http://www.memrise.com/course/352985/republic-of-china-government-taiwan/

1. 中華民國
總統

2. The first president of the Republic of China was Sun
Yat-sen. Despite being the leader of the revolution
which overthrew the Qing, he was in power for less
than a year in 1912. China was controlled by various
factions at this time, and though Sun had been
elected, his weak military backing caused the need
to compromise to demands from Yuan Shikai 袁世凱.

3. Yuan Shikai was a Qing military official who negotiated
the abdication of Emperor Puyi 溥儀皇帝. He had strong
military backing, with his sphere of influence in Zhili 直隸
(modern day Hebei 河北 and Beijing 北京). A fabricated
coup allowed him to become provisional president with
the capital relocated from Nanjing 南京 to Beijing,
bringing in an era of rule by successive military regimes
known as the Beiyang Government 北洋政府, which
rivalled Sun’s Kuomintang.

4. Yuan’s rule was marked by crackdowns on political
opponents, notably the KMT, infighting within his Beiyang
Clique 北洋軍閥 and his own children, weakness against
Japan, and open protests against his rule. In 1915, he even
attempted to restore the monarchy, with himself as the
Hongxian Emperor 紅線皇帝. Mass protests followed,
various provinces rebelled, and Yuan died of uremia in
1916.

5. The country fragmented after Yuan’s 1916 death and
descended into a period of warring military cliques. This
was known as the Warlord Era 軍閥時代, and lasted until
the Kuomintang’s Northern Expedition 北伐 destroyed
the Beiyang Clique and brought Chiang Kai-shek to
power. However, the warlords still existed, just in
National Revolutionary Army 國民革命軍 uniform.

6. The tentative alliance between the KMT and the
Communist Party broke down, and the Chinese Civil War
began. Due to weakening by the Japanese, consistent
military mistakes by Chiang, rampant KMT corruption,
infighting between Chiang and Li Zongren 李宗仁, a lack
of US support, and Chiang’s unrealistic focus on
centralizing power, in 1949, the communists took power
and the nationalist government withdrew to Taiwan.

7. The massacre of protesting civilians in 1947 known as the
228 incident 二二八事件 brought in a 38 year period of
martial law. In the early years of martial law, known as
the White Terror 白色恐怖時期, KMT rule was almost as
brutal and repressive as that of the communists across
the strait, with thousands of political opponents
imprisoned and executed.

8. Several factors catalyzed the transition to a modern
democracy. The 1970s and 80s saw rapid economic
growth, with a new emerging middle class. Many of the old
KMT leaders died, including Chiang Kai-shek in 1975.
Taiwan lost its representation at the UN in 1971, and
recognition by the US in 1979. Chiang’s son, Chiang Ching-kuo
蔣經國, gradually relaxed restrictions on free speech,
and ended martial law in 1987.

9. 李／連
林／郝
Chiang’s vice-president, Lee Teng-hui 李登輝, became
president in 1988. He was the first Taiwan-born
president, and presided over further reforms giving
Taiwan free speech and press, recognition and apologies
for past atrocities and the first direct democratic
election in 1996, which he won with his running mate
Lien Chan 連戰, despite threats from China due to Lee’s
promotion of a unique Taiwanese identity.

10. 陳／呂
宋／張
In 1986, the Democratic Progressive Party 民主進步黨
was formed. They lost their first election in1996, but
defeated James Soong 宋楚瑜 and Lien Chan in 2000,
with Chen Shui-bian 陳水扁 elected alongside Annette Lu
呂秀蓮, ending half a century of KMT rule. The DPP tend
towards a separate Taiwanese identity, and originally
promoted official Taiwanese independence.

11. The 2008 election saw the Kuomintang return to power
under incumbent Ma Ying-jeou 馬英九, former mayor of
Taipei. Despite a 58% share of the vote in 2008, his
approval ratings recently reached a low of 9%, partly due
to increased integration with China, for example the
Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement, which was met
with fierce opposition and triggered mass protests.

12. In the next few levels, you can learn to
recognize the names of the presidents of the
Republic of China (excluding the Beiyang
Government), what they looked like, and the
years they spent in office.