After the collapse of the Qing Empire in 1912, China was plunged into a state of chaos, with the country divided between military-political warlords in the absence of a strong centralized government. One of the most influential forces striving to end the crisis was the Kuomintang party.
Chiang Kai-shek, who became its leader in 1925, as well as his predecessor, Sun Yat-sen, drew on the Soviet Union’s support in their struggle. In cooperating with the Kuomintang as it rapidly gained ground, Moscow wanted to spread its influence in the region. By deciding to back the nationalists, the USSR even forced the much smaller Chinese Communist movement to join them.
The Bolsheviks were eager to train those Chinese who were friendly to them in the Soviet Union and, in 1925, Chiang Kai-shek’s son, Chiang Ching-kuo, arrived in Moscow. There, the 16-year-old teenager stayed with Anna Elizarova-Ulyanova, Lenin’s older sister, for a while, after which he came up with the pseudonym "Nikolai Elizarov", which sounded more familiar to the Russian ear.
