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From Bad To Worse - The Kuomintang in 1928
LeoXiao - I know! But facial hair aside, he was nowhere near ruthless enough.
Paul MacQ - Lol I like that description, shifty but unlikely!
Alratan - Exactly, we might see the British-Japanese alliance go a lot more smoothly ITTL with massive reprecussions for Japanese domestic politics...
Hashasheen - Spain didn't exactly get invited. A bunch of Spanish citizens got killed in cold blood leading to foreign intervention. The money that Spain will make from the taxes and tolls from the area will more than pay for the cost of any expeditionary force. What about logistics? There's plenty of armed muscle wandering around - at low -cost in China. All Spain needs is a token force to 'supervise' said armed bands.
Nivek - Let's just say that China will get back what it lost and then some more when the Spanish Civil War rolls around. All those lovely gold reserves in Madrid do need to go somewhere for 'safekeeping' right?
About Wang: Those are very valid points, but remember that the two men work together in Shanghai for nearly a year when Chiang was in hiding. This leads to a somewhat more personal relationship between the two. If you want an analogue to our TL the partnership between then is like Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. There's deep distrust sure, but there's also deep respect and at the end of the day neither will stab each other in the back because they need each other too much. (Or will they)
Hang on to your horses - will there even be Barbarrossa in TL? A world 'progressive' alliance - at least in name- is certainly possible against Franco-British Imperialism (tm)
Thanks Nivek, I don't think this TL will be that good. This is nothing compared to Faelin's The Revolution is Not Yet Over or Hendryk's Superpower Empire TL. But I do appreciate the sentiment
Hendryk - You're very right Hendryk. I'll probably retcon it to 150 years. And Zhang proclaims himself as Emperor of China, Manchuria and Mengouko but the first one is a pretty empty claim, but I'll retcon it in V2 to make it clear.
_____________________________________________________________
From Bad To Worse - The Kuomintang in 1928
1928 was not a good year for the Kuomintang. It began bleakly with a panicked T.V Soong announcing to the Central Committee that the country's silver reserves had all been depleted by the Treaty of Beijing and they were down to 5% of the previous year's level. If merchants were to discover that the strenght of the currency had been badly eroded - hyperinflation was soon to follow with it's dire consequences. Furthermore, a drained treasury would stall many of the regime's social, military and economic reforms which all needed money to function.
An example of the varous currencies floating around in China
T.V Soong however, had a clever plan. He would stabilize the economy by issuing a new currency that would replace the various regional currencies that were in use. But before he announced the change, the regime would slowly buy foreign currency, gold and silver with these regional currencies which would provide a solid underpinning for the New Yuan. The reaction from Sun was unexpected and somewhat insane. Ranting madly, he threw his chair at Soong accusing him of "positioning himself as a leadership challenge." With the mad fury that only insanity can grant he threw the meeting table at Soong and stormed out of the room furiously.
Such episodes were becoming increasingly common as the year went by. Chiang's proposals for military reform was greeted by icy stares and accusations of treachery and 'military coupist tendencies and caesarism.' Wang's proposals for land and social reform was met with outright contempt with Sun screeching that Wang was "dog and puppet of the communists." Sun had seemingly completely lost the plot and there was nothing that the Triumverate could do about it. Any move would arouse suspicions of disloyalty to an already unstable mind. And so they waited while China stagnated. The Emperor had no clothes, but the princes and nobles were all loath to speak lest they poison their own succession.
Things could not seem to get worse. But they did. Diplomatic pressure was bought to bear on Weimar Germany to end it's cooperation and aid to the Chinese Republic. Faced with the stick of Franco-British trade sanctions and the carrot of reduced reparations, Germany agreed. It would remove it's official support for the Chinese Missions. Where there was once tens of thousands of German advisors, experts and engineers there were only a few hundred by the years end. Von Lundendorf was recalled to Germany. Chinese ship orders to German Naval yards were cancelled. Out of those few hundred the most significant figure was Wilhelm Canaris who became head of the now unofficial mission.
Without German advisors, the military modernization screeched to a grindingly slow pace. China had 5,000,000 soldiers under arms and only 500 German advisors to train and advise. Although the "Whampoa Generation" were starting to make their presence felt, China still needed foreign expertise, especially in the construction and practice with modern equipment like artillery and aircraft. China was seemingly without friends in the world and led by an increasingly ill, both mentally and physically leader.
Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining - The Red Napoleon
The Soviet Union's reaction to the Treaty of Beijing pleased the Chinese Republic - winning it many friends. Germany's withdrawal of it's Technical and Military mission left a large hole which only the Soviet Union was prepared to fulfill. Although the Soviet advisors had been mostly sidelined at almost every turn by their German counterparts, the departure of so many Germans meant that Soviet influence could only increase.
http://images.google.co.nz/url?sour...a1.jpg&usg=AFQjCNFpqnnWxoDjFKmz1xr0HTHKW2mEHg
Leon Trotsky to members of the Soviet Advisory Force: "We are going to China!"
A sign that the Soviet Union was taking China very seriously was the departure of the former Head of the Red Army and the "Red Napoleon" Leon Trotsky for China from Alma Ata in January 31, 1928. Leon Trotsky had found himself at the sharp end of a losing power struggle against Stalin. Stalin decided to remove a potential for a "Trotskyist" comeback by gathering all the senior "Trotskyists" and other possible opponents and sending them to China as part of increased Soviet aid. Sending Trotsky to China made sense for Stalin on a number of levels. Diplomatically, sending such a senior figure would be a sign that the Soviet Union took China seriously. Militarily, Trotsky was an accomplished general and his presence would be welcomed. Politically, the move strengtened Stalin by removing Trotsky from the country. It also strengtened the hand of the Chinese Communist Party who could draw prestige from such a senior figure.
The road to China would be long and ardous. It is perhaps telling of Stalin's intentions that while the rest of the advisory team (consisting of technical experts and agricultural scientists) flew or took the ship to China, Trotsky and all those associated with him had to take the long winding road of the Silk route where there was a strong possibility that they would get killed by wandering warlord troops, bandits and other desperates. But still, Trotsky had to take the gamble for it was his only chance of survival.
Another power that China had friendly relations with was the United States of America. Whereas most European goods were boycotted by the Chinese in the aftermath of the Treaty of Beijing, American goods were not. This led to an increase of commercial relations between the two countries. American recognition of the Kuomintang regime was also a significantly improved factor in the warming of relations between the two countries. Trade links continued to grow between the two nations.
Although overall, 1928 was an extremely bad year for the Kuomintang. It's authority became increasingly shaky as a result of being run by a crazy, paranoid, senile and weak old man. It's foreign policy lay in tatters. However, in hindsight perhaps things weren't so bad. The increased ties with the Soviet Union and the United States of America would prove to be a great blessing in more ways than one.
Next Update : Three weddings and a funeral.
Feedback and comments always welcome/actively solicited.
Paul MacQ - Lol I like that description, shifty but unlikely!
Alratan - Exactly, we might see the British-Japanese alliance go a lot more smoothly ITTL with massive reprecussions for Japanese domestic politics...
Hashasheen - Spain didn't exactly get invited. A bunch of Spanish citizens got killed in cold blood leading to foreign intervention. The money that Spain will make from the taxes and tolls from the area will more than pay for the cost of any expeditionary force. What about logistics? There's plenty of armed muscle wandering around - at low -cost in China. All Spain needs is a token force to 'supervise' said armed bands.
Nivek - Let's just say that China will get back what it lost and then some more when the Spanish Civil War rolls around. All those lovely gold reserves in Madrid do need to go somewhere for 'safekeeping' right?
About Wang: Those are very valid points, but remember that the two men work together in Shanghai for nearly a year when Chiang was in hiding. This leads to a somewhat more personal relationship between the two. If you want an analogue to our TL the partnership between then is like Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. There's deep distrust sure, but there's also deep respect and at the end of the day neither will stab each other in the back because they need each other too much. (Or will they)
Hang on to your horses - will there even be Barbarrossa in TL? A world 'progressive' alliance - at least in name- is certainly possible against Franco-British Imperialism (tm)Thanks Nivek, I don't think this TL will be that good. This is nothing compared to Faelin's The Revolution is Not Yet Over or Hendryk's Superpower Empire TL. But I do appreciate the sentiment
Hendryk - You're very right Hendryk. I'll probably retcon it to 150 years. And Zhang proclaims himself as Emperor of China, Manchuria and Mengouko but the first one is a pretty empty claim, but I'll retcon it in V2 to make it clear.
_____________________________________________________________
From Bad To Worse - The Kuomintang in 1928
1928 was not a good year for the Kuomintang. It began bleakly with a panicked T.V Soong announcing to the Central Committee that the country's silver reserves had all been depleted by the Treaty of Beijing and they were down to 5% of the previous year's level. If merchants were to discover that the strenght of the currency had been badly eroded - hyperinflation was soon to follow with it's dire consequences. Furthermore, a drained treasury would stall many of the regime's social, military and economic reforms which all needed money to function.
