Table of Contents
BACKGROUND
- The roots of the April 12 Incident go back to the Kuomintang’s alliance with the Soviet Union, formally initiated by KMT founder Sun Yat-sen.
- The Soviet Union’s conditions for alliance and aid included cooperation with the small Communist Party of China.
- Internal conflicts between left- and right-wing leaders of the KMT with regards to the CPC problem continued right up to the launch of the Northern Expedition.
BACKGROUND
- Plans for a Northern Expedition originated with Sun Yatsen. His goal was to extend his control over all of China, particularly Peking.
- After Sun’s death from cancer in March 1925, KMT leaders continued to push the plan, and—after purging Guangzhou’s Communists and Soviet advisors during the “Canton Coup” on 20 May 1926—finally launched the Expedition that June.
- Initial successes in the first months of the Expedition soon saw the KMT’s National Revolutionary Army (NRA) in control of Guangdong and large areas in Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi and Fujian.
STRUGGLE
- In January 1927 the NRA commanded by Chiang Kaishek captured Wuhan and went on to attack Nanchang.
- In response to the advances of the NRA, Communists in Shanghai began to plan uprisings against the warlord forces controlling the city.
- On March 21–22 KMT and CPC union workers led by Zhou Enlai and Chen Duxiu launched an armed uprising in Shanghai, defeating the warlord forces of the Zhili clique.
PURGE
- On April 5 Wang Jingwei arrived in Shanghai from overseas and met with the CPC leader Chen Duxiu. After their meeting they issued a joint declaration reaffirming the principle of cooperation between the KMT and the CPC.
- When Wang left Shanghai for Wuhan the next day, Chiang asked Green Gang leader Du Yuesheng and other gang leaders in Shanghai to form a rival union to oppose the Shanghai labor union controlled by the Communists, and made final preparations for purging CPC members.
PURGE
- On April 9 Chiang declared martial law in Shanghai On April 11 Chiang issued a secret order to all provinces under the control of his forces to purge Communists from the KMT.
- Before dawn on April 12, gang members began to attack district offices controlled by the union workers, including Zhabei, Nanshi and Pudong.
- Chiang dissolved the provisional government of Shanghai, labor unions and all other organizations under Communist control, and reorganized a network of unions with allegiance to the Kuomintang and under the control of Du Yuesheng.
ATERMATH
- Some sources say that over 1000 Communists were arrested, some 300 were executed and more than 5,000 went missing; others claim 5,000-10,000 killed.
- More than 10,000 communists in Canton, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo, Nanjing, Hangzhou and Changsha were arrested and executed within 20 days.
- The Soviet Union officially terminated its cooperation with the KMT while Wang, fearing retribution as a Communist sympathizer, fled to Europe.
- In June 1928 the National Revolutionary Army captured the Beiyang Government’s capital of Beijing, leading to the nominal unification of China and worldwide recognition of the Kuomintang led by Chiang Kai-shek as the legal government of the Republic
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