Northern Expedition

1926-07-09 - 1928-12-29

The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched in 1926 by the National Revolutionary Army of the Kuomintang under Chiang Kai-shek against the Beiyang government and regional warlords, aiming to reunify China. The first phase ended in a 1927 split between Chiang's Nanjing faction and a left-wing faction in Wuhan, after Chiang purged Communists in the Shanghai Massacre. Chiang resumed command in 1928, and the campaign succeeded in nominally reunifying China that year.