- Yunnan clique
- Old Guangxi clique
- New Guangxi clique
- Guangdong
- Sichuan clique
- References
The warlords and military cliques of the Warlord Era are generally divided into the Northern Faction and the Southern Faction. The following is a list of cliques within each faction, and the dominant warlords within that clique.
Northern Faction
The cliques in the Northern Faction are evolved from the Beiyang system. Most of them were generals under Yuan Shikai. After the death of Yuan, they separated and formed cliques in their own sphere of influence.
Anhui clique
Zhili clique
Fengtian clique
Shanxi clique
Ma clique
All Ma Clique Generals were Kuomintang members.
Southern Faction
The military cliques in the Southern Faction are generally regional revolutionary leaders that took over after the fall of Qing Dynasty in Xinhai Revolution.
Yunnan clique
The Yunnan Military Government was established on October 30, 1911, with Cai E elected as the military governor. This marked the beginning of the "Yunnan clique".
Old Guangxi clique
Guangxi province announced its independence on November 6, 1911. Originally, the revolutionaries supported the Qing Governor to remain in position. However, he later left the province, and Lu Rongting succeeded his position.
New Guangxi clique
By 1924, the Old Guangxi clique was no longer effective, and was replaced by the New Guangxi clique.
Guangdong
Guangdong was independent on November 8. The Guangdong Army was in the early 1920s mostly dominated by Chen Jiongming. In the 1930s, Chen Jitang was chairman of the government.
Sichuan clique
During the period from 1927–1938, Sichuan was in the hands of five warlords. No warlord had enough power to take on all the others at once, so many small battles occurred, pitting one warlord against another.