War of the Cliques - Warlord Era 1922-1928 (Chinese History Documentary)

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  • Опубликовано: 24 фев 2022
  • Watch our WW2 series Rhineland 45 and all our RUclips videos ad-free on Nebula: nebula.tv/videos/real-time-hi...
    The Chinese Warlord Era was a violent period of chaos and civil war in which multiple factions (so called cliques) fought each other over supremacy in China. After the first Anhui-Zhili War the situation escalated further and more players joined this game of thrones.
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    » SOURCES
    Ch’en, Jerome, “The Chinese Communist Movement to 1927” in Fairbank, John K. & Twitchett, Denis (eds.) The Cambridge History of China: Volume 12, Republican China 1912-1949, Part 1, (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2005)
    Dreyer, Edward L. China at War 1901-1949, (New York : Longman Publishing, 1995)
    Gray, Jack, Rebellions and Revolutions: China from the 1800s to 2000, (Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2002)
    Jordan, Donald A, The Northern Expedition: China’s National Revolution of 1926-1928, (Honolulu, HI : University of Hawaii Press, 2019)
    Jowett, Philip, Chinese Warlord Armies 1911-30, (Oxford : Osprey Publishing, 2010)
    Kwong Chi Man, War and Geopolitics in Interwar Manchuria: Zhang Zuolin and the Fengtian Clique during the Northern Expedition, (Leiden : Brill, 2017)
    McCord, Edward A. “Burn, Kill, Rape, and Rob: Military Atrocities, Warlordism, and Anti-Warlordism in Republican China” in Lary, Diana & MacKinnon, Stephen (eds.) Scars of War: The Impact of Warfare on Modern China, (Toronto : UBC Press, 2001)
    McCord, Edward A. The Power of the Gun, The Emergence of Modern Chinese Warlordism, (Berkeley : University of California Press)
    Nish, Ian, Japanese Foreign Policy in the Interwar Period, (Wesport, CT : Praeger Publishers, 2002)
    Sheridan, James E. The warlord era: politics and militarism under the Peking government, 1916-28 in Fairbank, John K. & Twitchett, Denis (eds.) The Cambridge History of China: Volume 12, Republican China 1912-1949, Part 1, (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2005)
    Suleski, Ronald, Civil Government in Warlord Tradition, Modernization and Manchuria, (New York : Peter Lang Publishing, 2002)
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    »CREDITS
    Presented by: Jesse Alexander
    Written by: Mark Newton, Jesse Alexander
    Director: Toni Steller & Florian Wittig
    Director of Photography: Toni Steller
    Sound: Toni Steller
    Editing: Jose Gamez
    Motion Design: Elise Heersink
    Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: above-zero.com
    Research by: Mark Newton
    Fact checking: Jesse Alexander
    Channel Design: Yves Thimian
    Contains licensed material by getty images
    Maps: MapTiler/OpenStreetMap Contributors & GEOlayers3
    All rights reserved - Real Time History GmbH 2022

Комментарии • 1,8 тыс.

  • @christerprestberg3973
    @christerprestberg3973 2 года назад +1993

    The Warlord Era has to be one of the most interesting and under-covered historic eras on youtube. Also, woop woop for Zhang Zongchang, clearly the best poet of the warlords ^^ .

    • @TheGreatWar
      @TheGreatWar  2 года назад +202

      we are waiting for a collected edition of his poetry

    • @lordgarion514
      @lordgarion514 2 года назад +27

      You're not joking. I'm a history but, and I never even heard of the warlord era until I found this channel last year.
      I'd heard of a few individuals who were called warlords, but not it being a era.

    • @theonlylauri
      @theonlylauri 2 года назад +97

      They ask me how many women I have.
      To be honest, I don’t know either.
      Yesterday, a boy called me dad.
      I don’t know who his mother was.

    • @daviddsun9702
      @daviddsun9702 2 года назад +67

      @@TheGreatWar
      远看泰山黑糊糊,上头细来下头粗。
      如把泰山倒过来,下头细来上头粗。
      From a distance, Mount Tai is black and cloudy, the top is thin and the bottom is thick.
      If Taishan is turned upside down, the bottom is thin and the top is thick.

    • @daviddsun9702
      @daviddsun9702 2 года назад +34

      @@TheGreatWar 1. "Lightning Song":
      Suddenly I saw a chain of fire in the sky, as if the Jade Emperor wanted to smoke.
      If the Jade Emperor doesn't smoke, why is it a chain of fire again?
      1.《咏闪电》:
      忽见天上一火链,好象玉皇要抽烟。
      如果玉皇不抽烟,为何又是一火链。

  • @jona.scholt4362
    @jona.scholt4362 2 года назад +276

    Jesse and The Great War always do a great job on topics I don't know much about. They catch those events in history that normally slip through the cracks and don't get covered. And if they do it is never in much detail. Another enthusiastic endorsement for a video from Jesse and Co!

  • @_ArsNova
    @_ArsNova 2 года назад +651

    Great to see a video on this. The Warlord Era has been partially covered in previous episodes, glad to see it getting something a little more comprehensive. Can't understate how crucial this period is though in modern China's development into what it eventually became, and gives a lens through which one might understand why someone like Chiang Kai-Shek was as much of a ruthless cutthroat as he was.

    • @TheGreatWar
      @TheGreatWar  2 года назад +119

      at the very least it gives you an understanding why "harmony" is such an important credo of the CCP. What they consider harmonic is, of course, quite a bit off from our definition, but the need for stability and order is influenced from this period.

