To what extent do you agree with the view that

initiating the Purification Movement was a major

error of judgement by Chiang Kai-shek?

The discussion should include issues such as Chiang's

motives for initiating the Movement, and the impact it

had on China in general and the KMT in particular.

I agree. His motivations were not bad such as save China but in that time they did not have a stable government, so it was not good for them all.

When Chiang returned to China in 1911, he participated in a revolution that ended the Qing Manchu dynasty, which then reigned in the country. With that, it transformed China into a republic. However, for many years there was no stable government, as some feudal warlords, who dominated the provinces, fought for power.

After a period of study in the Soviet Union, Chiang returned to China in 1923. Two years later, he replaced Sun at the helm of the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party). At that time the Communists were part of the Nationalist Party, but in 1927 Chiang Kai-shek expelled them from it. Chiang also rose up against the warlords and, in 1928, established a new government. Warlords and Communists, however, continued to oppose him.

When Japan invaded China in 1937, Chiang made a temporary alliance with the communists to fight the invaders. This struggle became part of the larger World War II conflict. After the Japanese surrender in 1945, the Communists turned against Chiang again. In 1949 they defeated him and founded the People's Republic of China. Chiang Kai-shek transferred his nationalist government to the island of Taiwan, where he died on April 5, 1975.