Chiang Kai-shek

Born in Zhejiang in 1887, Chiang trained militarily in China and Japan, joined Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary movement in 1908, and commanded the Whampoa Military Academy from 1924. After Sun's death he seized control of the Nationalist party, led the Northern Expedition that unified much of China by 1928, then broke with the Communists in the Shanghai Massacre - igniting a civil war. He prioritized fighting the CCP over resisting Japan's 1931 invasion of Manchuria, until the Xi'an Incident in 1936 forced an alliance. From 1937 to 1945 he led China through the Second Sino-Japanese War from Chongqing, attended the Cairo Conference, and reclaimed Taiwan - where he suppressed the February 28 Incident. When Mao's forces won the civil war in 1949, Chiang retreated to Taiwan, imposed martial law and White Terror for decades, and was re-elected president five times by the same parliament until his death in 1975.