Wang Jingwei and Chiang Kai-shek were the two most influential political forces within the Kuomintang in the post-Sun Era. In terms of seniority within the party, Wang Jingwei was far superior to Chiang Kai-shek. Wang Jingwei participated in the preparation of the League in 1905 and was elected as the speaker of the Deliberation Department, which was an important pen pole in the early days of the League. At this time, Wang Jingwei was only in his 20s, with good eloquence and good writing, and was a powerful cadre of Sun Yat-sen's propaganda revolution. Chiang Kai-shek did not begin to gain sun yat-sen's attention and trust until Chen Jiongming's defection in 1922, and after more than a month of suffering with Sun Yat-sen on the Yongfeng ship.
Before Sun Yat-sen's death, Wang Jingwei was already one of the core leaders of the Kuomintang. At the beginning of 1925, when Sun Yat-sen was critically ill, Wang Jingwei drafted a will for him, which was approved and signed by Sun. In July of that year, the National Government was established, and Wang Jingwei was elected chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Government and chairman of the Military Commission. At this time, Chiang Kai-shek was the commander of the First Army of the National Revolutionary Army. In the army, Chiang's position was not the highest (there was Xu Chongzhi above him), and his strength was not necessarily the strongest (Li Jishen's Fourth Army was stronger). However, Chiang Kai-shek's status has steadily improved, and Wang Jingwei has lost more and more power, and he is not Chiang Kai-shek's opponent at all.
It is generally believed that Chiang Kai-shek has military power, while Wang Jingwei is a politician and has no military power, so he cannot fight Chiang Kai-shek. But in fact, Chiang Kai-shek's military power is not so stable. In August 1927, the Gui clan and the Nationalist government in Wuhan worked together to force Chiang Kai-shek to step down, and Chiang's first general, He Yingqin, did not support Chiang. It can be seen that Chiang Kai-shek's control over the army is not so strong. Wang Jingwei was not without influence on the army. In 1925, Wang Jingwei served as chairman of the Military Commission and as a representative of the General Party of the Whole Army, and could appoint party representatives in each army. At that time, the Kuomintang was still cooperating with the Soviet Union, and the power of the party representatives was very large. For example, Zhang Fakui and other powerful soldiers also support Wang. It can be seen that Wang Jingwei was not able to fight Chiang Kai-shek, not only because he did not have military power.
The author will briefly analyze for you that in addition to the military, Wang Jingwei is still inferior to Chiang Kai-shek.
1. First of all, Chiang Kai-shek is more courageous and decisive than Wang Jingwei. Wang Jingwei was weak-willed.
A representative example is the "Zhongshan Ship Incident", which Chiang Kai-shek launched in some risks under extremely unfavorable circumstances. Under the pretext of the "change" of the Zhongshan warship, he suddenly declared martial law in Guangzhou, sent troops to arrest Li Zhilong, acting director of the Naval Bureau, and many party representatives of various armies, and surrounded the soviet advisers' residences and some organs. As a result of compromises and concessions from the Soviet side, Chiang Kai-shek greatly consolidated his position.
Wang Jingwei was relatively weak and incompetent. Wang Jingwei was the chairman of the Nationalist Government and the chairman of the Military Commission, and Chiang Kai-shek did not ask him to call on the army without authorization, which greatly violated his authority. Wang Jingwei wanted to seek the support of Li Jishen and other military commanders to counter Chiang Kai-shek, but he did not receive support. Wang Jingwei chose to resign and run away from home.
In the handling of this matter, wang Jingwei's shortcomings of weak will are obvious. Chiang Kai-shek launched an incident that seriously violated Wang Jingwei's authority. Wang Jingwei wanted to fight back, but he did not get the support of Soviet representatives and other generals. This was indeed a serious failure for Wang Jingwei. But Wang Jingwei did not have to resign and run away.
Although Chiang Kai-shek succeeded in his adventures, his foundation was not solid after all. The Soviets did not really support Chiang Kai-shek, but only compromised for the sake of the overall situation of the Northern Expedition. Li Jishen and other military commanders only remained neutral and did not oppose Wang Jingwei. Chiang Kai-shek did not dare to directly target Wang Jingwei in this incident. Wang Jingwei was still able to keep his position as supreme leader of the Nationalist government. For Wang Jingwei, there is still a chance to accumulate strength and fight back. Wang Jingwei was the leader of the left at that time, he easily resigned and fled, and the leftists were even more leaderless, which was equivalent to ceding the supreme power to Chiang Kai-shek.
