National Revolutionary Army

National Revolutionary Army
Flag of the National Revolutionary Army (known as the Republic of China Army after the 1947 Constitution)
Active	16 June 1924 – 25 December 1947
Country	China
Allegiance	Kuomintang
Type	Army
Role	Ground warfare
Size	~14,000,000
Engagements	Northern Expedition Chinese Civil War Central Plains War Sino-Soviet conflict (1929) Sino-Mongolian border conflict Second Sino-Japanese War World War II Pacific War
Commanders
Notable commanders	Chiang Kai-shek Zhang Xueliang Sun Li-jen Yan Xishan Feng Yuxiang Li Zongren He Yingqin Bai Chongxi
Headquarters	Nanjing (1928–1937, 1946–1947) Chongqing (1937–1946)
Ideology	Three Principles of the People Chinese nationalism Conservatism Anti-communism Anti-Imperialism
Allies	Soviet Union (before 1927)  Nazi Germany (before 1938)  United States  United Kingdom
Opponents	Chinese Red Army  Empire of Japan  Manchukuo  Mengjiang  Wang Jingwei regime

The National Revolutionary Army (NRA; 國民革命軍), sometimes shortened to Revolutionary Army (革命軍) before 1928, and as National Army (國軍) after 1928, was the military arm of the Kuomintang (KMT, or the Chinese Nationalist Party) from 1925 until 1947 in China during the Republican era. It also became the regular army during the KMT's period of party rule beginning in 1928. It was renamed the Republic of China Armed Forces after the 1947 Constitution, which instituted civilian control of the military.

Originally organized with Soviet aid as a means for the KMT to unify China during the Warlord Era, the National Revolutionary Army fought major engagements in the Northern Expedition against the Chinese Beiyang Army warlords, in the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) against the Imperial Japanese Army and in the Chinese Civil War against the People's Liberation Army.

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the armed forces of the Chinese Communist Party were nominally incorporated into the National Revolutionary Army (while retaining separate commands), but broke away to form the People's Liberation Army shortly after the end of the war. With the promulgation of the Constitution of the Republic of China in 1947 and the formal end of the KMT party-state, the National Revolutionary Army was renamed the Republic of China Armed Forces, with the bulk of its forces forming the Republic of China Army, which retreated to the island of Taiwan in 1949.