Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) was a political and military leader of twentieth-century China, becoming head of the Nationalist Party, the Kuomintang (KMT) in 1925. In 1926, Chiang led the Northern Expedition to unify the country. He served as Chairman of the National Military Council of the Nationalist government of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 to 1948. In 1946, after American-sponsored attempts to negotiate a coalition government between the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Nationalists failed, the Chinese Civil War resumed. The CPC defeated the Nationalists in 1949, forcing Chiang's government to retreat to Taiwan, where Chiang ruled the island as the self-appointed President of the Republic of China and Director-General of the Kuomintang until his death in 1975.