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 1945 to the annexation of Chanwa in 1940. It was fought between the Army of National Salvation led by Lu Keqian and formed out of a coalition of the Xiaodong Regeneration Society and the Xiaodongese Section of the Workers' International, the Republic of Xiaodong and several other movements including various secessionist movements and foreign governments.
The end of the Great War in Xiaodong had resulted in the imposition of the Treaty of Keisi which had created several independent republics out of Xiaodong (Chanwa, Dakata and the Ba Republic) as well as ceding territory to neighbours such as Kuthina. The signing of the treaty was greeted with intense protests by nationalists whilst fighting between different ideological and ethnic groups was continuing well after the ceasefire was signed in December 1934.
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. Lu's takover was opposed by the republican government in Baiqiao which had been recognised internationally since the end of the Great War which was also opposed by the western provincial governors who were more heavily aligned with the former Grand Alliance powers. The republican government subsequently formed the Army for the Protection of the Constitution that sought to dislodge the new Rongzhuo government and protect the existing Republican government in Baiqiao. The collapse of central authority led to other groups such as anarchists to form to also overthrow the central government.
The initial stages of the war saw gains for the Rongzhuo governments forces thanks to large defections from the army, mass civil unrest and general hostility to the Six Province Alliance. 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. Senria's 1937-1939 intervention on the Kaoming Peninsula saw the creation of the Kaoming Republic, but this collapsed by 1939 when Senria withdraw. The fall of Kuoqing led to the end of the republic in October 1940 and in April 1941 Xiaodong defeated the separatist republic of Chanwa formally annexing it, ending the civil war.
The civil war saw massive economic destruction, displacement and atrocities from all sides. The civil war brought 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.
Corrective Revolution
On the 2nd August the Workers' Party dominated municipality of Kuoqing held the "March on Kuoqing" where in members of the Workers' Liberation Corps (the armed wing of the Workers' Party) took up arms and stormed the city hall, imprisoning the provincial governor of the Gaoming prefecture and declaring the establishment of the Socialist Republic of Xiaodong with Rao Junzhao as Chairman. A similar uprising by the Workers' Party in Yinbaolei and across Gaoming led to the Workers' Party to control vast sections of the Chenghu and Gaoming prefectures at the time of the August Revolution
The declaration of the Socialist Republic led the government to issue decreeing the banning of the Workers' Party and called for the arrest of their members. In response, the Central Bureau of the party in Kuoqing called for its members to "resist and rebel", unleashing armed militia's to cement control over the city overthrowing the local government, bribing police officials and arresting those deemed to be pro-government supporters. The Xiaodongese Army was deployed to fight revolutionary forces in Kuoqing. However, the Army was beaten back after two months of shelling the city, resulting in revolutionary forces to advance southwards taking the entirety of the Gaoming prefecture in November 1933. The failure of Army to retake Gaoming resulted in the fall of the Zhang cabinet and the installation of a more conservative cabinet led by Prime Minister Jiang Guoding.
Early War
Following the successful August Revolution the Socialist Republic held control over the Gaoming and Chenghu prefectures, cutting off the capital Baiqiao from the rest of the country. Significant socialist activity was also recorded in East Thianchin and the prefectures of Meifucun, Qihongtang and Xibuguo.
Between November 1933 to March 1934 the Socialist forces mainly conducted guerrilla operations, extending control over the southern Xiaodongese countryside as the government maintained control of cities. Socialist forces endeavoured to destroy government supply lines and infrastructure to isolate cities whilst pursuing a scorched earth strategy when government forces took villages and towns. The socialists secret police chief, Xi Qinghong, made sure that the socialists secret police network ruthlessly suppressed internal dissent making it all but impossible for government forces to infiltrate revolutionary ranks. Within villages socialists used effective propaganda to mobilise support, further weakening the influence of the government.
The government had in turn reacted poorly to the crisis. Between June 1933 to August 1934 there were three Prime Ministers as governments remained unstable relying on Yao's ability to pass legalisation based on decrees. In August 1934 field marshal Qian Shaozheng was appointed Prime Minister. Qian created the State Security Agency (国家安全机构; GAJ) designed to repress socialist elements. The GAJ increasingly took control of the government, successfully countering communist propaganda and reeling back government priorities from taking back the countryside to defending key supply lines.
In January 1935 Qian ordered the Southern Offensive, a campaign designed to retake the south-eastern cities of Yinbaolei and Zhinning...
Southern Offensive failed
Corrective Revolution (1936)
Second counter offensive (1938)
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Black Army
Revolutionary Labour Movement
Republic of Xiaodong
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Ba Republic
Kaoming
Dakata
Senria
Kuthina
Senrian Volunteer Army
Lu Keqian
Chen Xuechang