Yuan Shikai, after assuming presidency, installed
Yan Xishan as the governor of
Shanxi. After Yuan's death, Yan consolidated his control over Shanxi and ruled there. He waited for almost one year before expelling Yuan's supporters out of Shanxi. Though a close associate of
Duan Qirui, leader of the
Anhui clique, Yan Xishan did not join the Anhui clique. He kept his province neutral from the various civil wars the nation was facing, although he would fight troops from other cliques if they encroached upon the provincial boundaries. In 1927, faced with the overwhelming forces of the
National Revolutionary Army, the
Fengtian clique issued an ultimatum to Yan to join their side. Yan joined the NRA instead, and drove Fengtian armies from
Beijing. As a reward, the
Kuomintang allowed the Shanxi clique to expand all the way to the sea at
Hebei and
Shandong. Displeased with the dictatorship of
Chiang Kai-shek, the Shanxi clique together with several other cliques launched the
Central Plains War, but was defeated. The clique was significantly weakened by the
Japanese invasion which occupied most of their base province. After the war, Yan was unable to defend his province, which fell to the
Communists in 1949. ==See also==