Second Zhili-Fengtian War

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Part of The Warlord era of Republican China

Date	September to November 1924
Location	North China
Result	Fengtian Clique Victory

Combatants

Image:Flag of the Republic of China 1912-1928.svg Zhili Clique

Image:Flag of Manchuria autonomists (1922).png Fengtian clique

Commanders

Wu Peifu

Zhang Zuolin

The Second Zhili-Fengtian War (Chinese: 第二次直奉戰爭; pinyin: Dì'èrcì Zhífèng Zhànzhēng) was a 1924 conflict in the Republic of China's Warlord era between the Zhili and Fengtian cliques for control of Beijing.

1 Cause
2 War
3 Unexpected End
4 Aftermath
5 See also

[edit] Cause

By the summer of 1924, the Zhili clique, led by President Cao Kun, controlled China proper and its internationally recognized Beiyang government. Most military analysts believed it was a matter of time before they reunite China militarily.

The cause of the conflict was over the control of Shanghai, China's biggest city and port. It was legally a part of Jiangsu province, under the control of Zhili general Qi Xieyuan. However the city was being managed as part of Zhejiang, the last province under the control of the dying Anhui clique. In September, fighting broke out as Zhejiang refused to cede administration of the city. Zhang Zuolin and Sun Yatsen pledged to defend Zhejiang, expanding the conflict to the far north and south.

[edit] War

Within days, Zhang led his army to Manchuria's borders to engage the army of Wu Peifu, the Zhili clique's greatest strategist. Sun Yatsen personally led his army north but a rebellion broke out in Guangzhou by the Canton Merchant Corps and Chen Jiongming's loyalists. Sun was forced to turn back to put down the rebels. This was also the first major conflict by the cadets and new officers of the Whampoa Military Academy. Meanwhile, Zhejiang and Shanghai rapidly fell to the armies of Sun Chuanfang.

[edit] Unexpected End

On October 23, Feng Yuxiang betrayed the Zhili clique by mounting the Beijing coup against President Cao. Wu became enraged and pulled his army away from the front to rescue Beijing. Zhang saw an opening and pursued Wu, landing a decisive victory near Tianjin. Wu escaped to central China where Sun Chuanfang protected him from further Fengtian incursions. Cao was deposed as president and would be under house arrest for the next two year. By November, the war effectively ended with the Zhili clique losing all of its northern provinces to Zhang Zuolin and Feng Yuxiang's Guominjun though fighting still continued well into 1925. More damaging was the myth of their invincibility shattered.

[edit] Aftermath

A new provisional government led by the Anhui clique's Duan Qirui was created to balance the interests of Feng and Zhang. Sun Yatsen was invited north to discuss reunification but they failed due to his death from cancer. The strong differences between Feng and Zhang would cause both to solicit their recent enemies as allies. In November 1925, the Zhili clique threw their support for Zhang in revenge for Feng's betrayal. Feng then manage the defection by Guo Songling from the Fengtian clique, sparking the Anti-Fengtian War that would last until April 1926, leading to the collapse of the provisional government.