Zhang Zuolin

Zhang Zuolin

 or Chang Tso-lin

(born March 19, 1875, Haicheng, Liaoning province, China—died June 4, 1928, Shengyang, Liaoning) Chinese warlord. After fighting in the Sino-Japanese War (1894–95), Zhang organized a self-defense militia in his native district. By 1912 he was in command of a division, and he set out to dominate Manchuria (northeastern China), relying on the tacit support of the Japanese, to whom he granted concessions in Manchuria. In 1918 he became inspector general of Manchuria's three provinces, which he ruled as a virtually autonomous state. In 1920 he pushed south into the Chinese heartland and in 1924 took Beijing, but his troops had to abandon their position in the face of the 1927 Northern Expedition. Zhang was killed by a bomb planted by Japanese extremists who hoped his death would provoke the Japanese into occupying Manchuria.