    • @_ArsNova
      @_ArsNova 2 года назад +86

      @@TheGreatWar I agree. My family is from China, my great grandparents grew up in the Warlord Era (great grandfather ended up becoming an officer in the ROC air force).
      Very few people who ended up joining the CCP were convinced Communists. People just joined whichever side they thought was winning, because they wanted the decades of bloodshed, destruction, starvation, and instability to end. Didn't hurt that the Communists were the most appealing to common folk either.

    • @wisdomleader85
      @wisdomleader85 2 года назад +23

      Even the majority of the people who know a thing or two about history in China would just go ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ when this era gets discussed since it was such a messy and confusing clusterf**k.

    • @gofar5185
      @gofar5185 2 года назад +8

      the same scenario happen in the history of mainland china every change of a dynastic rulership... it is why enlightened peoples learned scholars old peoples do their best to put a current ruling class leadership in the right tracks so as to maintain peace and stability in the whole big picture as long as could be...

    • @vnorm2907
      @vnorm2907 2 года назад

      People like Chiang Kai Shek are the kind of people that the West always supports.

  • @FreeFallingAir
    @FreeFallingAir 2 года назад +36

    This was very informative on a part of history that isn't covered in detail nearly enough. Really enjoyed it.

  • @emperorcorning8329
    @emperorcorning8329 2 года назад +187

    I really love how this channel has become more of a broad history channel for the interwar period. It's one of the most fascinating eras in recent human history, yet it gets so overshadowed by the 2 Great Wars and the Cold War.. Keep up the great work!!! :)

    • @davidw.2791
      @davidw.2791 2 года назад +2

      I do believe OP may have made a date typo in the title as the warlord era really started in 1912 not 1922. It’ll then be within WWI (and indeed, Republic of China will declare war on Germany and Ottoman Turkey by 1917) and even more pertaining to the channel’s mission.

    • @extrahistory8956
      @extrahistory8956 2 года назад +5

      @@davidw.2791 Nah, this video was Part 2, since they covered the first 10 years of the Warlord Era (1912-21) in a previous video from 2021

    • @davidw.2791
      @davidw.2791 2 года назад +1

      @@extrahistory8956 Thank you! Do you still remember the title for part one? 👍🏼

    • @Rays_Bad_Decisions
      @Rays_Bad_Decisions 7 месяцев назад

      Before the CCP wiped out all the non Han Chinese China was a lot more divided

    • @user-gf7eu5ys5c
      @user-gf7eu5ys5c 3 месяца назад

      ​@@Rays_Bad_DecisionsI am a minority, but I have never heard of the CCP engaging in genocide. Please stop your spreading rumors

  • @patrickholt2270
    @patrickholt2270 2 года назад +148

    It's no surprise the CCP won in the end. No-one else could solve the warlords problem. You can't stand still in a revolution. You have to go all the way or you'll get swept away by those more radical, or you'll fall into the hands of the counter-revolutionaries you failed to disarm and expropriate because you wanted to be moderate. The communists understood the situation better. The only hope of consolidating the revolution was to destroy the warlords, and that required maintaining the left alliance, because the popular forces, such as the unions and hungry peasants, were too strong to stamp on and couldn't otherwise be controlled. For the communists it was easy to know what to do, because not only was revolution their whole textbook, but they knew who the forces in play were from the Russian Revolution. The warlords were the White generals - counter-revolutionaries who you can't work with and who will certainly try to kill off the revolution, and you with it. So who was Sun Yat Sen, vacillating between left and right, trying to bring everyone together when that was impossible and could only drive people further apart? Kerensky, and the right of the Mensheviks. Trying so hard to keep the bourgeois liberals happy and make them a liberal constitution that he ended up flirting with counter-revolutionaries even though they were drifting towards proto-fascism and talking about a military dictatorship, while his support among the now armed poor was collapsing. When there's no centre, if you try and stay there you get torn apart. So the communists knew what the class forces were, and the fact they were going to start hostilities against each other. Sun Yat Sen jumped the wrong way, trying to please people who ultimately didn't want a revolution at all, both the warlords and the foreign colonialists.

    • @user-nh7et9ob6x
      @user-nh7et9ob6x 2 года назад

      如果孙中山活得再久一点,那么国民党可能可以完成共产主义的改造。

    • @ChenLinYu323
      @ChenLinYu323 2 года назад

      No matter who won the civil war China will finally turn to a nationalist, authoritarianism plus conservatism state , that's the only thing people on this land want, since many young ppl in China are disappointed by current pro capitalist policy because it's so different from the communist education they rcceived through out school years, many ppl saying that maybe it's time to throw that communism signboard away just like Russians did, since it only turns our kids to discontents and potentially harmful to society, we should go full on nationalist instead.

    • @christopherbrice5473
      @christopherbrice5473 2 года назад +12

      Finally a grounded take.

    • @EricChien95
      @EricChien95 2 года назад +3

      Identifying the contradiction.

    • @NeMayful
      @NeMayful 2 года назад

      Great insight. The communists were really close to the grass roots.

  • @oldesertguy9616
    @oldesertguy9616 2 года назад +10

    I'm not sure what it is about your videos, but they pack so much information into such a short space, and your photos and videos are always second to none. Keep it up.

  • @11arkasha11
    @11arkasha11 2 года назад +15

    I am really glad I came across your channel! Wonderfully composed impartial factual historical information. Thank you!

  • @taejo4975
    @taejo4975 2 года назад +47

    Honestly, if people research enough history of the Warlord Era, they will understand Modern China's history without much complication.

    • @lastchangdepapa1247
      @lastchangdepapa1247 Год назад +12

      Too bad, half of the world understand china, from facebook and youtube by the west

    • @tonimasirano7010
      @tonimasirano7010 Год назад

      @@lastchangdepapa1247 the rest of the sorld don't like the west dude. ESPECIALLY THE USA. Are you that ignorant?

