The Warlord Era 军阀时代

After the Xinhai Revolution, a military general, Yuan Shikai ruled over China in a dictatorial manner before briefly reinstating himself as emperor. This sowed popular discontent and many regions began to declare themselves independent, and China was ruled by warlords after Yuan's death in 1916. The country was reunited just over a decade later by another military general Chiang Kai-shek whose Nationalist Party defeated the warlord factions in 1928.