Soviet Russia, Communist International And The Northern Expedition (1926-1927)

The Northern Expedition from 1926 to 1927 was an important and influentialhistorical event during the Kuomintang-Communist cooperation, which wasdeveloped under the guidance and with the help of Soviet Russia and the CommunistInternational. Therefore, Soviet Russia, Communist International and the NorthernExpedition were closely linked to each other. Out of their own needs and interests,Soviet Russia and the Communist International proposed the Kuomintang-Communistcooperation strategy to support and guide China's revolutions.After the beginning of Kuomintang-Communist cooperation, especially after theoutbreak of the May 30th Movement, the whole country witnessed an increasinglyrising revolutionary tide and significant changes in national situations. Under thecircumstances, the Northern Expedition was put on the agenda. However, out ofconsiderations of the international and China's domestic situations, Soviet Russia andthe Communist International held different attitudes with Kuomintang and theCommunist Party of China. In spite of this dispute, the Northern Expeditiondeveloped smoothly. With the development of China's national situations, SovietRussia and the Communist International finally reached consensus with Kuomintangand the Communist Party of China and fully supported the Northern Expedition,providing a great amount of aid covering politics, manpower, financial and materialresources. Under their guidance and with their help, the Northern Expeditionary Armybasically eliminated the troops led by warlords Wu Peifu and Sun Chuanfang withinten months. The revolution expanded to the Yangtze River from the Pearl River andwitnessed unprecedented development and shook the rule of imperialists and feudalwarlords in China. In this sense, the Northern Expedition achieved a remarkablesuccess. Soviet Russia and the Communist International made a great contribution tothis success.However, the Northern Expedition did not achieve its objective of"Down withthe Imperialist Powers and Warlords."New right-wingers, led by Chiang Kai-shek,snatched the fruits of the revolution and became new spokesman of new warlords andimperialists in China, which was inseparable from Soviet Russia and the CommunistInternational's guidance over China's revolution. Since the beginning, they hadattached more importance to Kuomintang and looked down upon the Communist Party of China, so they proposed a strategy of cooperation within the party.It wasunder the influence of this cooperation pattern, Soviet Russia and the CommunistInternational always embraced such new Kuomintang right-wingers as ChiangKai-shek and Wang Ching-weis. They also lacked a fundamental knowledge of theseright-wingers'anti-communist actions. To avoid the disruption of theKuomintang-Communist United Front, they kept making recessions. As a result,rather than saving the united front, they accelerated their anti-revolution steps. ChiangKai-shek and Wang Ching-weis successively betrayed the revolution and grabbed thefruits of the revolution. In this sense, although the Northern Expedition eliminated theforces of Wu Peifu and Sun Chuanfang, it failed. It can not be denied that SovietRussia and the Communist International were strictly accountable for it. To sum up,the Northern Expedition was closely relevant to Soviet Russia and the CommunistInternational.