Zhang Zuolin
(Haicheng, Liaoning Province, 1876-Mukden, 1928) Chinese general.He was governor general of Manchuria, a region of which he became a dictator, and in which he established a tyrannical regime.He controlled Manchuria and much of northern China between 1913 and 1918.
Zhang Zuolin
He was born into a humble Manchurian peasant family.In his childhood he exercised the office of pastor.The poverty in which his family lived led him to join a group of Manchurian bandits, of which he became head.By 1904 his name had become that of the most famous bandit in Manchuria.
That same year he became the leader of a Manchu militia that fought fervently for Japan in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905).His performance earned him the support of the Japanese, who in 1911 succeeded in having him appointed military governor of the province of Fengtien, shortly after the proclamation of the Republic.In gratitude, he granted the Japanese broad economic exploitation rights over the wealth of the region.This Japanese support was decisive for the increase of its power.
From 1916 it participated actively in the series of civil wars that until 1928 devastated China.In March 1918, after conquering Beijing for a short time, he was appointed inspector-general of the three provinces that made up Manchuria.He began to apply a dictatorial policy, gaining direct control of all civil aspects of the administration.In 1920 he tried to expand his power in northern China.Since then he has faced for control of Beijing with the troops of Wu Peifu and Feng Yuxiang.Thanks to his military victories he managed to increase his power, which allowed him in 1921 to declare Manchuria an independent province, of which he became dictator.
He established a government headed by a triumvirate of which he himself formed part.along with Wang Shagyuan and Caokun.His military victories made Zhang Zuoling the most powerful man in China.From his post, he tried to prevent Soviet influence from spreading through the country.His military campaigns reached their greatest success in 1924 when, after several failed attempts, he managed to take the city of Peking.In 1927 he formed a government of national unity based in the capital, of which he was appointed president with full powers.The government assumed the functions exercised by the government of any sovereign state, including that of negotiating with foreign powers.
It tried to unify the many existing currencies in China into one.His ultimate intention was to found a new imperial dynasty.Their expansion plans were collided with the presence of the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) troops, whose forces had invaded northern China.Southern Nationalist troops succeeded in driving Zuoling's men out of the city of Beijing in 1928.Desperate over military setbacks and abandoned by the Japanese troops who had hitherto been instrumental in maintaining his power in Manchuria, he ordered his troops head north.
Zhang Zuoling was assassinated on June 4, 1928 when the train in which he was fleeing the capital to the north was blown up by the Japanese secret services, as the Japanese authorities were unhappy with the policy independentista and nationalist who was carrying out in Manchuria.This action was intended to facilitate the occupation of Manchuria by Japanese troops.He was succeeded in command of the Manchu troops by his son Zhang Xueliang.
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