At that time, the Northern Expedition War was about to break out, and the Territory of the Kuomintang was expanding rapidly. Chiang Kai-shek, Tang Shengzhi, Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi, Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang, and others all seized the opportunity to expand their power on a large scale. During this important period, Wang Jingwei ran abroad, and his power did not grow.
If he endured humiliation and burdens after the Zhongshan incident, under the unpredictable situation, he might not have the opportunity to counterattack Chiang Kai-shek. In the Northern Expedition, as the chairman of the National Government, he had a greater chance of dividing up the fruits of victory.
2. Wang Jingwei lacks political advocacy and jumps left and right
Since the "Zhongshan Ship Incident" in March 1926, Chiang Kai-shek has "jumped back" and become a representative of the New Right faction of the Kuomintang. Wang Jingwei is considered the leader of the left wing within the Kuomintang.
Later, Chiang Kai-shek launched the "April 12" coup d'état in April 1927, and Wang Jingwei launched the "July 15" coup in July, which also "jumped back".
In terms of "jumping back" time, Wang Jingwei was more than a year later than Chiang Kai-shek. For the rightists and reactionaries, it is certain that Chiang Kai-shek is more worthy of following. Who knows if Wang Jingwei was forced by the situation to "jump back"?
Wang Jingwei can be described as a speculator. When the Left was encountering difficulties, Wang Jingwei, the leader of the Left, took the lead in betraying the revolution and jumping to the Right. But in this way, Wang Jingwei not only lost the support of the left, but also lagged behind Chiang Kai-shek in attracting the right.
3. The energy of Wang Jingwei's wife is not as good as that of Chiang Kai-shek's wife
Wang Jingwei's wife is Chen Bijun, who is also a relatively capable Kuomintang member. She joined the League in 1905 and did fundraising and other work, making great contributions. Chen Bijun was elected as a member of the Kuomintang Supervision Commission and a member of the Standing Committee, mainly relying on his own ability, not on her husband.
Chiang Kai-shek's wife was Soong Mei-ling. In terms of personal ability, Song Meiling is also very strong. But Chen Bijun is a veteran figure in the Kuomintang, and his position in the party is much stronger than that of Song Meiling.
In terms of comprehensive personal ability and position within the party, Chen Bijun is even better. But Chiang Kai-shek's marriage to Soong Mei-ling brought him two extremely important allies.
The first is Song Ziwen. Song Ziwen holds a master's degree in economics from Harvard University and a doctorate in economics from Columbia University, and has worked in international banks. Even today, such academic qualifications and professional experiences are very dazzling. A hundred years ago, this was one of the best talents,
As early as August 1924, Song Ziwen had already served as the governor of the central bank of the Guangdong government, and in 1925 he became the minister of finance of the Nationalist government. Many people believe that Soong Tzu-wen's development depended on Chiang Kai-shek. In fact, it was not the case that Jiang and Song were married at the end of 1927. In 1925, Song Ziwen was already an important figure in the national government's control of finance.
Song Ziwen not only held financial power, but also had close relations with the big capitalists in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. With the help of Song Ziwen, Chiang Kai-shek's strength increased greatly. Because Chiang Kai-shek was a soldier, Chiang Kai-shek and his generals were not very good at finance, finance, and how to deal with capitalists. For warlords, without financial support, the army could collapse at any time. Soong Ziwen, an ally with a money bag, was too important to Chiang Kai-shek. At that time, Liu Bang commented on the heroes, believing that Xiao He was the first, better than those military generals who were born into death. Soong Ziwen is Chiang Kai-shek's Xiao He.
Kong Xiangxi is also a talent in finance and economics (he has a master's degree in physics and chemistry from Yale University). Kong Xiangxi was Sun Yat-sen's brother-in-law, who won the trust of Mr. Sun and was one of the signatories of the Prime Minister's Will. In the winter of 1926 Kong Xiangxi was appointed minister of finance of Guangdong Province, and in March 1927, he was appointed minister of industry by the National Government of Wuhan. Kong Xiangxi also had an important position within the Kuomintang.
By marrying Soong Mei Ling, Chiang Kai-shek, Song Ziwen and Kong Xiangxi became a family member, and their interests were bound together. This marriage was too cost-effective for Chiang Kai-shek. First, Chiang got two very few talents in China who were good at finance. Second, through these two people, Jiang and the Jiangsu and Zhejiang chaebols have established relations. Third, the background of the two people studying at famous American universities also helped Jiang to gain support from Britain and the United States.
