Second Zhili–Fengtian War in the context of "Warlord Era"

The Fengtian Government (Chinese: 奉系军阀; pinyin: Fèngxì Jūnfá; Wade–Giles: Feng-hsi Chün-fa) was the faction that supported warlord Zhang Zuolin during China's Warlord Era. It took its name from Fengtian Province, which served as its original base of support. However, the clique quickly came to control all of the Three Northeastern Provinces. The clique received support from Japan in exchange for protecting Japanese military and economic interests in Manchuria. The Fengtian Army frequently intervened in many of the conflicts of the Warlord Era.

Following the Zhili–Anhui War of 1920 and 1921, the Fengtian and Zhili cliques exercised joint control of Beijing and the Beiyang Government. Tensions soon began building between the two, resulting in clashes for control of Beijing known as the First Zhili–Fengtian War (1922). The Second (1924) Zhili–Fengtian War started later over the Zhili invasion of the remnants of the Anhui clique, which had become allies of the Fengtian Clique, which resulted in a Fengtian victory, with the Zhili clique retreating as far south as Henan. The power of the Fengtian Clique began to decrease in the midst of the Kuomintang's Northern Expedition. In 1928, while he was retreating North, Zhang Zuolin's Japanese sponsors blew up his train, killing him. After Zhang's assassination, his son, Zhang Xueliang, took over the leadership of the clique. He preferred to work with the Kuomintang rather than the Japanese and symbolically pledged allegiance to the Nationalist Government in Nanjing. In practice, the Fengtian clique continued to independently govern Manchuria until the Japanese invasion in 1931.

Feng Yuxiang (simplified Chinese: 冯玉祥; traditional Chinese: 馮玉祥; pinyin: Féng Yùxiáng; IPA: [fə́ŋ ỳɕi̯ɑ́ŋ]; 6 November 1882 – 1 September 1948), courtesy name Huanzhang (焕章), was a Chinese warlord and later general in the National Revolutionary Army. He served as Vice Premier of China from 1928 to 1930.

At the start of the 1911 Revolution, Feng was an officer in the ranks of Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army. He initially joined forces with the revolutionaries, but came to support Yuan's regime. In 1914, he converted to Christianity, earning him the nickname the "Christian General". He became a warlord in Northwest China, based in Shaanxi, and rose to a high rank within the Zhili clique, a powerful warlord faction. In 1924, during the Second Zhili-Fengtian war, Feng launched the Beijing Coup, which knocked the Zhili out of power, and re-organised his troops as the Guominjun. He brought Sun Yat-sen to Beijing for negotiations on re-unification, but this was not realized. In 1926, Feng was defeated by the Zhili and Fengtian cliques in the Anti-Fengtian War, and he retreated to the northwest. In 1926, Feng joined the Kuomintang's successful Northern Expedition. He later resisted Chiang's consolidation of power in the Central Plains War and was forced to retire, but in 1933 organized a new army which successfully drove the Japanese Army out of Chahar. In the 1930s, Feng held positions in the Nationalist government, including brief army commands at the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937. He spent his later years supporting the anti-Chiang Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang before his death in 1948.

The Beijing Coup (Chinese: 北京政變; pinyin: Běijīng Zhèngbiàn) was the October 1924 coup d'état by Feng Yuxiang against Chinese President Cao Kun, leader of the Zhili warlord faction. Feng called it the Capital Revolution (Chinese: 首都革命; pinyin: Shǒudū Gémìng). The coup occurred at a crucial moment in the Second Zhili–Fengtian War and allowed the pro-Japanese Fengtian clique to defeat the previously dominant Zhili clique. Followed by a brief period of liberalization under Huang Fu, this government was replaced on 23 November 1924, by a conservative, pro-Japanese government led by Duan Qirui. The coup alienated many liberal Chinese from the Beijing government.