  • @Dar_Skirata
    @Dar_Skirata 2 года назад +80

    Thank you so much for this. I am fascinated by the Warlord era and how it created the political foundation for the events to come. The individual warlords themselves are incredibly interesting and I can only recommend everyone to read up on them and their shifting alliances further. There are some more factions and sub-factions that were missing here, but for a 30 minute documentary, this was just excellent.

  • @freddysband3632
    @freddysband3632 Год назад +4

    I know I'm one year late, but hey it doesn't matter. Chinese here that is really interested into history, but of the books I have read on Chinese history, the warlord era was basically a one-liner. Heck, 上下五千年, a famous Chinese history book, stopped entirely at the revolution in 1911 that overthrew the Qing dynasty. 20th century Chinese history is crimminally underrated, thanks for covering this area of history!

  • @JoshuaC923
    @JoshuaC923 2 года назад +8

    Thank for covering a part of history that is often overlooked, looking forward to more

  • @OmegaTrooper
    @OmegaTrooper 2 года назад +25

    China's got so many Game of Thrones moments. Basically their entire history is Game of Thrones.

    • @CollectiveDefence
      @CollectiveDefence 2 года назад +1

      lol

    • @kaganbaykal6984
      @kaganbaykal6984 2 года назад +5

      Well it is for about the same reason. Being a very big geopolitical region that is too big to effectively rule from a center, but bound to unite due to geography. Grrm's Westeros is also too big , but is one continent. Fictional or not , such a place will have a lot of local rulers , all trying to have everything.

    • @otaviodelucca3573
      @otaviodelucca3573 2 года назад

      but it had centuries of unification and peace too

  • @kevx12172002
    @kevx12172002 2 года назад +7

    Man, this channel makes history class exciting!

  • @yangdaowu
    @yangdaowu Год назад

    Thank you so much for this! Great video.

  • @extrahistory8956
    @extrahistory8956 2 года назад +7

    Smedley Butler's reappearance at 21:25 actually got me hyped!

  • @zanedietlin7645
    @zanedietlin7645 2 года назад +8

    What a fascinating and relatively little known part of history. Thanks for this.

  • @Thearbiter96
    @Thearbiter96 Год назад +58

    I love the consistent attention to linguistic pronunciations. I feel it’s often a last thought when it comes to history lectures but, not on this channel. Keep up all the great work!

    • @kidakvls2305
      @kidakvls2305 Год назад +5

      Actually it’s all anglicized pronunciations, one of many examples: Canton is not pronounced the way it is said in the video by any regional dialects nor standardized mandarin.

    • @RakenK
      @RakenK Год назад +8

      What? His Chinese pronunciation is very poor. Half the sounds he is making don't even exist in Chinese. Then there's his tones...sigh.

  • @zsaint4931
    @zsaint4931 2 года назад +71

    The warlord era look fantastic now, but do remember all names of the warlords mentioned in the video are no better than bandit lords: most of them ruled their region with bandit-like soldiers and peasant conscripts, lake both equipments and will to fight, which is why KMT's Northern Expedition is a success.

    • @mcb4067
      @mcb4067 2 года назад +3

      some of those regions prospered far better than the decades that came before and after them, but this is politically sensitive because such a theory undermines the ccp

    • @zsaint4931
      @zsaint4931 2 года назад

      @@mcb4067 U kidding right? I know people who live through warlord era who hate CCP and Mao, says even the CCP era is still better than warlord era, because most regions under warlord regime suffer famine, opium, bandit, harassed by thug soldiers,general instability and constant skirmishes.

    • @mcb4067
      @mcb4067 2 года назад +9

      @@zsaint4931 some provinces did, but for many provinces for a time at least, more democratic than many comparable countries in Europe with considerable stability and continuity in local government even if the central government was weak, at the time a mass amount of chinese were going overseas to study, and penal administration, and judicial reform at the provisional level. while it is true 100,000+ died during this time, we must remember china is big - many provinces mostly went on with life unchanged. only after mao zedongs changes did millions of people die, but after him that is when reform opened up again.

    • @limi8818
      @limi8818 2 года назад

      @@mcb4067 老实说,你很愚蠢,那是我们民族的耻辱时代,任何一个中国人都不会想念那种时代。

    • @SuperValue350
      @SuperValue350 2 года назад

      @@mcb4067 yeah that is just straight up bullshit

  • @seitavw
    @seitavw Год назад

    Thank you so much for posting your sources!

  • @patriciapalmer4215
    @patriciapalmer4215 Год назад +7

    This is the 1st time I've seen more than a mention of the Warlord Era and it's essential in understanding the development of China in the modern era. Thank you !

  • @victorkmlee
    @victorkmlee 2 года назад +84

    Thank you for uploading this interesting video. This is one part of China's history that is so poorly covered but yet so pivotal in the history of modern China. It is critically important to understand the psyche of Chinese politics as she will become the next (or by some measure has become) superpower as we enter Cold War version 2. The warlord period, covers the transition from imperial China to the failed experiment of other forms of government and why China became communist. But the questions should be - what kind of communism and how it differs from the Soviet Union? The West and in particular the US never understood (apart from a few US China experts that were shunned and later persercuted under McCarthyism) China.

    • @mcb4067
      @mcb4067 2 года назад +5

      there were many areas in the warlord period that prospered far better than what came before and after them, but for political reasons it isnt highlighted.

    • @tinyhowie
      @tinyhowie Год назад +13

      @@mcb4067 I wouldn't say many. But the Sichuan region really prospered back then. My history is nearly 3 decades old and I can barely remember. But the general idea is that, most warlords were trying to be kings of their own, and it was the ideology of Sun Yat San, our true Father of China to reunite all of China in one nation. The northward military expedition was to fulfill that dream.

