Page "Chiang Kai-shek" Paragraph 24

Any successes that the Nationalists did make, however, were met with constant political and military upheavals.

While much of the urban areas were now under the control of the KMT, much of the countryside remained under the influence of weakened yet undefeated warlords and Communists.

Chiang often resolved issues of warlord obstinacy through military action, but such action was costly in terms of men and materiel.

The 1930 Central Plains War alone nearly bankrupted the Nationalist government and caused almost casualties on both sides.

In 1931 Hu Hanmin, Chiang's old supporter, publicly voiced a popular concern that Chiang's position as both premier and president flew in the face of the democratic ideals of the Nationalist government.

Chiang had Hu put under house arrest, but he was released after national condemnation, after which he left Nanjing and supported a rival government in Guangzhou.

The split resulted in a military conflict between Hu's Guangzhou government and Chiang's Nationalist government.

Chiang only won the campaign against Hu after a shift in allegiance by the warlord Zhang Xueliang, who had previously supported Hu Hanmin.