THE KUOMINTANG IN TRANSITION: IDEOLOGY AND FACTIONALISM IN THE 'NATIONAL REVOLUTION', 1924-1932 (CHINA)

This dissertation is a study of the intra-party politics of the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) in China during the period when the Party transformed itself from a radical revolutionary movement to a conservative ruling machine. The major arguments of the study are as follows: (1) Following the death of Sun Yat-sen in 1925, succession struggle became intertwined with ideological conflict in the KMT as the rival factions upheld different interpretations of Sun's thought to justify their claims of Party leadership. This struggle for control of the post-Sun KMT led to the dissolution of the KMT-CCP United Front in 1927, and continued to shape the Party's history throughout the late 1920's. (2) Succession crisis and ideological confusion gave rise to the predominance of the military in the KMT, which emerged as the final arbitor of intra-party conflict. The subjugation of the Party by the military can be seen first in Chiang Kai-shek's seizure of Party leadership in 1926, and then in the prominent role played by the regional militarists in KMT politics after the Northern Expedition. (3) Chiang's conservative leadership met with tremendous resistance within the KMT during the early years of the Nanking regime. The resistance came from both the civilian leaders who resented the military take-over of the Party and the residual radical elements who still supported the Party line of the United Front period. Not until Chiang's second return to power in 1932 was his control over the KMT finally consolidated.;Drawing its sources mainly from the KMT documents and the recollections of participants in the historical events, the study traces the evolution of factional alignment in the KMT from the Party's Second through Fourth National Congress. Special attention is given to the Western Hills Faction of the mid-1920's and the Left KMT of the late 1920's.