The Nationalist Party of China Army Officer Academy (中國國民黨陸軍軍官學校), commonly known as the Whampoa Military Academy (黃埔軍校, pinyin huáng pŭ jūn xiŕo), was a military academy in China that produced many prestigious commanders who fought in the Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War. It was founded in 1924 to train military commanders for the National Revolutionary Army that was set to defeat the northern warlords in the Northern Expedition. It currently exists in Taiwan as the Chinese Military Academy.
The academy was founded on June 16, 1924 at Chengzhou Island offshore from the Whampoa dock in Guangzhou, thus earning its common name. During the inaugural ceremonies, Sun Yat-sen delivered a speech that was later to become of the lyrics of the ROC's national Anthem.
The Whampoa Military Academy was comprised of six departments: political, instruction, training, management, medic and supplies. The academy concentrated the revolutionary military talents at the time. Chiang Kai-shek was appointed the first principal of the academy. Zhou Enlai, Hu Han-min , and Wang Ching-wei were among the instructors in the political department, and He Yingqin and Ye Jianying were once military instructors. Legendary graduates included Communist commanders Lin Biao, Peng Dehuai, and Xu Xiangqian and Nationalist commanders Chen Cheng, Du Yuming, and Hu Zongnan . The Whampoa Academy initially had many instructors from the Soviet Union; those instructors left, however, after Chiang Kai-shek's break with the Communist Party of China (CPC) during the Northern Expedition. The academy was moved to the newly established capital in Nanjing after the defeat of the warlords in 1928. The academy moved again to Chengdu during the Japanese invasion.
In 1950, after the Communist victory on mainland China and the establishment of the People's Republic of China, the academy was re-established Fengshan, Kaohsiung County, Taiwan Province as the Chinese Military Academy (陸軍官校).
The motto of the academy "Camaraderie" (親愛精誠, literally 'Fraternity, Dexterity, Sincerity') was proclaimed by Sun Yat-sen at the opening ceremonies.
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Last updated: 10-12-2005 20:17:37