An example of the varous currencies floating around in China
T.V Soong however, had a clever plan. He would stabilize the economy by issuing a new currency that would replace the various regional currencies that were in use. But before he announced the change, the regime would slowly buy foreign currency, gold and silver with these regional currencies which would provide a solid underpinning for the New Yuan. The reaction from Sun was unexpected and somewhat insane. Ranting madly, he threw his chair at Soong accusing him of "positioning himself as a leadership challenge." With the mad fury that only insanity can grant he threw the meeting table at Soong and stormed out of the room furiously.
Such episodes were becoming increasingly common as the year went by. Chiang's proposals for military reform was greeted by icy stares and accusations of treachery and 'military coupist tendencies and caesarism.' Wang's proposals for land and social reform was met with outright contempt with Sun screeching that Wang was "dog and puppet of the communists." Sun had seemingly completely lost the plot and there was nothing that the Triumverate could do about it. Any move would arouse suspicions of disloyalty to an already unstable mind. And so they waited while China stagnated. The Emperor had no clothes, but the princes and nobles were all loath to speak lest they poison their own succession.
Things could not seem to get worse. But they did. Diplomatic pressure was bought to bear on Weimar Germany to end it's cooperation and aid to the Chinese Republic. Faced with the stick of Franco-British trade sanctions and the carrot of reduced reparations, Germany agreed. It would remove it's official support for the Chinese Missions. Where there was once tens of thousands of German advisors, experts and engineers there were only a few hundred by the years end. Von Lundendorf was recalled to Germany. Chinese ship orders to German Naval yards were cancelled. Out of those few hundred the most significant figure was Wilhelm Canaris who became head of the now unofficial mission.
Without German advisors, the military modernization screeched to a grindingly slow pace. China had 5,000,000 soldiers under arms and only 500 German advisors to train and advise. Although the "Whampoa Generation" were starting to make their presence felt, China still needed foreign expertise, especially in the construction and practice with modern equipment like artillery and aircraft. China was seemingly without friends in the world and led by an increasingly ill, both mentally and physically leader.
Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining - The Red Napoleon
The Soviet Union's reaction to the Treaty of Beijing pleased the Chinese Republic - winning it many friends. Germany's withdrawal of it's Technical and Military mission left a large hole which only the Soviet Union was prepared to fulfill. Although the Soviet advisors had been mostly sidelined at almost every turn by their German counterparts, the departure of so many Germans meant that Soviet influence could only increase.
http://images.google.co.nz/url?sour...a1.jpg&usg=AFQjCNFpqnnWxoDjFKmz1xr0HTHKW2mEHgLeon Trotsky to members of the Soviet Advisory Force: "We are going to China!"
A sign that the Soviet Union was taking China very seriously was the departure of the former Head of the Red Army and the "Red Napoleon" Leon Trotsky for China from Alma Ata in January 31, 1928. Leon Trotsky had found himself at the sharp end of a losing power struggle against Stalin. Stalin decided to remove a potential for a "Trotskyist" comeback by gathering all the senior "Trotskyists" and other possible opponents and sending them to China as part of increased Soviet aid. Sending Trotsky to China made sense for Stalin on a number of levels. Diplomatically, sending such a senior figure would be a sign that the Soviet Union took China seriously. Militarily, Trotsky was an accomplished general and his presence would be welcomed. Politically, the move strengtened Stalin by removing Trotsky from the country. It also strengtened the hand of the Chinese Communist Party who could draw prestige from such a senior figure.
The road to China would be long and ardous. It is perhaps telling of Stalin's intentions that while the rest of the advisory team (consisting of technical experts and agricultural scientists) flew or took the ship to China, Trotsky and all those associated with him had to take the long winding road of the Silk route where there was a strong possibility that they would get killed by wandering warlord troops, bandits and other desperates. But still, Trotsky had to take the gamble for it was his only chance of survival.
Another power that China had friendly relations with was the United States of America. Whereas most European goods were boycotted by the Chinese in the aftermath of the Treaty of Beijing, American goods were not. This led to an increase of commercial relations between the two countries. American recognition of the Kuomintang regime was also a significantly improved factor in the warming of relations between the two countries. Trade links continued to grow between the two nations.
Although overall, 1928 was an extremely bad year for the Kuomintang. It's authority became increasingly shaky as a result of being run by a crazy, paranoid, senile and weak old man. It's foreign policy lay in tatters. However, in hindsight perhaps things weren't so bad. The increased ties with the Soviet Union and the United States of America would prove to be a great blessing in more ways than one.
Next Update : Three weddings and a funeral.
Feedback and comments always welcome/actively solicited.
- CCA
- Word Count: 1.4k