What 1937 can tell us about today

I was taking a Sporcle quiz the other day (something I do often) on all of TIME Magazine’s Persons of the Year throughout its history. Beyond the predictable leaders like FDR, Hitler, Stalin and Churchill, giants of the World War II era, there was another leader in their midst: 1937, Chiang Kai-Shek, leader of the Republic of China on and off from 1935 until the collapse of the Kuomintang in 1949. While this selection may seem surprising to say the least, it is perhaps the article itself that raises the most eyebrows about our view of leaders in the present time versus retrospective views. The fickle nature of public opinion and the uncertainty of long-term acclaim make it such that it is hard to know whether the leaders we hold up as dear today will really be judged as greats.

For most Chinese people today, Chiang Kai-Shek does not receive very good rap. Generalissimo, as he was convivially called in the West, led China through a period of uncertainty, holding onto a tenuous existence, balancing the concerns of Western imperial intervention, local powerful warlords, and a large, discontent population. After the Communist Revolution of 1949, the sweeping propaganda against the Nationalists or KMT did successfully portray Chiang Kai-Shek has a ruthless and corrupt dictator, out for the interests of a narrow portion of the country. To the West, Chiang was the fervent anti-Communist, standing up to the wave of Soviet backed revolutions, trying to preserved the world’s most populous country from falling in the hands of the Reds. Yet, perhaps the greatest indictment against Chiang is not his role in fighting against the revolution, but for his handling of World War II against Japan. Under his rule, China, then, one of the world’s largest holder of guns and munitions, was crippled to its knees by Japanese rule, offering on a smattering of resistance for the course of 8 years of war.
The Time Magazine article, published January 3, 1938, says: “Through 1937 the Chinese have been led—not without glory—by one supreme leader and his remarkable wife.” Furthermore, it congratulates the Generalissimo for continuing the fight and vowing to resist the Japanese to the ends of the earth. “Today Generalissimo & Mme Chiang have not conceded China’s defeat, they long ago announced that their program for as many years as necessary will be to harass, exhaust and eventually ruin Japan by guerrilla warfare. If Generalissimo Chiang can achieve it, he may emerge Asia’s Man of the Century.” Unfortunately for Chiang’s reputation and the millions of Chinese people who suffered during the war, Chiang’s resistance focused on peripheral events and in fact expended much of his resources attempting to eliminate Communist insurgents in spite of Japanese occupation. To that charge, the article explains that, “the armies or bandit hordes of Chinese Communists who tried to harass Nanking from the hinterland were turned by Generalissimo Chiang into an excuse for not fighting the Japanese. He used them as a football coach uses a scrub team to train the regular army of New China—the first Chinese War Machine, complete with European artillery, German military advisers, U.S. and Italian war planes.”
Such language must obviously be given its context. In the 1930’s, the America public’s view on anything Communist was fairly negative. In fact, the Generalissimo’s view in the West would continue to favorable up to 1949 and even after his exile to the island of Taiwan. Despite public accusations of corruption and overall incompetence in the Nationalists government, it was clear that the US’ interests in fighting Communism trumpeted it all.
The selection and subsequent public adoration of General Chiang Kai-Shek demonstrates the tenuousness of political leadership. One day, it may look like the public is crowning its next leader, only to change its mind the next and throw him out the window. This should serve as warning to those leaders who the public may have a favorable opinion, yet true leadership is more than just manipulating public favor. The lasting leaders of history are coupled with results, real results in achieving victories for their people.
Photo credit: flickr stream of Mali Mish