    • @GeneralBlorp
      @GeneralBlorp Год назад

      Lol imagine splitting communist hairs to decide the “better” method … you mean, should they starve their people with guns or starve them with tanks? 😅

    • @ALIEN_857
      @ALIEN_857 Год назад

      Most accurate comment that explains why China embraces the communist ideology. The excesses of the bourgeoisie warlord system pushed China's poor peasants to the brink and seek for a relief from the oppression, much like the well-known French Revolution.

  • @max7890
    @max7890 2 года назад +1

    Thanks for uploading

  • @unimatrix501
    @unimatrix501 Год назад

    This is a part of history i didn't really know about this is really great! Thank you!!!

  • @pacashka8195
    @pacashka8195 2 года назад +7

    2 years have been past since I search this specific topic in these great channel. And now I have it

    • @TheGreatWar
      @TheGreatWar  2 года назад +5

      we also made a video about the first phase of the warlord era, it's linked at the end of this video.

    • @pacashka8195
      @pacashka8195 2 года назад +2

      @@TheGreatWar Oh yes, I saw it!

  • @jatelvidio
    @jatelvidio 2 года назад +6

    Thanks for covering this forgotten topic.

  • @dmenace9288
    @dmenace9288 Год назад +1

    Amazing .. its like a huge puzzle - from stories of old, and now making a lot more sense. Thanks.

  • @bradsillasen1972
    @bradsillasen1972 Год назад +1

    Outstanding content and production!

  • @vasilerogojan4520
    @vasilerogojan4520 2 года назад +72

    It's interesting to realise that in the warlord post-Qing China the former Entente countries, Italy and Japan, supported different factions in their advantages.

  • @GarrettFruge
    @GarrettFruge 2 года назад +115

    I'm really glad the Great War Channel made another video revisiting and expanding on this topic, China's Warlord Era really is a fascinating period in history! I was also glad to see Feng Yuxiang discussed in more detail, he was certainly one of the more unique and interesting characters to me! He along with Wu Peifu are my two favorite personalities of the Warlord Era!

    • @kemuyun5554
      @kemuyun5554 2 года назад

      This is the worst era in China, full of hunger, war and poverty. The West and Japan took the opportunity to invade China and occupy China's land. What a sad past! This is also the reason why the Taiwan government was abandoned by the Chinese people, because they are also evil warlords! This is also the reason why the Chinese support Mao. He made China truly unified, so that the Chinese would no longer be bullied, and the Chinese would have dignity.

    • @linshitaolst4936
      @linshitaolst4936 2 года назад +2

      And xushuzheng, who tried to conquer Mongolia. Unfortunately, he was cruel and made Mongolia and Russia unite

    • @alisontaylor4013
      @alisontaylor4013 Год назад

      Not that fascinating for the people living in that ear.

    • @bak-mariterry5180
      @bak-mariterry5180 Год назад +1

      ​@@alisontaylor4013 Era , not ear .
      No, I'm not a English teacher .
      Just wanted to let you know .

  • @ajh6354
    @ajh6354 2 года назад

    Listening to this at work. Too bad I cannot watch this awesome rare footage. Great War/Great Channel.

  • @ThePro-qn6wr
    @ThePro-qn6wr Год назад

    Dayum, didn't expect so much epic drama, and games of Thrones action lol.
    Very Informative and educational video

  • @hammertoolz
    @hammertoolz 2 года назад +18

    Ah my youth spent studying early 20th Century Chinese history finally coming back to life. keep up the great work team

  • @derrickthewhite1
    @derrickthewhite1 2 года назад +302

    My favorite Warlord is Yan Xishan... who isn't mentioned in the video, because he intentionally avoided joining cliques, and went so far as to ensure that his railroads were on a different gauge than the rest of the country. He ruled Shanxi, kept it out of most of the wars of the period (he's the northern grey enclave in the sea of tan on the video's maps), and when he did have to fight, he fought bravely and well, against the Japanese and Communists. His last political actions were trying to stop infighting in the collapsing KMT.

    • @SublimeHurdle
      @SublimeHurdle 2 года назад +42

      He's worth the praise as his ruling in his territory is better then the others and being the longest surviving warlord

    • @davidw.2791
      @davidw.2791 2 года назад +25

      And his control of his turf, Shanxi province, basically was the top limit in terms of longevity: 1912 to 1949.

    • @Phlegethon
      @Phlegethon 2 года назад +3

      yea ok man

    • @nomooon
      @nomooon 2 года назад +25

      He played it like a short-sighted merchant, waited until Chiang destroyed potential rivals one by one, even sold out his ally Feng Yu Xiang the first time around, then when he was forced to fight Chiang Kai Shek seriously, he can no longer find a strong ally.

    • @jyan9837
      @jyan9837 2 года назад +8

      that's my great great grandfather lol

  • @mikelloyd520
    @mikelloyd520 Год назад +1

    Bloody brilliant. Thank you so much

  • @sonicart77
    @sonicart77 Год назад +2

    Amazing video! 🎉

  • @kevinbyrne4538
    @kevinbyrne4538 2 года назад +51

    Thank you for posting this video. I'm presently researching the life of a prominent Chinese man who lived during this era and this video clarified the confusing history of this period.

    • @peekaboopeekaboo1165
      @peekaboopeekaboo1165 4 месяца назад

      He made factual error when he said "intervention" by Japan in the conflicts ...
      What Japan did was INTERFERED .

    • @peekaboopeekaboo1165
      @peekaboopeekaboo1165 4 месяца назад

      He made factual error when he said "intervention" by Japan in the conflicts ...
      What Japan did was INTERFERED .

