The Chinese state of the 1920s was one of disunified parts, ruled by warlords too strong for civilians to oust and too weak to resist the demands and bribes of foreign powers. China's treaty ports were crucibles of change in which congregated the educated elite, exposed to modern ways, who felt the need for a national revolution to revitalize their country and to provide her with a new, more integrated political system. Nationwide in their origins and representing varying political ideologies, this elite formed a loose coalition to achieve a common goal. In 1926 the first step in the military campaign known as the Northern Expedition was launched to conquer the armed forces of the warlords, the greatest obstacle in the path toward reunification of China. Until now, historians have ascribed much of the success of the Northern Expedition, culminating in the capture of Peking, to the Communist-led mass organizations who were reported to have won over the populace in the territory ahead of the National Revolutionary Army. Dr. Jordan's research, especially in Communist materials, has uncovered evidence indicating that, although the mass organizations did aid the army at particular points in 1925 and 1926, there had also been a side to the mass movement that was disruptive to the goal of reunification. Of additional import, some of the key participants in the later governments of Taiwan and Peking—among them Chiang Kai-shek, Mao Tse-tung, Chou En-lai, and Lin Piao—received their basic political training in the National Revolution.

A unique account of the Chinese Revolution, seen through the eyes of American journalist Rayna Prohme.

What does a Dutchman have to do with the rise of the Chinese Communist Party? Finding Allies and Making Revolutionby Tony Saich reveals how Henk Sneevliet (alias Maring), arriving as Lenin's choice for China work, provided the communists with two of their most enduring legacies: the idea of a Leninist party and the tactic of the united front. Sneevliet strived to instill discipline and structure for the left-leaning intellectuals searching for a solution to China's humiliation. He was not an easy man and clashed with the Chinese comrades and his masters in Moscow. This new analysis is based on Sneevliet's diaries and reports, together with contemporary materials from key Chinese figures, and important documents held in the Comintern's China archive.

Based mainly on Russian and Chinese archival sources that have become available only since the early 1990s, the authors of this collection explore the main aspects of the Chinese Revolution in the crucial period of the 1920s, such as the United Front policy, the development of communism, the Guomindang perspective, institutional issues and social movements. The various approaches and interpretative methods employed by the contributors from seven countries have resulted in a collection of articles representing four very different and until now almost independent discourses: the European, the American, the Chinese, and the Russian.

"In the 20th and 21st century revolutions have become more urban, often less violent, but also more frequent and more transformative of the international order. Whether it is the revolutions against Communism in Eastern Europe and the USSR; the "color revolutions" across Asia, Europe and North Africa; or the religious revolutions in Iran, Afghanistan, and Syria; today's revolutions are quite different from those of the past. Modern theories of revolution have therefore replaced the older class-based theories with more varied, dynamic, and contingent models of social and political change. This new edition updates the history of revolutions, from Classical Greece and Rome to the Revolution of Dignity in the Ukraine, with attention to the changing types and outcomes of revolutionary struggles. It also presents the latest advances in the theory of revolutions, including the issues of revolutionary waves, revolutionary leadership, international influences, and the likelihood of revolutions to come. This volume provides a brief but comprehensive introduction to the nature of revolutions and their role in global history"--