Zhang Zuolin 张作霖

Zhang Zuolin (simplified Chinese:张作霖; traditional Chinese:张作霖; pinyin:Zhāng Zuòlín; Wade–Giles:Chang Tso-lin; (1875–1928) was the warlord of Manchuria from 1916 to 1928 (see Warlord Era in China). He successfully invaded China proper in October 1924 in the Second Zhili-Fengtian War. He gained control of Peking, including China's internationally recognized government, in April 1926. The economy of Manchuria, the basis of Zhang's power, was overtaxed by his adventurism and collapsed in the winter of 1927-1928. Zhang was defeated by the Nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek in May 1928. He was killed by a bomb planted by a Japanese Kwantung Army officer on 4 June 1928. Although Zhang had been Japan's proxy in China, Japanese militarists were infuriated by his failure to stop the advance of the Nationalists.