  • @joeyj6808
    @joeyj6808 8 месяцев назад +6

    If anyone is interested in learning more about this period, and even trying your luck as a warlord yourself, I suggest the PC game, "Rise of the White Sun". It's been around a few years, and is a whole lot of fun, as well as full of detailed historical info.

  • @weeliano
    @weeliano 2 года назад

    Brilliant documentary! This is my new History channel replacement!

  • @mattanderson6672
    @mattanderson6672 9 месяцев назад +2

    So interesting, Thank you!

  • @xky8124
    @xky8124 2 года назад +378

    The problem with these videos is that they try to draw Chinese map as small as possible. There are warloads in Xinjiang, Qinghai and Tebit, but they do not draw them.

    • @skinnydogkew
      @skinnydogkew 9 месяцев назад +17

      They had no influence in this historical period

    • @hiimryan2388
      @hiimryan2388 9 месяцев назад +77

      ​@@skinnydogkewthe fact is they did. For example the ma family was still very influencial and supported the KMT. the Tibetan also clashed with the war lords in southern China

    • @user-cj5zq1sj5r
      @user-cj5zq1sj5r 8 месяцев назад +5

      ​@@skinnydogkewin fact china in this period actually had

    • @sullyyyCS
      @sullyyyCS 8 месяцев назад +9

      Maybe its because they dont want to get cancelled by china

    • @ihatesovietderp2268
      @ihatesovietderp2268 7 месяцев назад +4

      These cliques were pretty insignificant though

  • @Athrun82
    @Athrun82 2 года назад +321

    It's interesting how China's history repeats itself: from several provinces to one empire, the empire breaks up into several states then a new uniofication and then a new break. This era resembles the past just that we don't have kings but warlords

    • @hanchiman
      @hanchiman 2 года назад +1

      Chinese Warring State period where the war end in Chu-Han Contention between Chiang Kai Shek and Mao Zedong

    • @SublimeHurdle
      @SublimeHurdle 2 года назад +54

      well in the whole chinese history they've broke up four times only.

    • @Athrun82
      @Athrun82 2 года назад +38

      @@SublimeHurdle Tbh that are more times then other nations that exist today.

    • @mikerodrigues9822
      @mikerodrigues9822 2 года назад +70

      @@Athrun82 China is also the oldest nation.

    • @popkhorne5372
      @popkhorne5372 2 года назад +44

      @@mikerodrigues9822 that would be the oldest empire, not nation. And in fact that might not even be true considering its an empire that has been conquered several times and was essentially someone else's empire.

  • @viktordubowskii695
    @viktordubowskii695 2 года назад

    Thank you for the upload. I never new about this period in Chinese history.

  • @hannahskipper2764
    @hannahskipper2764 2 года назад +1

    Great episode!!

  • @comradetiedanski6038
    @comradetiedanski6038 2 года назад +9

    Really recommend the movie called 'let the bullets fly'(让子弹飞), that was set in the warlord era.

  • @micahistory
    @micahistory 2 года назад +133

    It's sad that the warlord period is often overlooked or simplified to communist vs nationalists when so many factions were involved

    • @flyingburningman4602
      @flyingburningman4602 2 года назад +38

      In warlord period communist adn nationalists are allies, you are talking about 1930s Chinese era.

    • @danshakuimo
      @danshakuimo 2 года назад +10

      It did become that later on but at this point it was still a mess.

    • @dutchmilk
      @dutchmilk 2 года назад +4

      only to those who does not understand China at all.

    • @toxicalyss
      @toxicalyss 2 года назад +7

      Erm... its just another repeated cycle within one of China's endless dynasties... Really there were always tonnes of factions coming out of China each time the dynasty collapses.

    • @taejo4975
      @taejo4975 2 года назад

      @@flyingburningman4602 I think he thought the general people thought Warlord Era was just that. Thats what Micahistory probably meant.

  • @JasonSputnik
    @JasonSputnik 2 года назад +2

    Very complicated and understudied period, excellent work guys 👏🏼

  • @oneshotme
    @oneshotme 2 года назад

    Enjoyed your video so I gave it a Thumbs Up as a support

  • @nsao
    @nsao 2 года назад +17

    The Russian Civil War and the Warlord Era are my favorite topics in history. Thanks for this video!

    • @felixsubakti6907
      @felixsubakti6907 2 года назад +2

      And those two are extremely interconnected, imperialists Russian officers trained Chinese warlord in urban warfare and cavalry tactics

  • @OrbitalAstronaut
    @OrbitalAstronaut 2 года назад +20

    I’ve been waiting for more China warlord stuff. It must be my lucky day. 🍀

  • @oliversherman2414
    @oliversherman2414 2 года назад

    I love your channel keep up the great stuff!

  • @hrub
    @hrub 5 месяцев назад +1

    One of my favorite historical eras, amazing to see some footage of it

  • @theluisyoutube
    @theluisyoutube 2 года назад +5

    What a shame that this amazing work is si underrated just 104,100 views. I loved this channel & I wish the best for your channel

    • @brentfarvors192
      @brentfarvors192 2 года назад +1

      Most of us loyal "followers", left when he sacked Indy Nidel...

  • @vasilerogojan4520
    @vasilerogojan4520 2 года назад +25

    It's important to know the power of ideological fervour, this is certainly what Sun Yat Sen and Chang Kai-Shek attempted to get advantage of.

    • @danshakuimo
      @danshakuimo 2 года назад +13

      Unfortunately for the KMT, they would struggle later on due to the lack of a clearly defined ideology and lack of ideological fervor which made them weak against the Communists. Chiang started the New Life Movement but it was a sad meme of an ideology and was too steeped in rituals about being clean as to actually inspire people.

