Shangean Civil War
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The Xiaodongese Civil War (Xiaodongese: 晓东内战; Xiǎodōng Nèizhàn) also known as the War for National Salvation (救国战争; Jiùguó Zhànzhēng) was an armed conflict that occurred from the Corrective Revolution in 1936 to the fall of Kuoqing in 1940. It was fought between the rebel Army of National Salvation led by Lu Keqian and formed out of a coalition of the Xiaodong Regeneration Society, the Workers' and Peasants' Movement and the Green Army]], the State of Xiaodong led by the Taiyi Emperor and several other movements including various secessionist movements and foreign governments.
The war began when elements of the Xiaodongese army disillusioned from the central government created the Xiaodong Regeneration Society and the Army of National Salvation in the north of the country before launching an uprising known as the "Corrective Revolution", setting up an alternate government in Rongzhuo led by Lu Keqian. In response to the destabilisation caused by the Corrective Revolution uprisings by the minority ethnic communities of Xiaodong led to the creation of several independent republics in Duljun, Ba Republic, Khaonam and Thianchin alongside the creation of other militia's ranging from ethnic Senrian forces to anarchist irregulars. This was compounded by interventions from neighbouring nations such as Min, Tuthina, Senria and Tinza all whom possessed conflicting aims.
The initial stages of the war saw gains for the rebel forces thanks to large defections from the army, mass civil unrest and general hostility to the government in Baiqiao. Intervention from foreign governments, a failed offensive on Kuoqing and the presence of the newly founded ethnic republics halted the Army of National Salvation's advance between 1937-1938 which also saw gains for some of the various parties. In 1940 the Army of National Salvation took the city of Baiqiao formally ending the State of Xiaodong and in April 1940 annexed both the Ba Republic and Thianchin, which had been de jure partitioned at the conclusion of the Min-Xiaodongese War.
The civil war saw massive economic destruction, displacement and atrocities from all sides. The civil war ended over 3,000 years of monarchy in Xiaodong bringing to power the Xiaodong Regeneration Society which created a corporatist, "guided democracy" under the doctrine of National Principlism.
Background
The Senrian-Xiaodongese War of 1927-1933 had resulted in the total military defeat of the Heavenly Xiaodongese Empire at the hands of Senria and Tuthina and in March 1933 saw the collapse of the Heavenly Empire following the overthrow of the Shanrong Emperor and declaration of the State of Xiaodong, a provisional government under the control of the Taiyi Emperor. In April 1933 the Prime Minister of Xiaodong Shao Yuzhang signed the Treaty of Keishi which committed Xiaodong to paying ¥1,450,000,000,000 in reparations to Senria, taking full responsibility for the war and dropping territorial claims to Sakata.
The signing of the treaty resulted in riots within Xiaodong due to what was perceived as kowtowing to Senria, with opposition coming from both the nationalist right and anti-imperialist left. In May 1933 the Taiyi Emperor announced parliamentary elections to be held in June. The election saw anti-treaty forces (the left-wing nationalist Xiaodong Regeneration Society, far-left Workers' Party of Xiaodong and far-right Great Harmony Party) get a majority of votes and seats. The Prime Minister Shao Yuzhang resigned as a result of the election, but advised the Taiyi Emperor to delay the opening of the National Assembly and ruled by decree supporting a cabinet made up of liberal and conservative reformists. The Emperor agreed to this suggestion appointing a liberal Zhang Mingshu as Prime Minister. Local elections held a week later saw the Workers' Party attain majorities in the municipalities of Kuoqing, Minqin and Zhinning.
The Workers' Party (which had come third in number of seats after the Xiaodong Regeneration Society and Liberal Party) decried the move made by the Taiyi Emperor to dissolve the National Assembly, and during the summer of 1933 started to arm its political supporters into organised militia groups in its strongholds in the Gaoming and Chenghu prefectures. The war had resulted in a collapse of the Xiaodongese economy with continued fighting in Tinza and Min further exacerbating economic problems.
During the summer of 1933 political polarisation increased as the radical left and nationalist right agitated for the fall of the State of Xiaodong, either attempting a restoration of the Heavenly Empire or the creation of a socialist state. Attempts to dispel such violence was hampered by the fact that the army was still deployed fighting Min and Tinza and that there was often a hostility to the central government by local functionaries. In July 1933, Chairman of the Regeneration Society and war hero Lu Keqian met with Rao Junzhao, the leader of the Workers' Party, to discuss the possibility of a joint left-nationalist alliance to create a national socialist-republic that would abrogate the Treaty of Keishi. Rao rejected Lu's offer on the grounds of Lu's nationalism.
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