Since the Xinhai Revolution overthrew the Qing Dynasty and established the Republic of China, the political system has changed frequently and the regime has changed many times, so that when we mention the Republic of China now, most of the time we think of the Beiyang Government and Chiang Kai-shek, who has always been known as the chairman of the committee, and almost do not know that the Republic of China still has the position of chairman of the National Government for a long time.
Since Yuan Shikai's dream of becoming emperor was shattered in 1916 and he died in the national condemnation, the Beiyang government immediately fell apart, and China fell into a protracted warlord melee, and finally this chaotic situation was largely ended due to the completion of the Second Northern Expedition, the change of northeast China, and the completion of China's unification in form.
On July 1, 1925, the year before the Northern Expedition, the Nationalist Government in Guangzhou was proclaimed, following the legacy of Dr. Sun Yat-sen and the Russian Communist Party, and actively preparing for the Northern Expedition.
The newly formed National Government of Guangzhou was a member system, with Wang Jingwei, who later became a traitor, and was elected as the first chairman of the National Government in Guangzhou, for a term from July 1, 1925 to March 23, 1926.
At the beginning of 1926, the preparations for the Northern Expedition entered a critical moment, but the anti-communist ideas of a considerable number of senior party members in the Kuomintang became more and more serious, and the contradictions between the two sides began to intensify, and in March of that year, Chiang Kai-shek created the "Zhongshan Ship Incident", and Wang Jingwei was forced to resign as chairman of the Nationalist government and flee France.
Shortly after Wang Jingwei was forced to resign, Tan became acting chairman of the Nationalist government in Guangzhou on the 30th of that month and chairman of the Central Political Committee in April. In July, he acted as chairman of the Kuomintang Central Committee. On 11 March of the following year, Tan resigned as chairman of the Nationalist government.
At the same time, the Northern Expeditionary Army conquered Shanghai and Nanjing, but at this critical moment, the Kuomintang right wing led by Chiang Kai-shek set off a climax of anti-communism, implemented the Qing Party, and established the Nanjing National Government on April 18, with Hu Hanmin as the chairman of the Nanjing National Government, serving until February 7, 1928, and then until October 10, 1928, Tan Yanmin once again became the chairman of the Nanjing National Government.
But it is obvious that the chairman of the National Government at this time was actually the head of state, overseeing the national power, but in fact he was nothing more than a puppet of Chiang Kai-shek.
On October 10, 1928, Chiang Kai-shek replaced Tan Yanmin as the chairman of the National Government, and the chairman of the National Government finally began to grasp real power and could concurrently serve as the commander-in-chief of the navy and air force, only because Chiang Kai-shek, the real power figure of the National Government in Nanjing at that time, was called the chairman, and naturally everything was opened to convenience.
In 1931, the First Plenary Session of the Fourth Central Committee of the Kuomintang was held, and due to pressure from all sides, Chiang Kai-shek was forced to resign as chairman of the National Government, commander-in-chief of the army, navy and air force, and president of the Executive Yuan on December 15, and The Kuomintang elder Lin Sen was called the chairman of the National Government.
But at the same time, the sixth revision of the Organic Law of the National Government, the chairman did not bear actual political responsibility, and could not concurrently hold other positions, Lin Sen became a so-called chairman who had no power and could only take care of the chairman of the Great Seal, and was also a chairman of the National Government who had been forgotten.
At this time, Chiang Kai-shek's cronies were all over the National Government, so Chiang Kai-shek was actually the controller of the National Government, and in 1932, Chiang Kai-shek once again became the commander-in-chief of the Army, Navy and Air Force, and served as the chairman of the Military Commission of the National Revolutionary Army, completely becoming the supreme leader of the Republic of China.
Lin Sen became the longest and least powerful president of the National Government since the establishment of the National Government, and his term of office began on December 15, 1931, until His death in a car accident on August 1, 1943 (there is no evidence that there was an assassination at this time, so it should be accidental).
After Lin Sen's death in a car accident, Chiang Kai-shek again became chairman of the Nationalist Government until May 20, 1948, when the Nationalist Government entered the constitutional period, when the Chairman of the Nationalist Government was replaced by The President of the Republic of China, and the president was Chiang Kai-shek.