Sun Yat-sen died in early 1925, just as the Nationalists were poised to regain military control over China. His death left a power vacuum. Many looked to the left-leaning Wang Jingwei as Sun’s most likely successor.
But the Nationalist Party’s senior military commander, Chiang Kai-shek, had other ideas. Previously seen as an apolitical centrist, Chiang used an incident with the Communists as an excuse to seize power. Once a successful offensive subdued the warlords, Chiang began attacking the Communists, while securing his own position as the new Party leader and the President of the Republic of China.
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Fanfare
Opening Theme
《平沙落鴈》 (“Pingsha Luoyan” [“Wild Geese Descending on the Sandbank”])
Composed in 1868 by 蕉庵琴譜 (Jiao’an Qinpu). Public domain.
Performed by Charles R. Tsua, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY 2.5 license. Source.
Closing Theme
Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.