Warlordism, Opium, and Party Purges: the Guomindang\u27s Use of Shanghai\u27s Green Gang in Efforts of National Unification During the Late 1920s

During and after the Northern Punitive Expedition (1926-1928) to expel China of warlordism, the Right wing of China\u27s Nationalist Party, the Guomindang, chose to work with regional powers and fringe groups to aid their struggle towards national unification. In Shanghai, an area economically and politically significant for the Guomindang (KMT), the Right encountered a situation where it was the most beneficial for them to deliberately employ the help of the Green Gang, the city\u27s premier secret society and criminal organization. In order to achieve their ends, Chiang Kai-shek and the conservative faction of the KMT sidelined party ideology, long-held biases, and alliances to better pursue a realistic and pragmatic strategy for national unification. This project will examine the motivations behind the Guomindang\u27s deliberate choice to work with Shanghai\u27s underworld (among other groups in Shanghai) and the methods and strategy used to recruit similar potential regional allies