蒋介石(1887～ 1975年)

Chiang Kai-shek，亦拼作Chiang Chieh-shih、Jiang Jieshi。

国民党政府在统治中国（1928～1949年）与台湾（1949～1974年）时的领袖。蒋介石在东京接受军事训练後，於1918年加入孙逸仙所领导的中国国民党，试图巩固这个陷於混乱的国家的控制权。1920年代，蒋介石成为领导革命军队的指挥官，他派遣该部队击溃正活跃於北方的军阀（另见北伐战争）。随後於1930年代，与汪精卫争夺新建都於南京之中央政府的控制权。在面临日本侵略满洲，以及毛泽东於内陆率领共产党宣示反对的双重挑战下，蒋介石决定先摧毁共产党。但此举最终证明为错误的一步。当中日战争於1937年爆发，他被迫与共产党人组成暂时性的同盟。战後，中国的内战继续上演，终以国民党於1949年败退至台湾落幕。蒋介石在台湾的统治，获得美国经济与军事的援助，直到他过世後，才由其子蒋经国接掌领导政府。蒋介石统治台湾期间，尽管独裁，但在台湾危险的政治地缘形势下，仍缔造出经济发展、日益繁荣的景象。他之所以失去对中国大陆的统治权，被归因於其部队士气的低落，对民众的情感欠缺回应，以及对迫切需要进行社会与经济变革的中国，缺乏一套首尾一贯的计画。

English version：

1887～ 1975年

Chiang Kai-shek

Head of the Nationalist government in China (1928-49) and later in Taiwan (1949-75). After receiving military training in Tokyo, in 1918 he joined Sun Yat-sen, leader of the Nationalist Party, which was trying to consolidate control over a nation in chaos. In the 1920s Chiang became commander in chief of the revolutionary army, which he sent to crush warlords active in the north (see Northern Expedition). In the 1930s he and Wang Jingwei vied for control of a new central government with its capital at Nanjing. Faced with Japanese aggression in Manchuria and communist opposition led by Mao Zedong in the hinterland, Chiang decided to crush the communists first. This proved to be a mistake, and Chiang was forced into a temporary alliance with the communists when war broke out with Japan in 1937. After the war China's civil war resumed, culminating in the Nationalists' flight to Taiwan in 1949, where Chiang ruled, supported by U.S. economic and military aid, until his death, when his son, Chiang Ching-kuo, took up the reins of government. His years ruling Taiwan, though dictatorial, oversaw the island's economic development and increasing prosperity even in the face of its precarious geopolitical position. His failure to keep control of mainland China has been attributed to poor morale among his troops, lack of responsiveness to popular sentiment, and lack of a coherent plan for making the deep social and economic changes China required.