  • @kobe51
    @kobe51 Год назад +1

    Great, great presentation.

  • @diwitdharpatitripathi1420
    @diwitdharpatitripathi1420 2 года назад +2

    with the pace and intensity , something never seen before.

  • @kristiawanindriyanto5765
    @kristiawanindriyanto5765 2 года назад +3

    Really nice video on the Warlord periods in China following the Great War, so many different factions strived for national prominence and control over China

  • @davidmachemer1015
    @davidmachemer1015 Год назад +10

    I've read quite a lot of Chinese history, but never really got into the details of the Warlord era. So this overview was a helpful introduction.

  • @micahistory
    @micahistory 2 года назад +1

    This channel is great, I normally don't like long videos but this is so interesting. keep it up!

  • @elirothblatt5602
    @elirothblatt5602 Год назад +1

    Quite educational, thank you!

  • @CivilWarWeekByWeek
    @CivilWarWeekByWeek 2 года назад +334

    Somehow still a better ending than the GoT final season

    • @TheGreatWar
      @TheGreatWar  2 года назад +99

      more qualified show runners ;)

    • @AmanKumarPadhy
      @AmanKumarPadhy 2 года назад +5

      @@TheGreatWar cant even say shots fired, dems the facts

    • @micahistory
      @micahistory 2 года назад

      did you watch it?

    • @sorcierenoire8651
      @sorcierenoire8651 2 года назад +13

      @@micahistory did you NOT watch it?

    • @micahistory
      @micahistory 2 года назад +2

      @@sorcierenoire8651 yes

  • @extrahistory8956
    @extrahistory8956 2 года назад +4

    Back to form I see. I'm so glad we are back to the interwar period, and starting it with on heck of an episode.

  • @eismann82
    @eismann82 Год назад +1

    Great video

  • @Orly74
    @Orly74 Год назад +2

    I'm glad I've found this channel. Excellent work! I have one observation though you should work on reducing echo on your audio.

  • @dfindy
    @dfindy Год назад +3

    This is the best among none-Chinese media covering this part of Chinese history. Congratulations!

  • @sebastiansutanto5835
    @sebastiansutanto5835 2 года назад +33

    Before my great grandmother left on a ship to Indonesia in 1925, a generation before lived under a decade of a warlord, a generation witnessed the Sun revolution, and a decade before her live the last of the Qing dynasty. My great-grandmother wasn't Chinese but was born a ship to Indonesia however my great-great-grandmother and grandfather were and they used to live in the county-level city of Fujian Province, China. I must imagine what was life like under Anhui Clique then another clique and how lucky they were escaping war.

    • @TheZachary86
      @TheZachary86 2 года назад +1

      How was life under Suharto?

    • @sebastiansutanto5835
      @sebastiansutanto5835 2 года назад +7

      @@TheZachary86 Life under Suharto well let's say there was a split view on it, my father's family side said it was grateful for its capitalist policy and allowing education while on my mother's family side it had one of the worst period of secret police, discrimination, and almost being killed by the army for being suspected of being a communist

    • @EL-FROZZEN
      @EL-FROZZEN 2 года назад

      Bro sorry if this is a stupid question but how was both of your great grandmothers parents Chinese but she wasn’t??

    • @sebastiansutanto5835
      @sebastiansutanto5835 2 года назад

      @@EL-FROZZEN Actually i dunno she was burn during on a ship otw to Indonesia which mean she was born on the sea not on the mainland, do please help me and research does being born on a international ocean in 1925 make her both something?

    • @sebastiansutanto5835
      @sebastiansutanto5835 2 года назад

      @阿孚 Fair enough but i don't know the rule of being born in the sea during the escape to Indonesia make's her both or something

  • @markhough1027
    @markhough1027 2 года назад +1

    Another great job

  • @StephenRayner
    @StephenRayner Год назад

    Excellent video 😮

  • @davesyin
    @davesyin 2 года назад +3

    I really enjoyed the content but the pronunciations of the names made it quite hard to follow. Had to go back and rewatch many parts. If this is challenging, I recommend using the full names of key people. Also recommend keeping maps longer onscreen. Thanks!

  • @XiaolongHistories
    @XiaolongHistories 2 года назад +42

    10:30 Just a correction: Shanghai had long been geographically classified as part of Zhejiang province although it had been held by Jiangsu warlord Qi Xieyuan. The plan for Zhejiang commander Lu Yongxiang was to advance and take the major port city before Qi could contact help from his Zhili allies.(my source says fengtian but that doesnt seem right sincezhang would make a coalition with Lu in the Second zhi-feng war)
    Both sides had around 65000 soldiers and fighting began in late August and ended mid-October.
    Even though fighting consisted of brutal close combat in the buildings of the city, the battle concluded in typical warlord fashion, Qi bribing each Zhejiang soldier with 10 Yuan to leave Shanghai. So i guess it wasnt really the anhui remnants

  • @JettoGospel
    @JettoGospel 2 года назад

    Excellent video

  • @DesmondNZ
    @DesmondNZ 4 месяца назад

    Your topics are great and informative. One suggestion I'd like to make though is that you need to show more maps showing the movements.
    Trying to track the conflicts and gains/losses is difficult given the # of parties/people involved.
    In video, you quickly loose track of the warlords with regards to their areas of influence. Without maps visualising the movements, it becomes a blur of names.

