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- 1911: Xinhai Revolution. An Army revolt marks the beginning of the Republic.
- 1912: Sun Yat-sen is made first provisional President of the Republic.
- Guo Min Dang (KMT), The National People’s Party is founded.
- Emperor Xuan Tong resigns.
- Yuan Shikai becomes provisional President.
- 1915: Japan presents its Twenty-One Demands.
- 1916: Warlords struggle for power after the death of Yuan Shikai.
- 1919: May Fourth Movement.
- 1921: Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is formed.
- 1921-1922: Nine Power Treaty.
- 1923: Chiang Kai-shek becomes head of the Huangpu Military Academy.
- 1925: Sun Yat-sen dies.
- 1926-1927: Mao Zedong organizes the peasants of Hunan Province.
- 1927: Chiang Kai-shek turns on the leaders of the labor unions and the Communist Party. Many are killed.
- 1928: Capital is moved to Nanjing.
- Most of China is under KMT control.
- Japanese blow up Zhang Zuolin’s train.
- 1929-1931: Disastrous famine.
- 1930-1934: Chiang Kai-shek leads five encirclement campaigns against the Communists.
- 1931: Mukden Incident.
- Japanese take Manchuria.
- 1934-35: The Long March of the Communist Party.
- 1936: Xian Incident. Attempted coup against Chiang.
- 1937: Incident at Marco Polo Bridge. Begins Second Sino-Japanese War. Communist Eight Route Army Formed.
- 1938: Japanese take much of China. Communists filter in behind enemy lines and fight guerrilla war against Japanese.
- 1940: Puppet government under Wang Jingwei is established.
- 1941: New Fourth Army Incident
- 1945: Japanese surrender.
- 1946: KMT and CCP agree to a cease fire. Cease fire does not last.
- 1948: CCP takes Manchuria and northern China.
- 1949: Chiang Kai-shek and KMT retreat to Taiwan.
