Japanese Extremists Kill Zhang Zuolin With Train Bomb To Provoke Chinese Occupation In Today's History, June 4, 1928

Zhang Zuolin in the presidential office before leaving Peking on May 24, 1928 (Source: ASAHI GRAPH via Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - On June 4, 1928, the President of the Republic of China Zhang Zuolin was killed. The train he was traveling in was destroyed with a bomb planted by Japanese extremists, who hoped his death would provoke the Japanese army to occupy Manchuria.

Zhang was seriously injured in the attack and died that same day. Quoting Britannica, Zhang Zuolin was one of China's warlords during the Republic of China era in the early 20th century.

Zhang was the warlord for Manchuria and once controlled large areas of northern China. His nicknames are Great Commander, Rain Commander or Mukden Tiger.

In 1920, Zhang began to try to extend his power to the south of North China. By 1924 his position was strong enough to extend his control of Beijing, then the capital of the Republic of China, where he established himself as a military dictator.

Zhang's ambitions were threatened by soldiers of the Nationalist Party (Kuomintang), which in 1927 advanced into North China. They moved under Chiang Kai-shek's leadership in an attempt to complete the unification of the country.

Disheartened by the military reversal, Zhang Zuolin ordered his troops to leave Beijing and hand it over to the Chinese national government. With this surrender the warlord leadership ended already.

After the surrender, Japan considered Zhang Zuolin increasingly uncooperative with the Japanese government in Machuria. Zhang then left for Beijing to surrender to Chiang Kai-shek.

However, as a result of that decision, Zhang Zuolin was killed by the Japanese by bombing a train. The bombing was carried out by a small group of soldiers led by a senior officer of the Japanese Kwantung Army, Colonel Daisaku Komoto.

They conspired to secure most of Manchuria beyond the southern Manchurian railroad that was handed over to Japan after the Russo-Japanese war. Zhang Zuolin's leadership of Manchuria was then succeeded by his son, Zhang Xueliang, who had the nickname Young Commander.

Zhang Zuolin's military career

Born into a farming family, Zhang Zuolin enlisted in the Chinese Army. He also fought in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895.

After the war, he organized a self-defense militia in his home district. And in 1905 Zhang's growing military unit was organized into regiments by the Governor of Fengtian Province.

Zhang also helped Japan in the Russo-Japanese war (1904-1905) as the leader of the Manchurian militia. By 1912 Zhang had been promoted to command of the division.

In 1916 he became the Military Governor of Fengtian. And in 1918 he was appointed inspector general of the three provinces of Manchuria.

From then on he controlled Manchuria as an almost autonomous state within the Republic of China. Under the Republic of China government, Zhang Zuolin held several important positions in the military.

In Manchuria, Zhang Zuolin held effective control over the region. He continued to wage wars to expand his territory.

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