  • @pokefan-ix7sh
    @pokefan-ix7sh 2 года назад +77

    The Warlord Era was a period in the history of the Republic of China when control of the country was divided among former military cliques of the Beiyang Army and other regional factions from 1916 to 1928.
    In historiography, the Warlord Era began in 1916 upon the death of Yuan Shikai, the de facto dictator of China after the Xinhai Revolution overthrew the Qing dynasty and established the Republic of China in 1912. Yuan's death created a power vacuum that spread across the Mainland China regions of Sichuan, Shanxi, Qinghai, Ningxia, Guangdong, Guangxi, Gansu, Yunnan and Xinjiang. The Nationalist Kuomintang government of Sun Yat-sen based in Guangzhou began to contest Yuan's Beiyang Government based in Beijing as the legitimate government of China. The Warlord Era was characterized by constant civil war between different factions, the largest of which was the Central Plains War which involved more than one million soldiers.[1] The Warlord Era ended in 1928 when the Kuomintang under Chiang Kai-shek officially unified China through the Northern Expedition, marking the beginning of the Nanjing decade. Several of the warlords continued to maintain their influence through the 1930s and the 1940s, which was problematic for the Nationalist government during both the Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War.

    • @davidw.2791
      @davidw.2791 2 года назад +3

      And arguably a lot of the warlords started by 1912 (definitely true with Yan Xishan and his turf in Shanxi) they just don’t make too much noise while Yuan Shikai was still alive.
      And then of course as you pointed out, Yuan croaked in June 1916 and we have a power vacuum in the most populous nation on earth.

    • @dboy2462
      @dboy2462 Год назад +4

      The 1906 opium prohibition was a significant factor for the political chaos China went through that time. Without all the money raised from opium taxation, the government did not have the means to stop the Republican revolution and the warlords. So much so, that by 1923 the Chinese Government was "contemplating an opium monopoly, as the only means of raising funds, disbanding the large provincial armies, and saving the country" (Some Truths About Opium, Herbert Giles).
      Also, opium prohibition "failed to
      provide farmers with sufficient alternatives to opium. There is some evidence to suggest that the intervention weakened the Imperial regimes’ authority in (ex-)opium producing areas. A similar resentment may have been felt for the Republican regime. For example, according to Samuel Adshead (1966: 92; 1984), opium suppression in Sichuan Province resulted in negative 'structural alterations of the first magnitude' which undermined the provincial government, both economically and politically. One of the unintended consequences of the intervention being that farmer's discontent with their treatment was a factor in the significant number of rural peoples lending their support for the 1911 Republican revolution (Adshead,
      1966, 1984). It is likely that when the state fragmented in 1917 many disgruntled farmers provided their support to warlords, and other local power holders, promising the repeal of prohibition" (Harms caused by China's 1906-17 opium suppression intervention, James Windle).
      This can be contrasted to how the 1858 opium legalisation was fundamental so save the Emperial government from the rebelions of the time: "Even after this tax-purpose legalisation, the Qing government maintained its moral opposition to opium, arguing that legalisation helped them monitoring opium. The State probably would not have been able to start the industrialization of China without those taxes. Moreover it would have most likely die without the help of the money to crush the many rebellions that were threatening him in the 1850’s-1870" (Opium and the State in China, from the late 15th century to Mao takeover, Alban Landré).
      In conclusion: "Considering the huge contribution of opium taxation to the national treasure of some countries, and the extent to which official monopolies over opium and tobacco financed Government institutions in yet other parts of the world, there can be little doubt that the course of China's history would be profoundly different had it not switched to a disastrous policy of strict prohibition after the Sino-Japonese war of 1894-1895" (Narcotic Culture: A History of Drugs in China, Frank Dikötter, Lars Peter Laamann, Xun Zhou)

    • @GeneralBlorp
      @GeneralBlorp Год назад +1

      @@dboy2462 bro we get it, you wasted tons of time and likely money “educating” yourself and now you are supreme gatekeeper of all things RUclips commentary in your small area of expertise. This is your time to shine. Shine on you crazy diamond!

  • @jamiehume1711
    @jamiehume1711 Год назад +366

    Not all warlords were bad and harsh, but this period is definitely one of the darkest in Chinese history. People hail Mao as the liberator because the pre-Mao time was infernal for Chinese people, and Mao brought hope and enthusiasm to Chinese people.

    • @Schinshikss
      @Schinshikss Год назад +87

      Except that later it was proven that such a glimmer of hope was false.

    • @zhl9802
      @zhl9802 Год назад +66

      @@Schinshikss 当然了 阻止了美军入侵越南和朝鲜,阻止了苏联支持的印度入侵西藏,对于美国来说那是相当难受的。

    • @goodgoddns
      @goodgoddns Год назад +39

      @@Schinshikss 那不是你外国人说了算的。我说你痛恨耶稣痛恨你国的所有总统也是真的了?

    • @USERZ123XD
      @USERZ123XD Год назад +40

      @@Schinshikss but it wasn't tho, in fact the people become more fervent for mao during the culture revolution, what people don't understand that the culture revolution was not a top down but bottom-up movement.

    • @AR15andGOD
      @AR15andGOD Год назад +34

      one of the greatest tricks of all time, and the chinese paid for it big time. Always beware of revolutions, regardless of the ideals or goals.

  • @RubyRuben1128
    @RubyRuben1128 2 года назад

    I’m loving these documentaries

  • @CarlKnoxsundowner603
    @CarlKnoxsundowner603 2 года назад

    Great story telling!

  • @hanchiman
    @hanchiman 2 года назад +15

    The worst part? There were alot of small petty warfare between rival factions or differences and usually they would just force draft peasants at gunpoint

  • @JD78CN
    @JD78CN 2 года назад +16

    This was a great video, my family was part of the Fengtian warlords. My grandmother use to tell me stories about this time.

