First Northern Expedition (jul 9, 1926 – dec 29, 1928)

Description:

- Part of Warlord Era
- Military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army of the Kuomintang (KMT), also known as the Nationalists, against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926
- Purpose of campaign was to reunify China, and the expedition was divided into two phases
- First phase was interrupted by the political split in the KMT following the formation of the Nanjing faction in April 1927 against the existing faction in Wuhan
- Split was partially motivated by the purge of the Communists within the party, which marked the end of the First United Front, and Chiang Kai-shek briefly stepped down as the commander of the National Revolutionary Army
- Campaign was resumed in January 1928 with the return of Chiang to the commanding post, and the Nationalist forces advanced to the Yellow River by April 1928
- Strings of victories by the Nationalists toward Peking, with the assistance of allied warlords, including Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang, forced - Zhang Zuolin of the Fengtian clique out of Peking
- Zhang was assassinated shortly after by the Kwantung Army on his way back to Manchuria, and his son Zhang Xueliang took over as the leader of the Fengtian clique
- June 1928: Zhang Xueliang announced Manchuria would accept the authority of the Nationalist government in Nanjing, effectively ending the Northern Expedition by the end of the year

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