中華民國總統

The first president of the Republic of China was Sun Yat-sen. Despite being the leader of the revolution which overthrew the Qing, he was in power for less than a year in 1912. China was controlled by various factions at this time, and though Sun had been elected, his weak military backing caused the need to compromise to demands from Yuan Shikai 袁世凱.

Yuan Shikai was a Qing military official who negotiated the abdication of Emperor Puyi 溥儀皇帝. He had strong military backing, with his sphere of influence in Zhili 直隸 (modern day Hebei 河北 and Beijing 北京). A fabricated coup allowed him to become provisional president with the capital relocated from Nanjing 南京 to Beijing, bringing in an era of rule by successive military regimes known as the Beiyang Government 北洋政府, which rivalled Sun’s Kuomintang.

Yuan’s rule was marked by crackdowns on political opponents, notably the KMT, infighting within his Beiyang Clique 北洋軍閥 and his own children, weakness against Japan, and open protests against his rule. In 1915, he even attempted to restore the monarchy, with himself as the Hongxian Emperor 紅線皇帝. Mass protests followed, various provinces rebelled, and Yuan died of uremia in 1916.

The country fragmented after Yuan’s 1916 death and descended into a period of warring military cliques. This was known as the Warlord Era 軍閥時代, and lasted until the Kuomintang’s Northern Expedition 北伐 destroyed the Beiyang Clique and brought Chiang Kai-shek to power. However, the warlords still existed, just in National Revolutionary Army 國民革命軍 uniform.

The tentative alliance between the KMT and the Communist Party broke down, and the Chinese Civil War began. Due to weakening by the Japanese, consistent military mistakes by Chiang, rampant KMT corruption, infighting between Chiang and Li Zongren 李宗仁, a lack of US support, and Chiang’s unrealistic focus on centralizing power, in 1949, the communists took power and the nationalist government withdrew to Taiwan.

The massacre of protesting civilians in 1947 known as the 228 incident 二二八事件 brought in a 38 year period of martial law. In the early years of martial law, known as the White Terror 白色恐怖時期, KMT rule was almost as brutal and repressive as that of the communists across the strait, with thousands of political opponents imprisoned and executed.

Several factors catalyzed the transition to a modern democracy. The 1970s and 80s saw rapid economic growth, with a new emerging middle class. Many of the old KMT leaders died, including Chiang Kai-shek in 1975. Taiwan lost its representation at the UN in 1971, and recognition by the US in 1979. Chiang’s son, Chiang Ching-kuo 蔣經國, gradually relaxed restrictions on free speech, and ended martial law in 1987.

Chiang’s vice-president, Lee Teng-hui 李登輝, became president in 1988. He was the first Taiwan-born president, and presided over further reforms giving Taiwan free speech and press, recognition and apologies for past atrocities and the first direct democratic election in 1996, which he won with his running mate Lien Chan 連戰, despite threats from China due to Lee’s promotion of a unique Taiwanese identity.

李／連

林／郝

In 1986, the Democratic Progressive Party 民主進步黨 was formed. They lost their first election in1996, but defeated James Soong 宋楚瑜 and Lien Chan in 2000, with Chen Shui-bian 陳水扁 elected alongside Annette Lu 呂秀蓮, ending half a century of KMT rule. The DPP tend towards a separate Taiwanese identity, and originally promoted official Taiwanese independence.

陳／呂

宋／張

The 2008 election saw the Kuomintang return to power under incumbent Ma Ying-jeou 馬英九, former mayor of Taipei. Despite a 58% share of the vote in 2008, his approval ratings recently reached a low of 9%, partly due to increased integration with China, for example the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement, which was met with fierce opposition and triggered mass protests.

In the next few levels, you can learn to recognize the names of the presidents of the Republic of China (excluding the Beiyang Government), what they looked like, and the years they spent in office.