Chiang Kai-shek's wife can be said to have made him struggle for 20 years less. And Wang Jingwei's wife, although she has great ability, does not have such a big role (and even does not pit him less).
4. Chiang Kai-shek has more allies than Wang Jingwei
For politicians, allies are important. Especially in a chaotic situation like the Republic of China.
And Chiang Kai-shek is a man who is good at allying with other forces. Song Ziwen and Kong Xiangxi were his in-laws and closest allies. In addition, Chiang Kai-shek had many allies. Although these allies were not as reliable as Song and Kong, they also played an important role.
The first is Zhang Xueliang's support. As early as 1928, Chiang Kai-shek began to deliberately win over Zhang Xueliang, and won Zhang's favor and trust. At the critical moment of the Central Plains War in 1930, it was Zhang Xueliang who sided with Chiang Kai-shek, so that Chiang kai-shek could successfully defeat the combined forces of Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang. If Zhang Xueliang had sided with Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang, Chiang Kai-shek would not have been able to win military victories, and his position would have been very dangerous. From 1928 to 1936, Chiang Kai-shek and Zhang maintained an alliance of eight years, which was rare in the chaotic era of the Republic of China.
In June 1927, Chiang Kai-shek also formed an alliance with Feng Yuxiang. At that time, during the period of confrontation between the National Government in Nanjing and the National Government in Wuhan, Feng Yuxiang's support greatly stabilized Jiang's position. However, later the relationship between the two was torn apart by the scheming Yan Xishan.
Yan Xishan is a sinister and cunning person, but he is more selfish, greedy, and keen on self-preservation. In 1929, when he fought against Feng Yuxiang, Chiang Kai-shek tried his best to win Yan Xishan over with money and official positions. Finally, in 1929, Yan Xishan never participated in the war (Yan Xishan only attacked Chiang Kai-shek in early 1930). For more than half a year, Chiang Kai-shek could fight Feng Yuxiang alone.
In the face of external opponents such as Li Zongren, Feng Yuxiang, and Yan Xishan, Chiang Kai-shek did not want anything to happen within the party. So he co-opted an important figure within the Kuomintang, Hu Hanmin. From 1928 to 1930, the two became allies, with Chiang as chairman of the Nationalist government and Hu Hanmin as president of the Legislative Yuan.
After the September 18 Incident in 1931, Chiang Kai-shek's policy of "taking care of the outside world must first be at home" was highly criticized, and his position was very unstable. He chose to cooperate with Wang Jingwei to consolidate his power. Wang Jingwei served as president of the Executive Yuan, in charge of political affairs, and Chiang Kai-shek served as chairman of the Central Military Commission, in charge of the military. It was not until Wang Jingwei surrendered to Japan in 1939 that the relationship between the two was completely broken.
Chiang Kai-shek had many opponents, but he paid great attention to drawing in allies and dividing enemies, avoiding dealing with too many enemies at the same time.
Wang Jingwei, on the other hand, has not done a good job in this regard, and he lacks heavyweight, long-term allies. As a literati politician, Wang Jingwei is in great need of allies with the warriors. There were many military leaders within the Kuomintang, such as Li Zongren, Chen Jitang, Feng Yuxiang, Yan Xishan, Liu Xiang, and so on. Wang Jingwei, however, was not able to form a solid alliance with one or two of them. Within the party, Wang Jingwei and Hu Hanmin also lacked cooperation, but instead in the early days of the Nationalist government, Hu Hanmin sided with Chiang Kai-shek. Faced with the great enemy of Chiang Kai-shek, Wang Jingwei did not reconcile the contradictions with Hu Hanmin, which was really a mistake.
5. The talents under Chiang Kai-shek are more diverse, and the talents under Wang Jingwei are single
Chiang Kai-shek was originally a soldier, and Wang Jingwei was a man of letters. However, Chiang Kai-shek's subordinates are not only military personnel, but also financial experts such as Song Ziwen and Kong Xiangxi, secret agent talents such as Dai Kasa, Chen Guofu and Chen Lifu who are in charge of party affairs, government elites such as Chen Bray, strategists like Yang Yongtai, and even underworld thugs such as Du Yuesheng and Jin Jinrong. Under Chiang Kai-shek's command, there are capable people in all aspects of political, military, economic, and party affairs. Wang Jingwei's subordinates, such as Chen Gongbo and Gu Mengyu, were all literati politicians.
Wang Jingwei was a political opportunist who lacked ideal goals, perseverance and short-sightedness, while Chiang Kai-shek was a tyrant. How can speculators beat the tyrants?
Author: He He