Xi'an Incident
1936 CE.
Shown on the map at 34.267°, 108.933°.
The Xi'an Incident was a Chinese political crisis that lasted from 12 to 26 December 1936. Generals Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng seized Chiang Kai-shek in Xi'an, demanding the Nationalist government end the Chinese Civil War and ally with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) against Japanese expansionism, resulting in the Second United Front. The incident took place after months of secret negotiations between the CCP and the Kuomintang (KMT) had stalled. The CCP had meanwhile forged a covert alliance with Zhang Xueliang's Northeastern Army and Yang Hucheng's Northwestern Army. After Chiang issued Zhang an ultimatum to either attack the Communists or face reassignment, Zhang, who had secretly joined the CCP by the point, arrested him and threw the Nationalist government into disarray. General He Yingqin nearly launched a military assault on Xi'an before Soong Mei-ling and T. V. Soong prevailed in favor of negotiation. Following initial mediation by William Henry Donald, the Soongs flew to Xi'an. The CCP called for Chiang's execution, but Joseph Stalin, fearing the mutiny was part of a Japanese plot to weaken China, overruled them and ordered a peaceful resolution.
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