  • @lkmh3223
    @lkmh3223 2 года назад +1

    great job

  • @DeBeard
    @DeBeard Год назад

    Unbelievable great vlog

  • @jamessmitgaming9091
    @jamessmitgaming9091 2 года назад +305

    As a Kaiserreich fan, it's nice to get an in-depth understanding of the warlord period in China and how and where the Kaiserreich time line diverts from our own. This enables me to better appreciate the lore around China in this alternate timeline

    • @younes2415
      @younes2415 2 года назад +1

      Alternate?

    • @jamessmitgaming9091
      @jamessmitgaming9091 2 года назад +9

      @@younes2415 Alternate timeline as in an event happening differently or not happening compared to our own reality. In Kaiserreich's ( a historical fiction based on a mod for the game hearts of iron) timeline, the Central powers won the Great War instead of the Entente) which affected many places around the world besides Europe

    • @younes2415
      @younes2415 2 года назад +1

      @@jamessmitgaming9091 Ah alright, you meant on the game

    • @flamefang
      @flamefang 2 года назад +8

      Although it's probably one of the better RUclips videos for understanding the Chinese warlord period, this has a few odd errors - mainly with regard to details. Don't treat it as definitive.

    • @brandonk.4864
      @brandonk.4864 2 года назад

      @@flamefang Hey! Didn’t expect to see you here.

  • @dawnstargaming1709
    @dawnstargaming1709 Год назад +3

    As a Chinese,I needed to study Chinese history which include this in the following exam….thx,I learned much much more

  • @nakulponnanna5633
    @nakulponnanna5633 2 года назад

    Great Show 👍

  • @alexspalding6377
    @alexspalding6377 8 месяцев назад +1

    Wow really uh complex and hard to follow. Your video is top notch. Having literally never heard of this period of warring states so with it being new, as well as the situation as it finds itself(very complex workings and relationships ); I think this will be a double watch and requires looking into further !! I cannot believe I have not heard of this with my interest in Japanese history specifically the sengoku jidai.

  • @Tadicuslegion78
    @Tadicuslegion78 2 года назад +6

    Stalin: Alright who are we supporting in China today? *puts on blindfold and pulls name out of a hat*

  • @Littleredhen13
    @Littleredhen13 Год назад +4

    This post is crucial to understand today’s China. Bitter struggles led to hardened attitudes, and concentrated visions.

  • @tomhill8093
    @tomhill8093 Год назад +1

    Great doc.

  • @thcdreams654
    @thcdreams654 Год назад +1

    Great work as usual. Thank you.

  • @bigsmiler5101
    @bigsmiler5101 Год назад +3

    This was nearly entirely new information for me and I "study" military history, as a hobby, more than 99% of the people. I may have to watch it ten times to begin to remember it. for me a challenge is remembering who is who. Names keep popping up and since none are like John George or Ringo, I can't Place them in memory as fast. Perhaps it would be easier if every time you say a name, you also give a half-second pop-up of his picture. Even if you Have no picture of someone, a cartoon sketch will help certain learning-types to remember "oh yeah, he's the one who live in the north and drank lots of tea" (or whatever.) But Don't take away the Map. I can't learn without maps.

  • @kefkaZZZ
    @kefkaZZZ 2 года назад +23

    I would really appreciate it if you would put the colour-coded names on screen every time you say one of them. Having quite a bit of difficulty remembering exactly who is who.
    Great video though!

    • @yeetmefar7490
      @yeetmefar7490 2 года назад +4

      Same. Hard to follow along with names and locations I'm not familiar with

  • @MCorpReview
    @MCorpReview 2 года назад

    Nice 👍 hard to find topic

  • @soppiestwang
    @soppiestwang Год назад

    great video friends

  • @jumpsuit9769
    @jumpsuit9769 2 года назад +5

    I'm from the Philippines, my country is about to be doomed. Watching to learn something from this.

  • @jeffersonwright9275
    @jeffersonwright9275 2 года назад +3

    The Young Marshall sent one of his sons to the Cate School in California, class of 1948. And i know that because my father graduated in the same class.

  • @jhui316
    @jhui316 Год назад

    thanks u for the big history!

  • @brokenbridge6316
    @brokenbridge6316 2 года назад

    Nice video

  • @AeneasGemini
    @AeneasGemini 2 года назад +82

    Until I saw the dates it was actually difficult for me to know which period he was talking about. China has a depressing amount of civil wars. It's a little unfortunate that out of the 10 biggest wars in history (in terms of death toll) the majority are actually Chinese civil wars

    • @Jake-dh9qk
      @Jake-dh9qk 2 года назад +33

      Most wars in China tend to be "total wars" where entire populations are engulfed in wars, not just the ruling regimes or armies.

    • @zennoix9984
      @zennoix9984 2 года назад

      I wonder why is the CCP so authoritarian today?

    • @taejo4975
      @taejo4975 2 года назад +6

      @@zennoix9984 Not that Authoritarian compared to Mao Zedong's time, plus the country prospered after centuries of chaos.

    • @GWT1m0
      @GWT1m0 2 года назад +17

      @@taejo4975 I guess you haven't heard of Qin Shi Huang,
      Book burnings, familial executions & having Capital punishment for A LOT of minor things.
      There's a reason why his dynasty barely lasted after his death

    • @saretgnasoh7351
      @saretgnasoh7351 2 года назад

      @@zennoix9984 based on murica propaganda, yes CCP is authoritarian.
      Better you other media source than western media propaganda, so you can judge by yourself

  • @god6105
    @god6105 Год назад +4

    Crazy how all this happened only 100 years ago. Like my great grandparents lived through this

  • @yqisq6966
    @yqisq6966 2 года назад

    Great work on documenting these fasinating histories.

  • @indianajones4321
    @indianajones4321 2 года назад

    Cool episode