Prominenent political figure, Chiang Kai Shek was an influential player in the Chinese Revolution in 1911. In 1923, Chiang was promoted to Generalissimo. Three years later he was appointed to leader of the National Party or Kuomintang. During World War II he headed the fight against invading Japanese forces. In 1949, he fled the Communists to Taiwan, where he served as the president of the Republic of China until his death in 1975.